HomeMy WebLinkAbout12_December
PLANNING &
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
NEWSLETTER
Building a Better Community with You
P OPULATION : T HE D ECEMBER POPULATION ESTIMATE IS 117,774
2017 YEAR IN REVIEW 1
STAIRWAY HANDRAILS 2
BUILDING INSPECTIONS 2
RESIDENTIAL PERMIT TOTAL 3
ADOPTED REVIDIONS TO THE CITY’S
OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS
3
BUILDING PERMIT TOTAL 4
TRACKING THE NUMBERS 5
BUILDING PERMIT CHARTS 5
CITY OF COLLEGE STATION STORMWATER
PROBLEM AREAS
6
Inside this issue:
PO Box 9960
1101 Texas Avenue
College Station, TX 77842
979-764-3570
Fax: 979-764-3496
www.cstx.gov
DECEMBER 2017
2017 Year in Review
Planning & Development Services
Closing out one year and preparing for the next provides the perfect oppor-
tunity to reflect on the accomplishments of 2017. While 2017 had its share
of challenges, I am pleased to report that we continued to push forward with
our mission of “Building a better community with you”.
Staff reviewed and approved construction projects valued at over $439 mil-
lion in 2017. That number is the second highest on record and speaks vol-
umes about the health and vitality of the local economy. A summary of
some of our other development-related accomplishments are provided be-
low:
Issued 1,533 building permits
Updated the City’s Thoroughfare Plan to align with the Metropolitan
Planning Organization (MPO) 2050 Concept Map
Inspected over $40 million of infrastructure (Capital Improvement Pro-
gram projects and private development)
Processed 16 Comprehensive Plan Amendments
Processed 35 Rezonings
Processed 14 Preliminary Plans
Processed 89 Final Plats
Reviewed and approved 77 Site Plans
Hosted over 80 pre-application conferences (follow-up surveys revealed
a satisfaction rate of over 90%)
Performed 18,525 building inspections
Lastly, with the support of the City Council and Planning & Zoning Com-
mission, we made substantial progress on the Commission’s Plan of Work
by processing 11 amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance spe-
cifically designed to “reduce regulations and streamline the development
process”.
What an amazing year! Best wishes to you and yours as we enter 2018!
Lance Simms
Director of Planning & Development Services
Page 2/December 2017/www.cstx.gov
Stairway Handrails
The provision of handrails increase the level of safety when occupants of a
residential home use the stairways. Section 311.7.8 of the 2015 Interna-
tional Residential Code addresses the requirements for installing handrails.
Handrails are used for guidance, stabilization, pulling and to assist in stop-
ping a fall. This code section states that a handrail must be provided on at
least one side of flights of stairs consisting of four or more risers. Where
handrails are required, they must be installed at a height within the limits
of at least 34 inches and not more than 38 inches measured vertically to the
top of the handrail from the nosing of the stair tread. Also, handrails must
be continuous for the length of the flight of stairs. Where stairways are
separated by landings or floor levels, handrails are not required. The term
“continuous” means not only that a single handrail must run from the top
riser to the bottom riser, but it also indicates that users should be able to
grasp the handrail and maintain their grasp without having to release the
rail for the whole flight of stairs. If you have any further questions contact
the City of College Station Building Division at 979-764-3570.
Brian Binford C.B.O.
Building Official
MONTH BUILDING PLUMBING ELECTRIC MECHANICAL LAWN SIGN POOL TOTAL
JANUARY 434 283 251 267 38 13 7 1,293
FEBRUARY 508 353 314 225 46 23 11 1,481
MACRH 725 492 388 325 49 27 12 2,018
APRIL 662 424 389 270 53 23 14 1,835
MAY 706 432 423 388 96 18 14 2,077
JUNE 566 400 459 349 85 12 21 1,892
JULY 673 501 420 443 194 26 28 2,285
AUGUST 520 327 248 319 141 28 17 1,597
SEPTEMBER 261 197 201 175 55 18 20 927
OCTOBER 366 292 277 223 58 28 12 1,206
NOVEMBER 355 227 184 147 51 21 15 1,000
DECEMBER 284 260 161 150 33 17 6 911
TOTAL 6,060 4,188 3,666 3,281 833 254 177 18,525
BUILDING INSPECTIONS:
Page 3/December 2017/www.cstx.gov
Our residential permit types have been combined in the Building
Permit Totals table on the following page. The table below provides
additional details to show the Residential Subtypes.
