HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/28/2020 - Joint Minutes - Planning & Zoning CommissionAugust 28, 2020 City Council / P&Z Joint Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 6
MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL / PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION JOINT WORKSHOP
August 28, 2020 9:00 a.m.
Phone: 888 475 4499 and Webinar ID: 950 3984 9384 Internet: https://zoom.us/j/95039849384
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Karl Mooney, Linda Harvell, John Crompton, John Nichols, Bob Brick, Dennis Maloney COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Dennis Christiansen, Elizabeth Cunha, Joe Guerra, Bobby Mirza, Bill Mather COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Jeremy Osborne CITY STAFF PRESENT: Jennifer Prochazka, Jeff Capps, Jeff Kersten, Molly Hitchcock, Alyssa Halle-Schramm, Treston Rodriguez, Jason Schubert, Carla Robinson, Mary Ann Powell, Tanya Smith, Barbara Moore, Brian Piscacek, Lisa McCraken and Kristen Hejny
1. Call Meeting to Order, Pledge of Allegiance, Consider Absence Request.
Mayor Mooney called the Council to order at 9:03 a.m.
Chairman Christiansen called the Commission to order at 9:04 a.m.
2. Joint Workshop Agenda
2.1 Presentation, discussion, and possible action on the Next 10 project and the Comprehensive Plan 10-Year Evaluation and Appraisal Report.
Alyssa Halle-Schramm, Planning & Development Services, gave an overview of the draft
Comprehensive Plan 10-Year Evaluation and Appraisal Report. The purpose of an
Evaluation and Appraisal Report is to serve as a “checkup” by identifying the long range Comprehensive Plan’s successes and shortcomings and recommending appropriate modifications in response to changing conditions. College Station’s Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2009. It is meant to be a “living document” and recommends that the City
undertake regular evaluations and updates, including a thorough review every five years.
Now 10 years into the plan, the City undertook a major effort to evaluate the plan, consider recent growth and best practices, and identify needed updates to the City’s policies.
Jamie Green and Michael Curtis, project consultants from Planning NEXT, stated that this process began in June of 2019 with stakeholder and focus group interviews and the
formation of a Comprehensive Plan Evaluation Committee (CPEC). The CPEC has
provided guidance throughout the process and is comprised of three representatives each from the City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission, along with seven citizen representatives. The current draft report is the culmination of many months of staff and
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CPEC review, analysis, and multiple rounds of community and stakeholder input. The
report features a list of potential strategies and actions, contains a set of considerations for future map changes, and summarizes the community and stakeholder input. The report serves to prepare the City for an update to the plan, which will begin following the report’s acceptance. City staff will draft update amendments, which will be
made available for public feedback and will go through the public hearing process at
future Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council meetings. Formal Comprehensive Plan updates are expected in 2021.
Council Member Crompton expressed concerns for the plan as it fundamentally applies to the City’s budget and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm stated that other departments have been engaged as it applies to their programs and policies within the plan. Ms. Halle-Schramm stated that the plan helps guide private development decisions and private dollars.
Council Member Crompton expressed a desire to renovating areas of the community, and shifting to home ownership from rental property. Mr. Crompton would like to see more emphasis on reviving existing neighborhoods and incentives for resuscitation of existing neighborhoods.
Commissioner Guerra made a comment specific to the scenarios areas that were tested for public input. He recommended not pursuing scenario five and that each scenario should have its own neighborhood or district plan. Mr. Guerra also stated specific to the Post Oak Mall, that a redevelopment plan be created. Mr. Guerra would also like to include the Brazos Valley Transit Organization in any future redevelopment plans for the mall property.
Chairman Christiansen suggested engaging the Texas A&M University (TAMU) System in the discussions. Mr. Christiansen stated that he thought Northgate was a missed opportunity in not making that a scenario planning area or future planning effort.
Mayor Mooney stated that the plan must address rental housing and that there are many unknowns in how living and development patterns have and will continue to change due to COVID-19. He suggested that the City track these trends and may need to incorporate the impacts or increased
vacancies into future plans.
