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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/18/1998 - Minutes - Planning & Zoning CommissionMINUTES • Planning and Zoning Commission CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS June 18, 1998 7:00 P.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chairman Massey, Commissioners Garner, Rife, Maloney and Mooney. COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioners Parker and Kaiser. STAFF PRESENT: Senior Planner McCully, Assistant City Engineer Morgan, Graduate Engineer Kaspar, Development Coordinator Volk, Staff Assistant Charanza, Staff Planner Battle, Planning Intern Mixon, Transportation Planner Hard, Senior Economic Development Analyst McDaniel, and Assistant City Manager Brymer. COUNCIL. MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor McIlhaney, Councilmember Silvia, and Municipal Court • Judge Walter. AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Introduction and swearing in of new Commissioners. Chairman Massey introduced new Commissioners Maloney and Mooney. The Honorable Judge Tripp swore in Chairman Massey and Commissioners Maloney and Mooney. AGENDA ITEM N0.2: Approval of minutes from the meeting of June 4, 1998. Commissioner Rife suggested the adding a statement to Agenda Item No. 2 to say "The Commission expressed their desire for the Parks Department to address the noise concern and impact on surrounding neighborhoods." Commissioner Rife moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of June 4, 1998 with changes as mentioned and the presented changes. Commissioner Garner seconded the motion. Commissioner Mooney moved to amend the motion to include correction of grammatical error in Agenda Item No. 3. Commissioner Garner seconded the amended motion which passed unopposed (5- 0). These changes will be made prior to the July 2, 1998 meeting. c: P&Z Minutes June 18, 1998 Page 1 of 7 AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: Review of Preliminary Site Plan for the Office/Hotel and Conference Center Project located in Wolf Pen Creek and a review of the Conference Center Preliminary • Schematic Design. Semor Econonuc Development Analyst McDamel stated that he and Assistant City Manager Brymer are the managers of this project. He explained that this was a presentation to introduce the Commission to the project and to receive initial feedback from the Commission on the design of the facility, as well as the site plan. The Commission will be asked, at a future meeting, to consider approval of the site plan and other details of the development based upon the recommendations of the Wolf Pen Creek Design Review Board. He introduced Richard Ferrara, the City's architect for the project. Mr. Ferrara explained that the project will exist of three buildings. The Conference Center area would be an approximate 45,000 sq ft meeting space (one story building), a 200 room hotel which will be 8 stories, and a 4 story 80,000 sq ft office building. The site has approximately 930 parking spaces around the property. The Conference Center would be a fairly simple building with 3 major classifications of rooms which include a large exhibit hall, grand ballroom, the rest (approximately 5000 sq ft) would be dedicated for break-out meeting rooms for smaller meetings. The areas would be connected by apre-function area which would serve as a hallway and gathering space. The kitchen would be shared with the conference center and hotel. There is room for future expansion if needed. In both scenarios shown, he explained that the proper way to expand would be on the westerly side of the exhibit hall. He presented the different scenarios for possible expansion. They felt comfortable that there would be adequate parking even with possible expansions. It was explained that this project was targeted toward larger meetings and conferences. This facility • was not intended to compete with existing meeting facilities. It was pointed out that no access to the hoteUconference center site would be through residential areas. He stated that preliminary plans include sidewalks throughout the parking areas. Some of these sidewalks could be meandering. Tree surveys were done and there will be tree preservation implemented. The only trees actually worth saving were along the outside property line. Most trees on the interior had diseases and would not be worth saving. The Commission asked questions regarding the future expansion scenarios, including whether or not future parking may be available. There are still several tracts available at this time, and even when some are built out in the future as commercial or multi-family developments, parking alternatives may still be available on the City-owned tracts or through agreements with the Mall. The Commission indicated that there needs to be a consideration for balancing the available parking and maximizing the tax base opportunities through the development of the land adjacent to the center. The core of Wolf Pen Creek should not be developed as primarily parking lots. Parking lots may be convenient, but may be a secondary consideration promoting an active development on the plots indicated as possible parking