Residential Permit No. of Permits Issued Valuation
Single-Family (Detached) 35 $8,211,027.33
Townhomes 98 $11,477015.00
Duplex 3 $772,168.00
Adopted Revisions to the City’s Off-Street Parking Requirements
On August 24th, City Council adopted revisions to College Station’s off-street parking regulations. These revi-
sions are meant to provide flexibility for developing properties to increase their economic development viability
by reducing the regulatory barriers that contribute to underutilized parking areas. To accomplish this goal, the
ordinance amendment enacted the following changes:
For shopping centers, the restriction that only 25% of a shopping center could be used for intense us-
es was eliminated. The result of this change is that the parking requirement for shopping centers will
be based on a set ratio of 1 space per 250 square feet for General Commercial, Suburban Commercial
and Wellborn Commercial properties and 1 space per 350 square feet for Commercial Industrial
properties regardless of the land uses of the tenants that occupy them.
A new demand-based parking option now allows commercial and multi-family properties to propose
an alternative parking plan based on the demand they generate. This reduction in parking would need
to be justified with a parking study prepared by a professional engineer or transportation planner.
The distance eligibility requirements for which a site can propose providing shared or off-site park-
ing increased from 250 feet to 500 feet.
To assist the development potential of smaller sites, a general reduction of two parking spaces was
granted by exempting an amount of floor area from parking requirements for certain non-residential
uses. This reduction provides an extra 585sq. ft. to 774 sq. ft. of site flexibility depending on parking
configuration.
For large sites, the City eliminated the requirement that developments over 120 parking spaces must
choose between one of three parking lot concepts provided in the UDO. The City’s normal parking
requirements now also apply to large sites.
After studying the multi-family parking requirements for its 16 peer cities, College Station reduced
the parking requirement for a 2 bedroom multi-family unit from 3 parking spaces to 2 parking spaces.
The text for these parking changes can be found at http://cstx.gov/index.aspx?page=3841 and questions or clari-
fication regarding any of these new changes can be directed to Justin Golbabai, Planning Administrator at
jgolbabai@cstx.gov or by calling 979-764-3826.
BUILDING PERMIT TOTALS
Month of December 2017 Month of December 2016
Type of Permit Permit Unit Total Sq. Ft.Heat Sq. Ft.Amount Permit Unit Amount
COMMERCIAL ACCESSORY 1 0 399 0 $15,000.00 6 0 $334,785.00
COMMERCIAL NEW 6 0 221,748 215230 $29,251,600.00 2 0 $1,250,000.00
COMMERCIAL TENANT
FINISH-OUT
0 3 1 $539,999.00
DEMOLITION 7 7 0 0 $0.00 19 53 $0.00
MULTI-FAMILY 0 1 15 $960,000.00
OTHER STRUCTURES 1 0 0 0 $6,240.00 0
POOL 3 0 0 0 $131,400.00 3 0 $97,000.00
REMODEL / RENOVATION 16 119 112,740 104129 $2,420,740.00 30 24 $3,149,837.00
REROOF 5 0 0 0 $32,600.00 4 0 $28,000.00
RESIDENTIAL 136 139 346,547 267973 $20,460,210.33 52 57 $10,177,898.30
RESIDENTIAL ADDITION
ATTACHED
2 0 360 0 $12,950.00 5 3 $72,000.00
SIGN 11 0 0 0 $0.00 15 0 $0.00
SLAB ONLY 16 0 0 0 $228,800.00 1 0 $3,680.00
TOTALS 204 265 681,794 587,332 $52,559,540.33 141 153 $16,613,199.30
January 01, 2017 - December 31, 2017 January 01, 2016 - December 31, 2016
Type of Permit Permit Unit Total Sq. Ft.Heat Sq. Ft.Amount Permit Unit Amount
ACCESSORY 0 22 6 $571,228.26
ADDITION 0 24 14 $4,529,640.00
COMMERCIAL ACCESSORY 22 0 24,460 0 $744,806.06 12 0 $546,228.43
COMMERCIAL ADDITION
ATTACHED
4 0 22,419 3,825 $4,944,513.00 1 0 $100,000.00
COMMERCIAL NEW 42 60 902,879 670,539 $137,800,475.00 40 540 $156,626,312.00
COMMERCIAL TENANT
FINISH-OUT
22 1 57,265 46,057 $3,057,362.61 42 6 $16,449,648.00
DEMOLITION 80 140 0 0 $0.00 116 551 $0.00
MULTI-FAMILY 41 1210 1,678,001 1,271,004 $105,651,875.71 60 1148 $139,178,867.18
OTHER STRUCTURES 3 0 0 0 $143,942.29 7 0 $280,986.00
POOL 66 0 0 0 $3,665,680.00 86 0 $5,304,630.00
REMODEL / RENOVATION 181 622 1,883,258 1,584,686 $24,950,359.80 431 707 $46,957,459.00
REROOF 93 0 0 0 $984,532.54 88 0 $1,450,246.35
RESIDENTIAL 659 717 1,836,234 1,485,441 $116,650,279.67 807 904 $148,552,250.71
RESIDENTIAL ACCESSORY 41 5 25,750 7,954 $1,399,995.70 28 2 $733,414.98
RESIDENTIAL ADDITION
ATTACHED
30 9 20,206 9,522 $730,960.00 19 9 $452,239.00
SIGN 135 0 0 0 $0.00 186 0 $0.00
SLAB ONLY 114 0 881,206 0 $39,056,778.57 260 0 $11,463,047.00
TOTALS 1533 2764 7,331,678 5,079,028 $439,781,560.95 2229 3,887 $533,196,196.91
Page 4/December 2017/www.cstx.gov
Tracking the Numbers
New Single-Family Homes:New Commerical:Total Permits:
YTD - 1 yr YTD - 2 yr
- 15%- 30%
YTD - 1 yr YTD - 2 yr
5%- 28%
YTD - 1 yr YTD - 2 yr
- 31%- 29%
Year-to-date, single-family home permits
experienced a decrease in quantity when
compared to last year at this time, December
2016, and decreased when compared with two
years ago, December 2015.
