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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report Staff Report Date of Meeting: August 19, 2004 Project Manager: Trey Fletcher, AICP Email: tfletcher(acstx.gov Item: Public hearing, discussion, and possible action on an Ordinance amending the Comprehensive Plan by amending the Land Use Plan and the Thoroughfare Plan, for an area generally described as Pebble Creek Subdivision. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends amending the Land Use Plan designations for the four parcels as requested (see attached Proposed Land Use Plan map). Staff also recommends approval of the request to amend the Thoroughfare Plan for the Spearman Drive realignment; however, staff does not support the request to amend Congressional Drive. Congressional Drive should remain on the Plan as is. 1) Applicant: Davis Young, Pebble Creek Development Co. 2) Applicant Request A) Land Use Plan - The applicant is requesting that the Land Use Plan designations for the subject properties be amended to support future zoning requests and development. Proposed Existing Existing Acres Use Parcel 1 Regional Retail Regional Retail / Vacant 45 Office Parcel 2 Planned SF Residential Low Vacant 19.4 Development Density / Institutional Parcel 3 Planned SF Residential Low Vacant 8.1 Development Density Parcel 4 Regional Retail SF Residential Vacant / Oil 29 Medium Density well pad site B) Thoroughfare Plan - The applicant is requesting to amend the Thoroughfare Plan in the vicinity of Pebble Creek as follows: i) Spearman Drive - realign to intersect with Greens Prairie Road instead of Pebble Creek Parkway. _1 _ nA_1 ii) Congressional Drive - remove future minor collector section of Congressional Drive from the plan between Lakeway Drive and St. Andrews Drive. C) Each request, while part of a singular application, may be considered individually. 3) Property Background Each of the parcels being considered for land use plan amendments was annexed in 1983. The existing zoning varies by tract. Pebble Creek is generally located to the east of SH 6 and south of Greens Prairie Road. Annexed Zoning Year Zoning Surrounding Established Land Use(s) Parcel 1 1983 Primarily C -1; as 1984, 1990, Public ROW on well as A -P & M -1 1992 all sides; near Pebble Creek Elementary Parcel 2 1983 R -4 and C -1 1990 Single - family residential and public ROW Parcel 3 1983 R -4 1990 Single- family residential, ROW and Lick Creek Parcel 4 1983 A -O Upon annexation Planned single - family residential medium density development Access to the Pebble Creek development is primarily provided via Pebble Creek Parkway, with secondary access provided in the vicinity of Pebble Creek Elementary via Parkview Drive and Lakeway Drive. Two additional access points are shown on the Thoroughfare Plan: • Pebble Creek Parkway to the south toward Peach Creek Road • Congressional Drive to the west to the future Lakeway Drive extension. 4) Staff Analysis In general, the following concepts have been reviewed for the land use plan amendments requests associated with each parcel: A) The Unified Development Ordinance states that the Land Use Plan "shall be amended only based upon changed or changing conditions in a particular area or in the City." Significant conditions continue to change in this area, including improvements to infrastructure and other capital improvements, additional residential subdivisions, annexation of the Greens Prairie Road corridor easterly to SH 30, and the construction of Fire Station #5. The Pebble Creek subdivision continues to expand in accordance with its master plan, while Stone Forest, Woodland Hills, Spring Meadows, and most recently, Williams Creek have emerged since the last Comprehensive Plan update in 1997. The Greens Prairie / Rock Prairie Triangle Small Area Plan did not consider areas south of Greens Prairie Road. Parcels 2 & 3 are currently zoned a combination of R -4, Multi- family and C -1, General Commercial while the Land Use Plan shows Institutional and Single- family Low Density. B) The proposed amendment should be consistent with the goals, objectives, policies and overall vision of the Comprehensive Plan. Each of the requested land use amendments is consistent with the text of the Comprehensive Plan. The applicant has identified many of these on the application. C) The subject parcels are suitable for the proposed land use designation based upon access, availability of utilities, consistency with existing and planned uses, environmental constraints and compatibility with neighborhoods. Access - Parcels 1 & 4, proposed for Regional Retail, are situated at the intersections of arterial facilities along Greens Prairie Road. Each of the adjacent corners to Parcels 1 & 4 are already designated for Regional Retail uses. Recently, the Arrington Road Comprehensive Plan Amendment addressed the anticipated warrants for Regional Retail designations on the west side of SH 6, south of Greens Prairie Road. Utilities - All utilities are available in the area and has been addressed in a report prepared by a consultant to College Station Utilities. A detailed assessment of these requirements is attached. The requested land use designations are consistent with existing and planned uses in the area. While few retail / service _g_ (1d_1 QR establishments exist in the area, this is largely because such uses tend to follow residential development. Staff has noted a significant increase in this type of development pressure throughout southern portions of College