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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ 1990-11-08 Minutes . MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS NOVEMBER 8, 1990 - 7:30 P. M. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Mark Wood at 7:30 P.M. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary Members Alt. Member Dir. Community Dev. P & Z Coordinator Mark Wood James Brock David Barfield Don Bowen. Don Collins Pat Marin George Angle Barry LeBaron Wanda Calvert ABSENT: Ron Lueck In the absence of Mr. Lueck, the alternate will vote. . CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 15, 1990 Ms. Marin made the motion to approve the minutes as written. This motion was seconded by Mr. Bowen and the motion carried 7-0. 1 . PS 90-26 Request of His Image Ministries, Inc. for Replat of Lot 6R, Block 1, Nob Hill North Addition. This property is located at the southwest corner of Precinct Line Road and Amundson Drive. John Zimmerman, Engineer, came forward to represent the applicant. He stated they needed about 50 feet for parking. Mr. Zimmerman stated they don't have any building plans at this time, but it was a condition of the sale of the property that they plat it into a buildable lot. Chairman Wood stated that item 1 of the City Engineer's letter stated they needed to replat both lot 6 and 7. He asked Mr. LeBaron if that had been withdrawn. . ~ ~ Page 2 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Mr. LeBaron stated that after visiting with the applicant, the staff withdrew that comment. He said all other comments have been complied with. PS 90-26 APPROVED Mr. Bowen made the motion to approve PS 90-26. This motion was seconded by Mr. Barfield and the motion carried 7-0. 2. PZ 90-15 Public Hearing for request of E. K. Arledge to rezone Lot 4, Block 1, North Richland Hills Station Addition, from C-1 Commercial to C-2 Commercial. This property is located on the south side of Bedford-Euless Road between First Church of Christ Scientist and La Quinta Motor Inn. . Chairman Wood opened the Public Hearing and called for those wishing to speak in favor of this request to please come forward. Mr. Arledge came forward. He said he had owned this property since 1979. He said it was a pig farm at that time and he hauled dirt out and hauled dirt in to make it what it is today. Mr. Arledge said Hertz had it leased for 10 years and when they left, he found out that in 1984, the City of North Richland Hills had updated their Zoning Ordinance and classifications and made his Commercial zoning C-1 instead of C-2. He said they gave C-2 to his neighbor, the First Church of Christ Scientist property. Mr. Arledge said the City was very cooperative and made an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to allow him to have a new car dealership on his property. He said the new car dealership had a 10 year dealership, but could not get the cars he needed so he gave back the Daihatsu dealership. This was North Loop Dodge. . ~ ~ ~ ~ Page 3 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Mr. Arledge said he could get a new car store that would put their used cars on this lot, but the city would not allow that. He said he has talked to three car rentals but they will not sign a lease without the zoning. . Mr. Arledge said he was close to the management with Hertz and they asked him to select sites in different towns and lease them to Hertz. He said in every city, the property carries the zoning except for North Richland Hills which is granted to the individual. Mr. Arledge said he has quality establishments and has had no complaints from the neighbors or the city. He said that over the past 11 years he has paid over $300,000 to the various government entities and to his knowledge, he has never made a demand to the police, fire or the school system. Mr. Arledge said he is requesting C-2 zoning. He said the Highway Department plans to build a 44 foot high embankment next to this property. Mr. Arledge said he talked to everyone that received a letter, and he has a letter from everyone except for the 4 Star Motel whose owner is out of town. He said the La Quinta manager signed. Mr. Arledge said he is also asking for the Commission to grant a Specific Use permit to his corporation, E. K. Arledge, Inc. He said he would have asked for this, but was told he had to have a tenant. Mr. Arledge said there are places in North Richland Hills that the owner of the property has the Specific Use. He said he would have no problem getting the neighbors' approval because he doesn't throw paper cups and beer bottles in the neighbor's yards and run cars through their property. . ~ ~ Page 4 p & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Chairman Wood asked Mr. Arledge to give the letters from the neighbors so they could be entered into the record. Mrs. Calvert stated she had two calls from neighbors: 1. Rose B. Cory, 4800 Maple-said she is in favor of the zoning request, said she sure didn't want anymore restaurants. 