Council Member Crompton stated that road capacity of TAMU cannot be increased, and there is a major need to remove automobile use or have alternative transportation options within one mile of
campus. The meeting recessed at 10:04 a.m.
The meeting resumed at 10:16 a.m.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm and Michael Curtis, Planning NEXT,
gave an overview of the organization of the 10-Year Evaluation and Appraisal Report.
Council Member Harvell stated need to keep the “heart of TAMU” in the vision statement along with “the heart of Aggieland”.
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Council Member Brick suggested adding the term multimodal in the new goal language for Chapter
6 to read , a “well-connected multimodal mobility system”.
Commissioner Guerra would like to see the chapter title changed from Transportation to Mobility.
Chairman Christiansen stated that vision and goals are being confused and not specific enough to
know when a desired objective has been achieved.
Council Member Brick would like to see all bullet points from the existing vision statement incorporated in the proposed vision, and each bullet pulled together as a synopsis.
Council Member Harvell supported Council Member Brick’s point.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm presented the recommended changes to the Land Use Categories.
Mayor Mooney suggested not using the word “centers” for Urban Center and Neighborhood Center, but something more apparent.
Mayor Mooney asked if Restricted Suburban and General Suburban land uses, now referred to Suburban Residential, will still hold their own restrictions.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm clarified that land use categories are broad uses, and there are still two distinct zoning districts.
Commissioner Guerra expressed concerns with the proposed category name of “Employment Center” and its effects on recruiting new businesses and talent to the area.
Council Member Harvell agrees with revising the name “Employment Center”, and continuing with “Business Park”.
Council Member Crompton asked why the “Urban Residential” category would not be call high
density multi-family.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm clarified that this category name is meant to reflect urban character not necessarily the housing type, and staff is trying to get away from one to
one naming matches with the zoning districts. The high density multi-family zoning district is called MF Multifamily.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm stated that the Mixed Residential category is meant to be a scaled down category between Urban Residential and Suburban Residential land uses and serve as a transition between the two or between suburban and commercial uses.
Council Member Brick suggested that a period of transition from old titles to new titles, and an example sheet should be provided to Council, Commission and the public.
Commissioner Guerra spoke on his sketch level analysis in regards to concerns with combining the Restricted Suburban and General Suburban land uses and implications it may have with increasing traffic and utility demands.
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Council Member Crompton asked for a summarization from Commissioner Guerra’s sketch level
analysis, and from Ms. Halle-Schramm, as it applies to policy change.
Commissioner Guerra stated that increasing the densities may require added capacity projects to meet infrastructure needs.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm stated that staff are recommending to group similar land characters into one category, while both zoning types may be allowed, they may not be appropriate.
Assistant City Manager Prochazka made a distinction between land use and zoning, stating that staff does not want our future land use map to look like a zoning map. Ms. Prochazka further stated that land use plans allow for several zonings within each category.
Council Member Maloney asked how staff let applicants know if a development will not be compatible in an area.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm clarified that staff is discussing land use, not zoning. Ms. Halle-Schramm stated land use prescribes types of uses appropriate for an area, does not prescribe what is allowed on a property today, which is zoning.
Council Member Crompton expressed concerns about the use of distribution data from the public input phases. Mr. Crompton further questioned the number of respondents to re-evaluate the Suburban Commercial and General Commercial locations.
Council Member Harvell expressed a desire to see respondent numbers.
Council Member Brick stated that Suburban Commercial land uses were intended to act as a buffer between residential and commercial developments, and questioned why the Suburban
Commercial would be turning into General Commercial. Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm clarified that Suburban Commercial changes
to General Commercial would not be city wide, they would be considered on case-by-case basis as staff evaluates updates to the Future Land Use map.
The meeting recessed at 11:28 a.m.
