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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/02/1986 - Joint Minutes City CouncilMINUTES City of College Station, Texas CITY COUNCIL AND ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT JOINT WORKSHOP Tuesday, December 2, 198S 7:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Ringer, Councilmen Bond, Tongco, Jones and Haddox ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT PRESENT: Members Julien, Ruesink, Swoboda, McGuirk and Gilmore STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Cole, Assistant City Manager Ragland, City Secretary Jones, City Attorney Locke, Zoning Official Kee, Assistant Zoning Official Johnson, Assistant Director of Planning Callaway and Planning Technician Volk AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Orientation and General Discussion of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Mayor Ringer called the meeting to order and asked each participant to introduce himself. He explained that when citizens find their property or project has unusual circumstances and unique characteristics which preclude following the zoning ordinance to the letter of the law, they have the right to appeal that law through the Zoning Board of Adjustment. He continued by explaining that the role taken by this Board can be stringent, that is tight and exactly follow the letter of the law, it can be loose and lenient and allow variation from the ordinance in every case, or it can (and hopefully will) find somewhere in the middle of the two extremes to make its decisions. He informed all present that the Zoning Board of Adjustment had at a previous workshop asked Council to consider amending the zoning ordinance in order to address some specific problems, and the Council had made the decision to leave the ordinance as it stands with the Zoning Board of Adjustment to hear and act on individual cases. Mr. Haddox stated that the decision was made not to change the ordinance due to the difficulty and time involved in so doing, and although the Council did not want others to think it was "passing the buck", it believes the Board of Adjustment should act in the spirit to accept the job of making exceptions. He continued by saying that the object of the ordinance is to make the City a nice place to live, that is, clean and uncluttered, but there are certain rules which exist which do cause hardship to some people, and possibly exceptions can be considered by the Board while it still maintains the "spirit of the ordinance". He went on to say that the Council certainly understands the Board does not have an easy job to do, and it appreciates the Board's willingness to serve the City. Mrs. Jones stated that Chairman Meyer had indicated the Board is having e problem deciding "special conditions" and "unnecessary hardship". She pointed out that what the Council wants the Board to do is to factor in the human element when considering special circumstances and to use discretion and not to strictly interpret the letter of the law. Mr. Swoboda stated that the previous ordinance had included a phrase "special condition of the land" to be considered, but this ordinance changed that wording, adding that perhaps that is causing the problems the Board is now having. 1 q05966 Mr. Gilmore stated that he basically agrees with Mrs. Jones, explaining that the Board has denied some requests, but has granted more than it denied, but explained there is no way to lock in the meaning of the word "hardship" or "special condition", therefore each case must be considered on an individual basis, adding that he is not uncomfortable with making a decision. He went on to explain that the Board was given the impression that the Council thought the Board did not know what it was doing, and he wanted to assure the Council that is not the case. Mayor Ringer replied that he does not think that at all. Mr. Raddox agreed, adding that when Mr. McGuirk appeared before the Council at the last workshop it sounded like perhaps he was interested in how the Council feels about the ZBA's actions and decisions. He explained that Council is concerned about maintaining "zoning" regarding planned development, but at the same time it does not want over zealous enforcement, and if it is correct that the ZBA is granting more variances than it is denying, it seems to be acting in the spirit Council favors. Mr. McGuirk explained that he has no problem with making decisions. Re explained that although he does not want to tell a citizen "No", he has to sometime, and in almost all cases heard, decisions to either grant or deny have been unanimous decisions. He added that if the Zoning Code is to have any meaning at all, the City must be prepared to say "No" sometime, and then explained the several steps he takes in making a decision regarding a variance request, which include asking what will happen in the future if this request is granted, is the decision consistent with those made in the past, would granting a variance be precedent-setting and if so, is the precedent one the City wants to live with, and most of all, the Zoning Board of Adjustment must live up to the law, that is to follow the guidelines set by statutes in making decisions. Mr. McGuirk then stated that the reason the ZBA went to Council regarding one particular sign issue was because it looked like the issue was one which will come up l0 or 20 more times in the future, and if a variance would have been granted in this one case, a precedent would be set. Re explained that in this case, he would have to vote against granting a variance, but that he would consider allowing the sign under a different stricture. Mrs. Tongco explained that each year there could be a new Council, and the ordinances simply cannot be changed to accommodate the opinions of each council. She stated that for the ZBA or the P&Z to make certain decisions takes those actions out of the political area and puts them back into the hands of the citizens. She further explained that certain decisions can be made for one particular piece of property, but that decision would not make it necessary for the Board to act the same way in deciding on a different piece of property. Mr. Haddox stated that if there is a hardship and a special situation which require a variance, and if there are 5 other cases which are absolutely identical to that particular one, then in his opinion there should be 5 more variances, but added that he does not see that such decisions would destroy a zoning code. He added that in the particular case in question, he does not think a variance would be detrimental to the City. Mr. McGuirk explained that when a variance is worded it is done on a legal form and includes listing the special conditions and the unnecessary hardship the applicant faces if the variance is not granted. He continued explaining that the biggest problem the Board has is to get the applicant to identify the special conditions and unnecessary hardship he will have. 05967 Mayor Ringer stated that if 15 or even 75 people in the City have the same problem it would not constitute a special condition, but if care is taken to cover the special conditions in the wording of a variance, he is not concerned if the ZBA happens to be granting a large percentage of the requests heard. Mrs. Tongco added that if the results of voting are split it should not be considered a problem either. Mr. Haddox advised the Board to do the best that it can do and to not worry about the consequences, as even no action at all can cause problems, and if as a group, a decision can be made, action should be taken without worrying whether or not the entire City will be adversely affected. He then asked if there is any specific thing in the zoning ordinance the Board thinks should be changed to make it a better ordinance. Mr. McGuirk replied he is disappointed in the section of the ordinance which addresses the Northgate district, adding that he thinks the ZBA handled variances better than the P.R.C. will be able to handle them, as the P.R.C. is rather in the middle of the political arena. He pointed out that the new ordinance section gives no parking relief to that area at all. Mr. Bond pointed out that the Northgate area is special, and there can be no answer to the parking problems due to the proximity of the University to that small, intense business area. He added that most any college town has the same type of problem. Mayor Ringer agreed that in all probability there is no ideal solution to the problems in the Northgate area. Additional general discussion followed regarding the subject sign, with Mayor Ringer summarizing by asking the ZBA to be reasonable, to use the best judgment possible but at the same time to keep in mind the general thrust and purpose of the zoning ordinance while relying on good judgment, and further to try to rule in favor of cases where there are special conditions which would create a hardship for the applicant if a strict enforcement of the ordinance is followed. Both Council and ZBA concurred that this is what should be done, and apparently is what is being done. AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: Adjourn. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned after ascertaining there was no further discussion. APPROVED: ATTEST: Chairman, ~,erothy~eyer City Secr~ry, Dian Jones 005968