2. Mrs. Kenny Reeves, 4800 Ash Street-said they are in favor of the zoning change. She said the car lots on Mr. Arledge's property had all been nice and she had much rather have a car lot as to have a restaurant there. Chairman Wood stated he also had a call from Mrs. Reeves who said both she and her husband are in favor of this request. . Mr. Collins asked if the neighbors are supporting a car lot there, not the C-2 zoning. Mr. Arledge said you have to have C-2 zoning to have a car lot. He said he would like to have the C-2 zoning like the church, then he would like to have the Special Use Permit. He said he has had a car lot, car leasing or car rental on that lot since 1979 and he found out one morning he was illegal. Chairman Wood said C-2 Special Use Permit is not C-2 zoning, Special Use is a zone within itself. He said the idea of getting this zoning and then joining with the church and sell as a useable lot is not valid, it would be two different zones. Chairman Wood said if you wanted a different use than the Special Use, you would have to come back for a straight C-2. Mr. Arledge asked if he got a C-2 Zoning and then a Special Use Permit, does that void the C-2. . Page 5 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Chairman Wood said it qualifies it. He said Special Use is listed on the Zoning Map as a separate zoning. Mr. Arledge said he plans to use it for a car lot or car ~ental, but if someone wanted to buy it for something listed in C-2, such as a automotive tire store, he would want to be able to sell to them. Chairman Wood said he just wanted him to understand that C-2-Special Use does not allow all uses of C-2 zoning. Mr. Arledge said he did not understand it that way, that was not the way the City Staff explained it to him. Chairman Wood said we may need some legal council on this. . Ms. Marin asked what the neighbors said in their letters; did they agree to C-2 zoning or did they agree to a car lot. She asked how the letters are worded. Mr. Arledge said the letters say C-2 zoning, but he was talking to them about car sales. Mr. Bowen said he was of the opinion that the Specific Use was restricted to the Specific Use and he would like to have a legal answer to that. . Mr. Roy Garner came forward. He said he lives in Fort Worth but is a member of the First Church of Christ Scientist Church and is here to represent the members of the church. He said he has a speech he would like to read: "The members of First Church of Christ Scientist, 7904 Bedford Euless Road, wholeheartedly support the rezoning request of our next door neighbor, E.K. Arledge. Since our property is zoned C-2, we feel that it is only fair and just that Mr. Arledge's property be zoned C-2 as r- ~ Page 6 p & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . . well. We feel that it would be in our best interest from a growth perspective, for the committee to approve the request, and recommend it's approval to the City Council. For over five years, this church has tried unsuccessfully to sell it's property next door to Mr. Arledge. We are anxious to sell our property so that we can begin construction of our new church building on our property on 820 close to Holiday Lane. I can assure you, that just as soon as our property sells, we will begin our building project. In addition, most commercial enterprises will not consider the purchase of our property due to the narrow width of our lot. It would make good sense, however, to a commercial enterprise to consider purchasing the two lots together. We believe the property would sell quickly, if both lots were zoned C-2. The frontage (185 feet) and size (over 55,000 sq. ft.) of the combined lots easily meets the minimum requirements of most fast food franchises and convenience stores to name just a few prospects. However, neither lot by itself meets the minimum requirement of 117 feet of frontage. Rezoning Mr. Arledge's lot to C-2 would insure the integrity and enhance the appeal of a combined lot. We strongly recommend approval of the zoning change request. I would like to close my statement by adding that I spoke today with the owners of All-Star Inns, our next door neighbor on the other side. Mr. Frank Buler, VP and General Counsel for All Star Inns of America, authorized me to inform Mr. Arledge and this committee that they have absolutely no objection to the requested zoning change, either." . Chairman Wood called for anyone wishing to speak in opposition to this request to please come forward. ~ ~ ~ ~ Page 7 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . There being no one, the Chairman closed the Public Hearing. Chairman Wood said the Special Use Permit was not asked for in the letters to the neighbors, but they have been talked to. Mr. Bowen said he felt we would not be broadening the use, but would be restricting the C-2. He said he would be in favor of attaching the Special Use Permit to the C-2 request and also recommend this to the council. Ms. Marin said she would also agree to that. . Mr. Barfield made the motion to approve PZ 90-15 and recommend it be sent to the City Council for a Special Use Permit for a Car Sales facility or Car Leasing facility. Chairman Wood said he is against Used Car Sales. He asked if his motion was a Special Use for a Car Rental or Car Leasing agency. Mr. Barfield said yes and a Car Sales. Chairman Wood said this has not been discussed. He said we would need to clarify this. Chairman Wood said he is against a Used Car Lot at this location. Mr. Barfield said that is what they had when Hertz was there, they would lease