sites. There were also concerns that the parking would displace the current wooded areas of the District. The Commission expressed the need for the Design Team to continue to emphasize the concept that this facility would be aesthetically consistent with the long-range intent of the Wolf Pen Creek District. The Commission asked about the proposed parking lot lighting. There were concerns that the lights would provide a visual nuisance to adjacent neighborhoods. It was explained that the design and height • of the lighting should lessen the impact on the adjacent areas. The Design Team should be made aware of any lighting standards that have been approved for the district. P&Z Minutes June 18, 1998 Page 2 of 7 The Commission also expressed a desire to see the Design Review Board's comments incorporated into the future presentation to the Commission. Mr. Ferrara stated that they would be. • Mr. McDaniel explained that Staff would present this plan to City Council on July 9, 1998. Design work will begin with Council authorization. The Wolf Pen Creek Design Review Board will make recommendations for the colors and lighting design. Site plan consideration would be presented to the Commission around October or November. The targeted date for facility opening is July, 2000. AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: Consideration of a Master Development Plan for the Steeplechase Subdivision to be located along the east side of Wellborn Road, south of FM 2818 and adjacent to Southwood Valley Sections 23 and 24D. (98-311) Assistant City Engineer Morgan presented the staff report and stated that this was a proposed infill development containing 64 acres. The plan shows 80 single family lots, 125 duplex lots, a small reserve tract for future residential development, 3 acres of commercial development fronting Wellborn Road and 7.23 acres of common space devoted to storm water management on the north side of the development and a small area for detention on the east side. The property is currently zoned A-O Agricultural Open. The Land Use plan reflects the area for high density single family development. The applicant's intent is for a mix of single family and duplex development. A rezoning request will have to be considered and any approval of this plan conditioned upon receiving zoning approval. There are 330 to 334 dwelling units proposed which results in a gross density of approximately 5 dwelling units per acre. Excluding the 7 acres designated for storm water management and the reserved commercial acreage results in a density of approximately 6 units per acre. This density is less than that shown on the land use plan. The "high density residential" land use classification ranges from 7-9 dwelling units • per acre. The density of the existing adjacent single family development is approximately 3 dwelling units per acre. There are no collectors or arterials shown on the thoroughfare plan needing to be extended through this property. West Ridge Drive and Navarro Drive will be extended into the property to provide circulation and connection between subdivisions as well as provide access to Wellborn Road. Ms. Morgan explained that the applicant presented this master plan to the Parks Board on June 9, 1998 and discussed the options of providing a monetary dedication or a land dedication. It was recommended by the Board that the monetary dedication be taken at this time. The developer's intent is for a Homeowner's Association to maintain the 7.23 acre common area along the creek as a detention facility and open space. This area has street frontage along the extension of West Ridge. If, at some point in the future the HOA asks the City to take over the maintenance responsibility or the large tract adjacent to the north develops, it may make sense at that time to look at consolidating property for a neighborhood or community park as well as evaluating this site for a regional detention facility. At this time the Parks Board felt that the monetary dedication was of more benefit to the City. Ms. Morgan explained that public sewer lines will be extended throughout this master planned subdivision. Approximately 42 single family lots will sewer into an existing 12 inch sewer line located just beyond the small proposed storm water detention facility. The remaining lots will sewer into smaller (6 inch and 8 inch) existing sewer lines. These lines are currently being evaluated for available capacity by city staff. • There is approximately 13.1 acres of public right-of--way proposed with this subdivision. West Ridge Drive and Navarro Drive are currently scheduled to be extended as 39 foot wide collector streets within 60 feet of right-of--way. The remaining residential streets will be the standard 28 foot wide street P&Z Minutes June 18, 1998 Page 3 of 7 section in 50 feet ofright-of--way. The alignment for Navarro Drive as it approaches Wellborn is shown on this Master Development Plan to be outside the boundary of this subdivision. With the final platting • of Phase 3 (which includes this portion of Navarro) the developer will have to include that portion of Navarro in the plat boundary in order to avoid the platting of "half streets." The alignment