Station since the establishment of residential development south of Rock Prairie Road. "Planned Development" has been requested for Parcels 2 & 3. The land use plan designation was created as a result of the "Mixed Use Study" adopted by the City of College Station last year. In this study, the utilization of the Mixed Use land use plan designation was assessed. The study concluded that although a mixed use development should continue to be promoted, such development is more likely to occur as a mix of uses distributed laterally across a site. Staff recommends that a combination of C -3, Light Commercial and A -P, Administrative - Professional or PDD, Planned Development would be appropriate to implement this land use plan designation. Environmental constraints - Staff is not aware of any environmental constraints that may be associated with Parcels 1 -3. The Regional Retail proposed for Parcel 4 surrounds an active oil well pad site. Compatibility with existing neighborhoods - Land use goal #3 states that College Station should continue to protect, preserve and enhance existing and future neighborhoods. Uses proposed for Parcels 1 -4, based on their respective sites and situations and proposed land use designations, are anticipated to be of little impact to adjacent or nearby residential developments. Significant topography differences exist on Parcels 2 & 3 that should minimize adjacency issues. D) The proposed amendment will not create pressure to change the land use designation of other properties, unless the change is in the long -term interests of the community. This amendment should alleviate most pressures for future changes to the Land Use and Thoroughfare plans in the area; however, there is always the possibility that future requests may be made or deemed necessary. Earlier this year, the Land Use Plan was amended on request of the City to more accurately reflect certain conditions, such as applying Institutional and Park to the Pebble Creek Elementary site and Pebble Creek Park, respectively. nd_1 �R In general, the following concepts have been reviewed for the thoroughfare plan amendment requests associated with each corridor: A) Spearman Drive - This future Minor Collector section is shown on the Thoroughfare Plan to connect the end of Spearman Drive to Pebble Creek Parkway along the rear portion of Parcel 2. The request is to realign the future section to intersect with Greens Prairie Road, opposite Fire Station #5 and the associated median opening. B) Congressional Drive - This future Minor Collector section is shown on the Thoroughfare Plan connecting the Pebble Creek subdivision to Lakeway Drive. The request is to remove this section from the plan. C) Opportunities and constraints are recognized with both thoroughfare requests. i) Spearman Drive - The Spearman extension realignment will result in an additional point of ingress /egress for the Pebble Creek subdivision directly to Greens Prairie Road. Although a raised median is under construction with the widening of the facility to 4 lanes, it is the intent of the realignment to utilize the median opening opposite the new fire station. The realignment will also reduce trips along Pebble Creek Parkway and more adequately provide access to and from any proposed development on Parcel 2. Staff is concerned about the number and distribution of access points along Greens Prairie Road, but the proposed location as proposed is in compliance with the City's access management policies and spacing requirements for collector roadways. ii) Congressional Drive - The proposed alternative by the applicant is not viable. Significant congestion has developed in the area due to limited access options at the present time. Failure to implement additional connections to /from Pebble Creek via Congressional Drive will likely exacerbate this condition. The request to remove this future minor collector will result in fewer planned ingress /egress points for the Pebble Creek subdivision as a whole. Implementation of the Minor Collector as identified on the thoroughfare plan will, in time, provide significant relief for congestion that occurs in the vicinity of Pebble Creek Elementary and at the intersection of Greens Prairie Road and SH 6. Significant benefit should also be derived from improvements to the SH 6 corridor as a result of TxDOT plans and the extension of Lakeway Drive to the south connecting to an unnamed planned minor arterial. In conjunction with TxDOT's plans to convert the 2 -way frontage to 1 -way, freeway entry and exit ramps will be redistributed and a new grade separation with turnarounds is planned at Nantucket Drive. Further, City Public Works staff have been contacted this summer to conduct a traffic calming study in vicinity of Pebble Creek Elementary on Parkview and Lakeway drives. Implementation of the thoroughfare plan as is (inclusive of plans by TxDOT), the widening of Greens Prairie Road, and changed patterns that should result from CSISD`s action to rezone the elementary and other schools should improve the congested conditions without additional expenditures by the City to address this issue. 5) Staff Recommendations Staff recommends amending the Land Use Plan designations for the four parcels as requested (see attached Proposed Land Use Plan map). Staff also recommends approval of the request to amend the Thoroughfare Plan for the Spearman Drive realignment; however, staff does not support the request to amend Congressional Drive. Congressional Drive should remain on the Plan as is. _fi_ nd_11%1