or sell the cars. . Mr. Arledge said Hertz sold used cars but they could not be older than 5 years. He said he knows what Mr. Wood is thinking about, the places on Belknap Street. Mr. Arledge said he would not want that kind of a Used Car Lot either. He said he would like to be able to sell 7 year old cars since cars are so expensive now. ~ ~ ~ ~ Page 8 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . PZ 90-15 APPROVED Mr. Barfield said he would amend his motion to approve PZ 90-15 and allow the Specific Use for Car Leasing, Car Rental, and Car Sales for New and Used Cars no older than 5 years. This motion was seconded by Mr. Angle. Mr. Bowen said he would like a clarification to see if the Special Use is a restriction prior to going to council. Chairman Wood said his op1n10n is he can do only what the Special Use says, you can not do the rest of the things in C-2, but Chairman Wood said he would yield to the opinion of the City Attorney on that. . Mr. Angle said he feels somewhat constrained because these neighbors do not want another restaurant and if we give him C-2 he could put a restaurant there. Mr. Barfield said he can have a restaurant in C-1. Chairman Wood said there are a few other things listed in C-2 that we might want there. Mr. Bowen said putting the two small pieces of land together would eliminate some of the permitted uses. Chairman Wood said there are two other C-2 pi~ces down the road and there is a Car Leasing place down the road. Ms. Marin said the neighbors have written, saying they are in favor of C-2. The motion carried 6-1 with Mr. Collins voting against. . ~ ~ ~ ~ Page 9 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . 3. PZ 90-11 POSTPONED 7/12/90 Public Hearing for consideration of an Amendment to Zoning Ordinance #1080 regarding rear yard building line regulations in Residential Zones. . Chairman Wood stated that Mr. LeBaron on city staff has gone to great pains to prepare and present to us informative information regarding this subject. Chairman Wood said they had several meetings and discussions on this subject. He said this is a lengthy document explaining the need for an Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance in R-l, R-2, R-3, R-4-SD, R-I-S, R-6-T, R-8 and AG Districts. Chairman Wood said it states that no main building may be constructed nearer that 10 feet to the rear property line and no main building may be constructed within any easement area. It also states that 20% of the total lot area shall be reserved as an open space in the rear portion of every yard. The open space shall extend from one side property line to another side property line and abut the rear property line. No part of the main building may be constructed so as to occupy any portion of the open space rear yard. Chairman Wood said this wording will be in each of the residential zones. He said Mr. LeBaron has prepared a very lengthy and extensive analysis of this issue including charts and graphs and drawings of lot sizes and dimensions of house sizes and how they would have to be put on the lot to maintain the 20% of the lot for rear yard. Chairman Wood opened the Public Hearing and called for anyone wishing to speak to please come forward. . There was no one present to speak so the Chairman closed the Public Hearing. ~ ~ ~ " Page 10 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Mr. Barfield said he agrees completely with the plan for rear yard, but would like one clarification, he would like a stipulation of what the rear yard is, it would be that portion of the yard that falls behind the furthermost right rear corner of the house and the furthermost left rear corner of the house. Mr. Barfield said it is shown that way in the drawings, but there is no wording to that. Chairman Wood asked Mr. LeBaron how we could tie this document down. Mr. LeBaron said it would be made a part of the Zoning Ordinance. He said this ordinance would be an Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. He said the drawings would not be a part of the ordinance, but would be used for administrative interpretation. . Mr. LeBaron said in regard to the wording Mr. Barfield mentioned, you could insert language of "and not protrude the two extreme corners of the main structure". PZ 90-11 APPROVED Mr. Bowen made the motion to approve PZ 90-11 to amend the Zoning Ordinance with the addition of the clarification that Mr. Barfield mentioned. This motion was seconded by Mr. Brock and the motion carried 7-0. 4. PS 90-30 Public Hearing for consideration of an Amendment to Subdivision Ordinance #1579 regarding the requirement of Masonry or Concrete Screening Walls along major Thoroughfares. . Chairman Wood said this issue has been discussed numerous times and is now in the stage to recommend something to council. He said the desire and intent is in new subdivisions coming into the city whether or not to require some type of quality masonry or combination masonry/wrought iron fencing along major thoroughfares, and ~ ~ ~ ~ Page 11 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . if so, what standards to require, which subdivisions, and what size streets to require them on. Chairman Wood said they need to decide whether to require it or not, or if you build it, here's the standards, but if you say you don't