is currently shown this way on the Master Plan because it is the best alignment for an intersection with Wellborn Road and the existing railroad crossing. Staff recommended approval of the plat as presented with the condition that the developer provide a pedestrian access way along side the detention facility leading into the drainage and utility right-of--way and that this approval is conditioned on the approval of the rezoning request by the City Council. The Commissioners expressed concern that the closest park would be the Jack and Dorothy Miller park located next to Rock Prairie Elementary School. This would be quite a distance from the development. They felt that the Parks Board should have required dedication of land instead of the monetary dedication to provide for a developed neighborhood park for this subdivision. Chairman Massey stated that this is an extremely important quality of life issue. Stating that while the Rock Prairie Park site may technically be in the Parks Zone for this development, that the distance seems too great to be a viable park alternative for the persons that will reside in the subdivision. Chairman Massey also asked what specific discussions the Parks Board had to lead them away from developing a neighborhood park in this area. Staff indicated that they would provide the minutes from the Parks Board Meeting to the Commission when available, but were unable to answer the question at this time. The Commissioners also expressed concern regarding the encouragement of the use of a drainage right- of-way as a pedestrian access to provide access to Deacon Drive as the path to the Miller Park. They • had concern that this path to the park would be dangerous for children and other pedestrians. The Commission also expressed concern for maintenance and use of the 7 acre detention facility. The Commission questioned whether this area would effectively be available as an open space/undeveloped park to the single family section of the subdivision which would be the primary source of any maintenance funds. Chairman Massey indicated that the design would place the homeowners who would be asked to pay for the maintenance of the space too far away to easily use the area. When questioned about the likelihood of a successful duplex homeowners association, Staff explained that there are plans for a homeowner's association for the subdivision, but since there would be duplex development also, it would be difficult to enforce an HOA. When asked, Staff indicated that there are no other examples of a duplex HOA in College Station. Mr. Michael McClure, developer for the project, explained that the applicant offered the 7 acre drainage area to be dedicated for the park, but the Parks Board decided the monetary obligation would more beneficial. Commissioner Rife asked whether a traffic study had been completed to determine the impact of the potential large number of cars entering/exiting the development. Staff indicated that, while this had not been studied, the three accesses to Welsh and FM 2818 seemed to be sufficient to handle this load. The Commission voiced a concern about the drastic change in housing density between those planned in the presented plan and the existing developments along Deacon Drive. It was noted that in some places • that the planned lots were approximately half the size of the current adjacent lots along Cortez Court and Bolero Court. Commissioner Rife explained that he felt the area was being over developed. P&Z Minutes June 18, 1998 Page 4 of 7 Commissioner Maloney said that this project seems to be incompatible with the Comprehensive Plan Goals and Objectives numbers 2.2 and 3.1. He also stated his desire for a park to be developed in the drainage area. • All Commissioner agreed that these issues needed to be considered before they could provide an endorsement and recommend approval to the City Council. Commissioner Rife moved to deny the Master Plan. Commissioner Maloney seconded the motion which passed unopposed (4-0). Commissioner Garner excused herself from the meeting prior to this item. AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: Consideration of a Final Plat of Edelweiss Estates Phase 7-C composed of 42 residential lots totaling 14.363 acres located along the extension of Edelweiss Avenue from the Graham Road Abandonment to Graz Drive. (98-219). Graduate Engineer Kaspar presented the staff report and stated that this final plat is part of the larger residential development known as Edelweiss Estates. The applicant proposed to extend Edelweiss Avenue as a 39 foot wide minor collector from Graz Drive to the abandoned North Graham Road. Two 28 foot wide residential collectors, Bernsburg Lane and Augsburg Lane, and one 28 foot wide residential cul-de-sac, Gleeson Court are proposed with this phase. Total dedicated right-of--way is 4.13 acres. There is a 10 foot Public Utility Easement shown offsite on this final plat along the west side of Edelweiss Avenue that must be filed prior to filing the final plat. Mr. Kaspar explained that the applicant's engineer has submitted a drainage report for this phase of Edelweiss Estates in accordance with the City of College Station's Drainage Policy