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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/02/2020 - Regular Minutes - Comprehensive Plan Evaluation Committee MINUTES COMPREHENSIVE PLAN EVALUATION COMMITTEE Wednesday, September 2, 2020, 6:00 PM Virtual meeting via Zoom COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Brian Bochner, Michael Buckley, Elizabeth Cunha, Shana Elliott, Joe Guerra, Lisa Halperin, Linda Harvell, Dennis Maloney, John Nichols, Jeremy Osborne, and Julie Schultz COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Brad Brimley, Clint Cooper CITY STAFF PRESENT: Assistant City Manager and Interim Director of Planning and Development Services Jennifer Prochazka, Assistant Director of Planning and Development Services Molly Hitchcock, Transportation Planning Coordinator Jason Schubert, Long Range Planning Administrator Alyssa Halle-Schramm, and Staff Assistant Robin Macias 1. Call the meeting to order. The meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m. 2. Consideration, discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes. • August 11, 2020 There were no changes made to the minutes. 3. Presentation and discussion of the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission joint workshop held August 28, 2020. Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm gave a presentation regarding the discussion and changes from the joint City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission workshop. Vision Statement Added “the heart of Aggieland” back into the vision statement. The group did not want to lose the content that is currently shown in the bullets of the existing vision statement. Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm explained that the new proposed goals of each chapter reflect these points and will be grouped together in the introduction section of the Comprehensive Plan update. Proposed Names for Future Land Use Categories From discussions during the joint workshop, the following changes were considered to the proposed Future Land Use category names. Commercial Areas Business Park will be changed to Business Center Neighborhood and Residential Areas No changes to Urban Residential and Mixed Residential The group spent time discussing the combination of Restricted Suburban and General Suburban into one category called Suburban Residential. This is meant to reflect the character of suburban-style single-family residential development patterns. Changes in density will be analyzed with the Future Land Use map update and vetted with the appropriate City departments and staff to analyze utility and transportation impacts. Community Choices Workshop The group requested that the raw numbers of participants from the workshop be included instead of the percentages. This will be updated in Appendix F and the Report. Future Planning Areas (in priority order) The group suggested an additional planning area for consideration in the Southwestern area within the City west of railroad and generally south of Rock Prairie Rd (this area can be better defined at a later date). This has been incorporated into the report. 4. Presentation and discussion of the Evaluation and Appraisal Report. Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm presented the redlined changes in the Evaluation and Appraisal Report. Chapter 3 At the joint workshop, participants requested a greater emphasis on existing neighborhoods and efforts to protect those areas. Staff made the following changes to address those concerns: - Action 3.3 – Strengthened language in the action regarding a new housing maintenance educational program - Action 3.4 – NEW - Created a new action to focus on expanding affordable housing and workforce housing and moved the bullet points from the previous 3.6 action because they better aligned with the new 3.4 action, which included potential initiatives such as removing potential barriers to affordable housing within the UDO standards, considering preapproved plans, and potential incentives or workforce housing capital pool programs. - Action 3.7 – Clarified the language to acknowledge that the City already tracks neighborhood change and can share / utilize this data more effectively - Action 3.9 – NEW – Added to recognize the importance of partnering with local nonprofit organizations and area partners to support affordable housing options Chapter 6 - 6.6 - The group discussed the importance of the transit funding partnerships. This item was moved to the list of strategic actions.  There was concern that the current wording focused solely on providing transit to underserved populations. While this is needed, transit should be inclusive and accessible to all populations to be effective, not just students and underserved populations. There was a suggested wording edit to include “students, underserved populations, and the general public.” - 6.7 – NEW - Added an item to prioritize programs and improvements that will reduce vehicular demand, particularly in areas adjacent to campus. - 6.2 – There was a question from the CPEC committee regarding the requirements of traffic impact analyses from the MPO. Transportation Planning Coordinator Jason Schubert explained that this is discussed in action 6.12 Chapter 9 - 9.11 – Interstate Loop 214 was included in the list per suggestion at the joint workshop. There was concern regarding the lack of discussion of what areas student housing should be in. Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm stated that we have been looking at this indirectly through the discussion of providing a variety of types of housing and mixed residential land use categories. 5. Presentation and discussion outlining next steps in the Evaluation process. Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm gave a presentation regarding the next steps. • The report will be going to the Planning and Zoning Commission on September 17, 2020 and to City Council on September 24, 2020 • If the report is accepted by Council, staff will begin drafting the recommended updates and bringing those amendments forward for public input and consideration by Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. 6. Adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.