Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout00071762o al 1 AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: Public hearing and consideration of amending the Northgate District in the City's adopted Zoning Ordinance. Senior Planner McCully made the resentation. She explained that this would be the first of two ordinance revisions that would be nee ed to clarify the review process in the Northgate District. The proposed ordinance includes mainly "ho e-keeping" items that would make the process less cumbersome. The amendment reflects t the city has been doing to stay within the intent of the Northgate Review process. Ms. McCully said that one of the items discovered when the ordinance was being reviewed was that each sub-district involved different review processes and she was unaware of the why. The original ordinance was written with little guidance from other communities. After working with the ordinance for a while, there were some sections that did not make sense any longer. The draft ordinance amendment would establish the following existing policies in ordinance form: 1. It consolidates the review process into a single process. 2. It clarifies that all projects, ranging from large site development to painting and fences, require NRB review subcommittee approval. 3. It specifies submission requirements depending on the type of work proposed. 4. It references the Northgate Design Guidelines and requires that all approvals must be based on them. 5. It clarifies that an automated irrigation system is required for all new vegetated. She explained that the current process is the NRB Subcommittee Review, which includes part of the full NRB and 3 rotating members of the P&Z. The process will remain the same, the amendment would only clarify this in the ordinance. She informed the Commission that in the next few months, the NRB review subcommittee, in conjunction with the full NRB, will be revising and perhaps codifying the Northgate Design Guidelines to become more specific regarding architectural styles, color schemes, signage style, and other elements. The proposed amendment references the Design Guidelines, which will prove more consistency with the decisions made by the review committee. Commissioner Kaiser said that in the past when he served on the NRB review committee, the applicants were not aware of the Design Guidelines. He was concerned that this was not given to the earlier. He asked what time frame staff was looking at between the ordinance and the Design Guidelines revisions. Ms. McCully said that a lot of the work would have to be completed by the full NRB because the city does not have architectural expertise on staff. She hoped that the Guidelines would be out within two years, but with the current development workload she did not feel it could be any sooner. Commissioner Floyd felt that the scrolling sign in Northgate seemed to be totally inconsistent with the approach the City wants to take. He asked if this was approved by the NRB. Ms. McCully explained that the NRB approved this sign, she felt that this could be a code enforcement violation although there is nothing in the ordinance that would determine this. Commissioner Parker said that he served on the NRB for this item, and he thought that the sign was approved with the condition that it only held a written message and that it did not flash or scroll. Commissioner Mooney agreed. P&Z Minutes November 4, 1999 Page 8 of 11 Commissioner Floyd's concern was that it needs to be clear if the review subcommittee has the authority. Ms. McCully said that this would be clarified, and codifying the Design Guidelines would make it clear of what is permitted so there will be no questions. Commissioner Kaiser asked if it would be prudent to consider the amendments and the Design Guidelines at the same time. He was concerned with the reference of Design Guidelines in the amendment, when they were not ready. Ms. McCully said that staff would have liked to bring it as a whole, but there are several different processes that need to be addressed in the interim. She said that the reference to the Design Guidelines could be removed and then forwarded on to Council. The reason the reference is included is that if the. review committee makes a decision based on the guidelines with no ordinance authority it could cause problems. She felt this was highly unlikely. Chairman Rife opened the public hearing. Mr. Larry Haskins, representative of 1u American Bank and Mr. Jack Culpepper, said that he was involved in the original ordinance. The owners he represents own over'/4 of the land in the subdistrict NG-2. The creation of the separate subdistrict reviews were intentional,.. to be applicable to each subdistrict. He pointed out that the NRB consists of property owners within the NG-1 area. Many people are not aware that the Albertson's area is part of Northgate and is affected by the ordinance as well. He felt that the "clean-up" of the ordinance is needed. He said that the reason the NG-2 ordinance. is written different than. the NG-1 district, was because Council realized that NG-2 would not fall within the uniqueness of the entire Northgate area. His clients want to remain in a separate classification because they do not think they -fit in with the architectural design requirements that are unique to the Northgate area. He said that the other issues that are included in the ordinance (i.e. parking, landscaping, and dumpsters) do relate to the NG-2 district, and the owners do not have a problem with these. There is no historical decor in the NG-2 area therefore it should remain separate on certain items (architectural design). He suggested the Commission only consider the procedural items at this time, and wait on the larger scope until there are design guidelines to look at. It would be difficult to approve something you have not seen. Benito Flores-Meath, 901 Val Verde, expressed his concern for the historic structures. He encouraged the preservation of the historic area, which is primarily what the NG-1 is. He suggested that the Commission.consider leaving the NG-2 with different standards. Chairman Rife closed the public hearing. Commissioner Mooney moved to recommend approval of the ordinance amendment with encouragement to move with due haste to develop the standards to enforce the Design Guidelines. Commissioner Warren seconded the motion. Ms. McCully reiterated that the Design Guidelines do exist, but this ordinance would take out the "recommendation" language and replace it with "required" language. Chairman Rife called for the vote and the motion failed 2-3-2; Commissioners Warren and Mooney voted in favor of the motion, Chairman Rife and Commissioners Parker, Kaiser voted opposing the motion, and Commissioners Horlen and Floyd abstained from the vote. The Commissioners felt that the Design Guidelines should be in place rather quickly. City Planner Kee explained the process of this and said that it would take a while to get this done, since the NRB P&ZMinules November 4, 1999 Page 9 of 11 meets on a monthly basis and they were planning to take individual sections each months and review them. Commissioner Kaiser said that he supports the concept of this amendment, but is distressed with the lapse of time. He said that he was sympathetic to the Staff s workload, but felt this was unfair to the Northgate area and others. He wanted to send a strong message to Council to push that this get moved quickly. Commissioner Kaiser moved to recommend approval of the amendment, - subject to the Northgate Design Guidelines be brought to the Commission and City Council within a 3 month time period. Commissioner Mooney seconded the motion, which passed 5-1-1; Commissioner Horlen voted in opposition to the motion, and Commissioner Floyd abstained from the vote. AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: Discussion of potential Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council workshop topics. The Commissioners established the following list as items they want to be addressed at the joint Commission, Council, and Zoning Board of Adjustment Workshops to be held on November 8' and 9t'. Comprehensive Plan Related Issues Graham Road Study City initiated rezonings for current industrial areas Other City initiated rezonings Charge to Planning & Zoning Commission Pedestrian/Bikeways WPC - pedestrian access across major roads State Highway 40Nictoria Design Future school development (Graham Road area) Strip commercial Gateways to College Station (working with the proposed Bryan Golf Course) Need for more resources in Planning and Zoning (falling further behind) Utilization of the Comprehensive Plan need plans for the East ByPass (how we see it developing), SH 30 area, and SH 6 South Wolf Pen Creek (need for commitment or get away from it) Goals in Comprehensive Plan are vague Major "holes" in Plan East ByPass - Land Use and Development Ordinance Related Issues Conditional Use Permit amortization period Notification of ETJ Properties Increase notification area from 200' Multiple single family uses on single lots Northgate Design Guidelines P&Z Minutes November 4, 1999 Page 10 of 11