The meeting resumed at 12:07 p.m. Mr. Curtis resumed the presentation with future planning area prioritization. The proposed future planning areas list was developed from input from the public and the Comprehensive Plan Evaluation Committee. Mayor Mooney expressed concerns with the Wellborn Road and George Bush Drive area
being part of the future planning areas. Future planning will need to be based on the timing of the George Bush Drive / Wellborn Road TxDOT grade separation project.
Council Member Crompton expressed no interest in exploring alternatives for Southside and the George Bush Drive corridor, but rather protecting and enhancing the existing area.
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Council Members Nichols and Maloney agreed with not exploring alternatives for the
Southside/George Bush Drive corridor. It was clarified that scenario area six is not being recommended for future planning efforts in the draft Report.
Council Member Crompton would like to see the plan include street construction funding.
Council Member Brick would like a conceptual outline of future roadways incorporated into plans brought before Commission and Council.
Transportation Planning Coordinator Schubert explained that the Thoroughfare Plan includes future build out of the road network. Mr. Schubert also explained that developers will also complete portions of a thoroughfare or road section within private developments as that project develops. Chairman Christiansen expressed agreement with providing funding reality for street/roadway construction. Commissioner Guerra stated that TxDOT has been commissioned to do a feasibility study and route study of the future I-14 Corridor. Mr. Guerra explained that TxDOT considers this a priority project using State Highway 6 as a route for freight traffic, stating that future I-14 needs to connect to the B/CS inner loop, more specifically connecting to State Highway 6.
Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm and Transportation Planning Coordinator Schubert presented the Strategic Action Highlights to the Council and Commission, focusing
on proposed changes to Chapters 2 - 10. Council Member Crompton wanted clarification on whether this is a community wide character
effort, or only focus on the six areas. Long Range Planning Administrator Halle-Schramm stated that this is a community wide effort. Council Member Crompton expressed his support for the neighborhood toolkit, but would like an incentive/resuscitation or neighborhood enhancement tool for neighborhoods. He would like to see the language in Chapter 3 strengthened. The meeting recessed at 1:08 p.m. The meeting resumed at 1:15 p.m.
Mayor Mooney opened the public hearing. Charles Coats, College Station, stated he is with College Station Habitat for Humanity. He briefly explained that he was encouraged by Chapter 3.5 Strategic Action that states “Develop and refine data monitoring processes to analyze housing trends and define a strategic set of actions to address housing affordability, diversity, and gentrification.” Mr. Coats expressed that this looks
like affordable housing is in the planning process but expressed concern that College Station residents will be pushed out because they cannot afford living in College Station. Mayor Mooney closed the public hearing.
Council Member Crompton expressed concerns that existing Chapter Five needs to be rewritten
and updated.
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Council Member Maloney expressed that FEMA maps are behind and also need to be updated,
possibly included in a policy.
Council Member Crompton asked for clarification on the traffic impact analysis (TIA) process conducted by private developers.
Transportation Planning Coordinator Schubert stated that the Thoroughfare Plan is intended to be calibrated based on the future land uses for the future build out of College Station. Mr. Schubert stated that private developers have the opportunity to upgrade as needed at a later time.
Commissioner Guerra stated that staff should coordinate with the Brazos Valley Transit District, and they should be mentioned in actions regarding transit.
Chairman Christiansen stated TAMU transit operation has expressed interest in partnering with Brazos Valley Transit District.
Transportation Planning Coordinator explained that the regional partnerships will involve TAMU.
Mayor Mooney asked staff to keep the I-14 and the 214 loop included in the plan in Chapter Nine.
Council Member Crompton would like to remove scenario area six (George Bush across from Texas A&M along the Southside community) from redevelopment.
Transportation Planning Coordinator Schubert clarified that scenario area six was evaluated during the public input phase and is not listed for redevelopment nor included in the areas for future planning efforts in the Report.
3. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 2:03 p.m.
Approved: Attest:
______________________________ ________________________________ Dennis Christiansen, Chairman Kristen Hejny, Admin Support Specialist Planning & Zoning Commission Planning & Development Services