have to build it, sooner or later, someone, probably the homeowner, with build a fence there. Will we require him to build one according to these standards. He said each homeowner with have a different idea of what should be there and how it should be built and there might be gaps in the fence. Chairman Wood opened the Public Hearing and called for those wishing to speak to please come forward. There was no one present to speak so the Chairman closed the Public Hearing. . Mr. Barfield said he thinks we should have some sort of masonry screening fences along public thoroughfares and collector streets. He said it does a tremendous job of sound control in the subdivision. Mr. Barfield said he would like to see this requirement for subdivisions on collector streets of 4 lanes or greater. He said the fences usually last about as long as it takes to sell the last lot. He said we need to have more control on what kind of fences are built and how they are built. Mr. Barfield said he felt the Commission needs to spend considerable time on this subject, we need to really study it, maybe continue this Public Hearing, so we can come up with a good ordinance on this. Chairman Wood said they need to study the thoroughfare map to see what size street to require this on. He said we have some very detailed construction standards entered into this ordinance. . ~ ~ Page 12 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Mr. Angle said he would like to postpone this until the staff and P & Z could study this further. PS 90-30 POSTPONED Mr. Angle made the motion to postpone indefinitely PS 90-30. This motion was seconded by Mr. Brock. Chairman Wood said he would like to check with our sister cities to see what controls they have on screening fences. Mr. LeBaron said it might be a good idea, in visiting other cities, to take some slides of the different kinds of fences. Mr. Angle said to make a request to Cable 36 to take video tape. He said that would be easier to see. . Chairman Wood said we would probably need to shoot for a meeting in January to bring this item back up. The motion carried 7-0. 5. PS 90-31 Consideration of Comprehensive Plan Work Program. Chairman Wood asked Mr. LeBaron to explain this. . Mr. LeBaron said on priority of the City Council is to update the Comprehensive Master Plan. He said the last Plan was done in the mid 80's. He said he feels the circumstances have changed and the City warrants an update. Mr. LeBaron said in some of P & Z's workshops last year, you discussed dividing the city into 5 sectors. He said he felt we could cover the 3 northern sectors in one year, but a project this size would probably require two years. Mr. LeBaron said we could appoint a committee from each sector to study the needs of that sector. ~ ~ Page 13 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Mr. LeBaron said, also you had discussed hiring a planning consultant to get professional expertise into this project, visit with the neighbors in these sectors, and incorporate all this into s Sector Plan. He said at the end of all 5 sectors, the Consultant would put all 5 Sector Plans into one Comprehensive Plan for the City. Mr. LeBaron said the Work Program we have outlined for you would look at the economic base of the community, the housing conditions, the land use, thoroughfares, neighborhood analysis, development controls, the things you just mentioned regarding fences, and urban design. . Mr. LeBaron said it would be only as good as your citizen input to give you what you need regarding the needs and desires of the community. He said a good Comprehensive Plan gives you the information you need to make good sound decisions for the community. Mr. LeBaron said he would like to take this Work Program and any other ideas the Commission might have to the City Council as a recommendation to them. He said it is a project the City Council approved in their Budget Worksession. Chairman Wood asked about the Citizen Advisory Committee of people in each sector; how would they be chosen; would they be chosen by the council. . Mr. LeBaron said he just suggested 5, but it could be any number. He said anytime you are going to have planning sessions, you should advertise and get as many people there as we can from the sector. He said in some cities, they have a Planning Advisory Committee chosen from anywhere in the community, but if you have the city divided into sectors, you need people chosen from that sector. ~ ~ Page 14 P & Z Minutes November 8, 1990 . Mr. LeBaron said we would like to get this put on the next council agenda for approval and we could get started right after the first of the year. He said with the holiday season, it would be hard to get started before January. Mr. LeBaron said if you want to use the Citizen Advisory Committee approach, you need to decide if you want to handle this as an appointed group by P & Z, the Councilor jointly. Chairman Wood said this is usually handled by the Council. He said they will need to decide how they want to do that. PS 90-31 APPROVED Mr. Brock made the motion to approve PS 90-31. This motion was seconded by Mr. Angle and the motion carried 7-0. . ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:35 P.M. Chairman Planning & Zoning Commission Secretary Planning & Zoning Commission .