and Design Standards. Stormwater runoff' will drain via existing storm sewer to the regional detention facility located off Mortier Drive that was sized to • accommodate the proposed runoff from this subdivision. This subdivision is located within the Sanitary Sewer Impact Fee Area 92-01. Impact Fees in the amount of $289.77 per residential lot, or $12,170.34, must be paid prior to filing of the final plat. Staff recommended approval of the final plat with the condition that the offsite 10 foot public utility easement is dedicated and sanitary sewer impact fees paid prior to filing of the final plat. Commissioner Mooney moved to approve the Final Plat with staff conditions. Commissioner Rife seconded the motion which passed unopposed (4-0). AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: Establish parking requirements for industrial uses. Senior Planner McCully explained that Staff brought this item back to the Commission so that they could better assist developers in the early stages of site design. She explained that on May 21, the Commission discussed setting the following parking requiremen~s: 1. Conference auditorium - 1 space per 4 seats 2. Wholesale display - 1 space per 250 square feet 3. Manufacturing or assembly - 1 space per 500 square feet 4. Research and development - 1 space per 2 employees (one shift) • She explained that at the past meeting, the Commissioners felt comfortable with the recommended requirements for the first two uses, but wanted to explore other options for manufacturing and research and development uses. The concern was mainly that these ratios reflected national standards and that P&Z Minutes June 18, 1998 Page S oj7 most local industrial users would generate a higher parking demand. Ms. McCully said that Staff researched the parking requirements in Bryan and looked at the latest manufacturing parking • requirements as set by the Commission. She stated that Bryan does not have a parking requirement for research and development, however it provides a parking requirement of 1:1000 square feet of manufacturing use of 1:2 employees. Of the manufacturing sites that have been built or expanded under this requirement, most of them have exceeded the minimums due to each individual need. She said that the manufacturing firm users tend to have a good idea of their own parking needs. She also felt the requirement of 1:2 employees for the research and development was too low, and that a 1:1 requirement seemed to best fit the existing driving habits of this City. Ms. McCully reminded the Commission that they set parking requirements recently for the OI Analytical expansion and for the new Texas digital Systems site. At the Texas Digital Site, a requirement of 1 space for each of the 25 employees plus 4 visitor spaces for the research and development portion of the site. For the OI Analytical expansion, a requirement of 155 spaces was set to allow for a total of 112 future employees for mixed use. Commissioner Rife said that the set numbers would have to consider all activities held at the site. There was concern of how the number of employees would be monitored by the City if a requirement is based on the number of employees. Ms. McCully explained that the number would be documented and if there seemed to be a problem or a complaint that there is a parking problem, enforcement action would be taken. Chairman Massey explained that he felt that creating an ordinance with these numbers would only cause • problems in the future. He thought it would be a good idea to have established numbers as a guide for developers but each case should be reviewed individually to avoid the future potential problems. Ms. McCully explained that Staff would provide some guideline numbers, which will be given to the Commission for review. Each case would continue to be reviewed by the Commission to establish the parking requirements. AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: Other Business. Development Coordinator Volk reminded the Commissioners that the workshop is scheduled for July 2, 1998 at 4:00 p.m. She said that staff is also considering taking the Commissioners of a tour of current development. This will be done at a later date. Chairman Massey informed the Commission that there will be a Planning Workshop on July 30th at the Council of Government's Office. This workshop discusses the legal aspects of the Planning & Zoning Commission. All Commissioners are encouraged to attend. Please contact staff if you would like to attend. Chairman Massey and Commissioner Rife were appointed to the Greenways Taskforce and the first meeting will be Tuesday June 23, 1998. • P&Z Minutes June 18, 1998 Page 6 of 7 AGENDA ITEM NO. 8. Adjourn. • Commissioner Maloney moved to adjourn the meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Commissioner Mooney seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5-0). ATTEST: ,^ Staff Assistant, Debra Charanza C, • P&Z Minutes June 18, 1998 page ~ of ~CanninB ~' Zoning Commission Guest ~,eBister i ,~-~ - Date ~' C~~--t 1 `-~ ~:: G~ ~, ,,~ // ~ ~ Jicfcfress /~~ ~ X~ ~ 20 3, 4. S. 6, 7. 8. 9. 10. • 11. 12. 13. 14. IS. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. . 24. 25.