Year-to-date, new commercial permits
experienced an increase in quantity when
compared to last year at this time, December
2016, and decreased when compared with two
years ago, December 2015.
Year-to-date, total permits experienced a decrease in
quantity when compared to last year at this time,
December 2016, and decreased when compared with
two years ago, December 2015.
Page 5/December 2017/www.cstx.gov
Page 6/December 2017/www.cstx.gov
City of College Station
Stormwater Problem Areas
Storm sewers are designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surfaces
such as paved roadways, driveways, parking lots, or roof tops. The City of College Station
has an expansive storm sewer system that spreads throughout the City and discharges to
several of our waterways. This system has many benefits such as roadway safety, reduced
flooding, replenishing our creeks, etc.
However, the neglect or misuse of this system can be detrimental. By state law, only storm
water (rain water) is allowed in storm drains or roadside ditches. Exceptions would need to
be discussed with your local Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) coordinator,
Debbie Stickles On construction sites, debris buildup and illicit discharges can be common
if the proper awareness is lacking. Three large culprits in our area are paints, sediments and
construction debris.
When construction sites show signs of paint or related chemicals in the storm sewer system,
an investigation must be done to determine how far the paint’s impact may have reached.
This often causes delays in Letters of Completion or Certificates of Occupancy. Extensive
damages can lead to fines and legal penalties at both the city, state and federal levels.
Chemicals in paints, paint thinners and related substances, can cause harm to aquatic and
plant life, offensive odors, public health concerns and visually unappealing water ways.
Construction debris can be as harmful as chemicals in waterways, since many times the de-
bris is chemically treated for building purposes. Exposure to large amounts of water then
allows this construction debris to leach out the applied chemicals. Large construction debris
can also cause blockages in the storm sewer system or
local waterways, which can lead to localized flooding.
Sediment and silt are the largest culprit in the develop-
ment community. Much of the College Station area
has a large content of clay soils. Clay soils are known
to have longer suspension times in waterways. Large
amounts of this sediment can cause turbidity or cloudi-
ness in the water. This can be a death sentence for
much aquatic life, as it kills off their plant food source
and suffocates the proper oxygen levels from the wa-
terway. As with construction debris, large amounts of
sediment cause obstructions in the storm sewer system
or local waterways which can lead to generalized
flooding.
Helpful Impacts at the Worksite
Keep harmful chemicals under cover and away storm drains and waterways.
Use and repair silt fencing and related best management practices (BMPs) as needed.
Maintain a clean worksite. Provide proper disposal areas and methods.
Divert stormwater away from the construction site or into designated detention areas.
Educate your workers and subcontractors about stormwater pollution and prevention.
Reinforce stormwater education at pre-construction and safety meetings.
Never throw anything down a storm drain. ONLY RAIN DOWN THE DRAIN
For more information, please contact Debbie Stickles at dstickles@cstx.gov or Caroline
Ask at cask@cstx.gov.
Figure 2: Erosion and Sedimentation Control Is a
Must. 2013. West Chester. Erosion and Sedi-
mentation Control Is a Must. Web. 8 Sept. 2017
Figure 1: It’s a Crime How
Some People Treat Our Water-
ways. N.d. CleanWater-
Ways.org. Dumping into Storm
Drains. Web. 8 Sept 2017