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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/21/1998 - Minutes - Planning & Zoning CommissionMINUTES • Planning and Zoning Commission CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS May 21, 1998 7:00 P.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chairman Massey, Commissioners Parker, Lightfoot, Gribou, and Garner. COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioner Rife. STAFF PRESENT: City Planner Kee, Graduate Engineer Kaspar, Staff Assistant Charanza, Development Coordinator Volk, Senior Planner McCully, Staff Planner Battle, and Assistant City Attorney Robinson. AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Approval of minutes from the meeting of May 7, 1998. • Commissioner Silvia moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of May 7, 1998 as written. Commissioner Lightfoot seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5-0). AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: Consideration of a Final Plat for South Hampton, Phase 1, located in the southwest quadrant of Nantucket Drive and State Highway 6, currently zoned PDD-H Planned Development District -Housing. (98-206) Graduate Engineer Kaspar presented the staff report and stated that this phase has 8.81 acres and is divided into 20 single family lots. The plat reflects all conditions approved as part of the PDD-H zoning granted earlier this year. He said that special attention should be given to the engineering comments relative to water, sewer and drainage in this particular case. Water would be provided by Wellborn Water Supply Corporation, sewer will provided through the impact fee line approved recently by City Council and a variance to the drainage easement width is pending before the Zoning Board of Adjustments. The property making up the master planned area of South Hampton was annexed in 1996, rezoned to R-1 Single Family in 1997 and then to PDD-H in 1998. The PDD-H district ties the developer and any subsequent developers or owners to the master plan as it was approved with any and all conditions. The master plan approved as part of the PDD-H zoning shows larger lots ranging from approximately 1/4 to 1/2 acre. Sidewalks would be required on both sides of Bay and Cranberry Court. They are also required on both sides of Windrift Cove down to Cranberry Court. The subdivision will be all overland drainage • conveyed in rear lot channels. There will be some inlets and storm drainage pipes to convey water from the streets to these channels. All surface runoff from this subdivision will ultimately discharge through P&Z Minutes May 21, 1998 Page 1 of 4 TxDot culvert near Bay Street and into Alum Creek. Parkland dedication will be paid in the amount of $225 per lot or $4500 prior to the filing of the final plat. • Staff recommended approval of the final plat, with the following conditions: 1. All off-site easements are filed for record prior to construction or prior to filing the plat, whichever occurs first. 2. The impact fee line design must be completed and approved with all necessary easements granted, or an alternate sanitary sewer service provided, prior to the filing of the final plat. Commissioner Gribou said that the sidewalks were not included on the plat. Mr. Larry Wells, Developer, was present to answer any questions. Commissioner Gribou moved to recommend approval of the Final Plat with staff comments and the addition of sidewalks to the plat. Commissioner Parker seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5-0). AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: Establishment of parking requirements for College Station Business Center. Senior Planner Sabine McCully explained that in the past there have been site plans brought before the • Commission for industrial uses to establish parking requirements. It has become a problem with timing when the applicants have to get parking requirements established by the Commission. Staff holds predevelopment meetings in which staff explains requirements to the applicants. In some cases the developer will have a conceptual site plan at these meetings and staff can not help them determine the parking requirements. The developers then cannot continue developing their site plan until the parking has been set at a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. Ms. McCully said that there is an increase in development in the Business Center and staff felt that having established parking guidelines would help speed up some of the development. She explained that the City adopted the Business Center Covenants and Restrictions which include some parking requirements that are not actually included in the Zoning Ordinance and are not established requirements. Staff recommended that the following four uses be assigned the following parking requirement: 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) The above ratios were taken directly from the Business Center Covenants and Restrictions. The requirements exceed the average parking demand that was generated in a study conducted by ITE for • similar uses. Ms. McCully said that these requirements could also help in other areas such as the R&D Zoning District and M-1 Light Industry. The above four uses would ordinarily be brought before the P&Z Minutes May 21, 1998 Page 2 of 4 Commission for each individual site plan. The Conference auditorium recommended would be the same as the movie theater parking requirements, the wholesale display would be the same as either the office or retail requirements, and the manufacturing or assembly would be two times the storage/warehouse • requirements. In reference to the Research and Development, there are very few if any parking requirements based on number of employees. If the number of employees is documented in the file and if it changes to the point where there is a parking problem, staff can address the problem. Ms. McCully said that she felt comfortable setting the recommended requirements. This item would not have to get Council approval because the Zoning Ordinance allows the Planning and Zoning Commission to set parking standards either on a site by site basis or for the entire zoning classifications. Commissioner Gribou asked why it would be beneficial to the City to establish research and development requirements based on number of employees verses total square footage. Ms. McCully explained that she had no real preference of which way to do it. The number was pulled from the Business Center Covenants and Restrictions. Mr. Gribou had concern for what the tracking of employees would involve. Ms. McCully said that staff would document the number of employees at the time of approval and would only look into it again if there was an overflow parking problem. Chairman Massey asked if this would bind the City in a negative way if some other business comes in that would better benefit from square footage rather than number of employees. Ms. McCully said that if these are established it would be relied on. The Commission could set a requirement based on square footage and an additional per employee as determined by Commission. Mr. Massey explained that he did not want to get into a situation where if needed the requirements would bind the City without having some type of input. • Ms. McCully said that the recommended requirement for manufacturing is higher than recommended by the studies. She also said that the requirements could be more restrictive and the developer could come back to the Commission if they have special circumstances. Commissioner Gribou expressed his concern that most employees in this community drive to work and he felt that one space per employee would only cause problems. He suggested to require more spaces than not enough. Ms. McCully said that staff could look into this item. Commissioner Lightfoot also suggested that the location should also be taken into consideration. He asked if this would be guidelines or and actual ordinance. Ms. McCully said that this would basically be setting the requirements. The intent of establishing these requirements would be handed out with the ordinance requirements to developers at the time of the predevelopment meeting. Some of the complaints stemmed from developers during the initial plan because they have no guidelines to follow. Ms. McCully suggested that the numbers could be set as guidelines initially and then the developer could come back to the Commission for approval. AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: Other Business. Chairman Massey said that the City Council asked for input from the Commission to help them in discussions at their retreat to discuss budget, strategic issues and funding for projects. The • Commissioners agreed that community enhancement, Wolf Pen Creek, landscaping and gateways were their main ideas. P&Z Minutes May 21, 1998 Page 3 of 4 The workshop will be tentatively scheduled for July 2,1998. The Commission is awaiting new appointments for the Commissioners whose terms are expiring. Staff felt that it would be more beneficial if the workshop were held after all appointments were made before the meeting. • AGENDA ITEM NO. 11. Adjourn. Commissioner Gribou moved to adjourn the meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Commissioner Parker seconded the motion which passed unopposed (5-0). ATTEST: Staff Assistant, Debra Charanza ,~ U • P&Z Minutes May 21, 1998 Page 4 oj4