HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA 1982-09-09 Minutes
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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE CITY
OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, HELD
SEPTEMBER 9, 1982 - 7:00 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman,
H. B. Helton, at 7:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT:
CHAIRMAN
SECRETARY
MEMBERS
H. B. Helton
Jack Roseberry
E. K. Hahn
Martin Erck
Jesse Range
MAYOR PRO TEM
COUNCILMAN
COUNCILMAN
COUNCILWOMAN
BUILDING OFFICIAL
P & Z COORDINATOR
Jim Ramsey
Richard Davis
Harold Newman
Marie Hinkle
Bill Rice
Wanda Calvert
CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES
OF JULY 8, 1982
Mr. Erck moved, seconded by Dr. Hahn, to approve
the minutes as written.
This motion carried 3-0 with Mr. Range and
Mr. Roseberry abstaining since they were not
present at that meeting.
CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES
OF AUGUST 19, 1982
Mr. Range said there needed to be a correction on
Page 7, the vote should be 4-1 instead of 5-1.
Mr. Range moved to approve these minutes with this
correction.
This motion was seconded by Mr. Erck and the motion
carried 5-0.
1. BA 82-12
Request of Glenview Hospital to vary from the Zoning
Ordinance #179 on Tract 9V, Abstract 1606, W. w.
Wallace Survey, to be allowed to construct a hospi-
tal and related structures to a maximum height of
seven (7) stories instead of the two and one-half
(2t) story restriction in Local Retail zoning.
This property is located on the west side of Booth
Calloway Road and is bounded on the west by North
Hills Mall.
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Jim Saylor, Administrator for the hospital, came
forward. He said they are requesting a variance
for seven (7) stories. Mr. Saylor said they plan
to build four (4) stories in Phase I and in the
future, they would add the other three (3) stories.
Mr. Roseberry asked Mr. Rice what the height restric-
tion was for Commercial zoning.
Mr. Rice replied there was no height restriction in
Commercial zoning.
Mr. Roseberry said since this is a buffer, he wondered
if they had considered a zoning change.
Mr. Saylor said everything is correct for the Local
Retail zoning except for the height.
Dr. Hahn asked how far back from Booth Calloway Road
it would be.
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Mr. Saylor said the rise would start approximately
260 feet back from Booth Calloway.
Mr. Roseberry asked Mr. Saylor if he had any drawings
of the project.
Mr. Saylor showed the Board some preliminary drawings
of the project.
Dr. Hahn asked how many feet high they plan to go.
Mr. Saylor said they would not go more than 107 feet
high.
Mr. Range asked when they planed to build the other
three (3) stories.
Mr. Sayor said it would depend on when North Richland
Hills becomes 60 to 70 percent developed.
Dr. Hahn asked Mrs. Calvert if there had been any
correspondence regarding this request.
Mrs. Calvert said she had not received any.
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Mr. Erck said he went out to this area and picked
8 or 10 houses at random and asked the owners their
feelings about this hospital. He said all were in
favor of the hospital except one and he was worried
about the traffic.
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September 9, 1982
The Chairman opened the Public Hearing and called for
those wishing to speak regarding this request to please
come forward.
Jo Godsey, 7805 Arnold Terrace, came forward. She
said she was not opposed to the hospital being built
there, but was opposed to them building some now and
some later. Ms. Godsey asked that they build a shell
and complete it as needed. She said she did not like
the noise, dust and mess caused by construction.
Mr. Saylor said he would like to build a shell build-
ing, but there is a restriction from the State. He
said the State ruled against building a shell building.
Mr. Saylor said they will be operating all four (4)
floors while they will be constructing the additional
floors. He said the noise is usually when they are
doing the foundation; the addition would be the lighter
work.
Mr. Erck asked for an estimate of how they would decide
when the other addition would be done.
Mr. Saylor said when the 150 beds would run 85 percent
occupancy, they could go back to the State and say
they needed the other three (3) floors.
Mr. Erck asked if they would ask the State for all
three (3) floors at one time.
Mr. Saylor said they would.
Mr. Range asked if they would have sufficient parking
spaces for the seven (7) stories.
Mr. Saylor said they have planned for 318 parking
spaces. He said they have approximately 30 acres
they can use.
Mr. Roseberry asked if the hospital was privately
owned.
Mr. Saylor said it was. He said they own several
hospitals in this area: in Hurst, Arlington, Fort
Worth, PIano, Mansfield and McKinney. He said they
have 15,000 employees in Texas.
Mr. Helton said he felt the parking was valid, but
the Board needed to stick with the variance request.
He said he was sure the parking would be taken care
of when they applied for a building permit.
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September 9, 1982
Patrick Asher, 7800 Randle Drive, came forward. He
said he lives at Randle and Booth Calloway. Mr. Asher
said he was not against this request. He said he had
rather have a hospital there instead of apartments.
Mr. Asher asked Mr. Saylor to show where the hospital
would be located on Booth Calloway Road.
The Chairman called for anyone else wishing to speak
to please come forward.
There being no one wishing to speak, the Chairman
closed the Public Hearing.
BA 82-12
APPROVED
Dr. Hahn made the motion to approve BA 82-12 as
requested.
This motion was seconded by Mr. Range and the motion
carried 5-0 with the following vote recorded: Hahn,
yea; Range, yea; Erck, yea; Helton, yea; and Roseberry,
yea.
2.
BA 82-14
Request of the Chasewood Company to vary from the Zon-
ing Ordinance #179 on Tract 2D and portions of Tracts
2A and 2B4, Abstract 1606, W. W. Wallace Survey, to
vary from the parking requirement for apartments and
allow the overall square foot floor space average of
750 square feet for the entire 10 acres instead of
the required 750 square feet per building.
This property is located on the west side of Reynolds
Road, bounded on the north by Lewis Drive and the
TESCO right-of-way.
Mr. Michael Hope, Vice President of Chasewood Company,
which is an affiliate of Tramel Crow, came forward.
He said they are requesting 750 square feet average
for the total project and the parking space require-
ment changed from 2, to 1.6 per unit. Mr. Hope said
they were asking for these variances in the hope they
could duplicate their projects as shown in the bro-
chures presented. He said he had Joe Crook, Architect
for the project, and Ronald Perry, Engineer for the
project, with him and he would have them speak.
Joe Crook came forward. He said they plan 198 units
with an average of 754 square feet on this 10 acres.
He said their main concern was people, consideration
of the people who will live here, by using the cluster
concept with as much green area as possible and keep-
ing their parking and circulation areas on the peri-
meter. Mr. Crook said in this particular tract, they
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have tried to keep most of the parking and circula-
tion to the west side away from the high school and
only enough parking on the Reynolds Road side to
accommodate those units that are on that street.
Mr. Crook said the project would consist of all two
story buildings with masonry and siding and with
heavy asphalt roofing.
Mr. Crook said they could have identical buildings
with the same unit types within the buildings and
still have a varied design. He said with the cluster
design and turning the buildings perpendicular to each
other not only creates privacy, but it also adds to
the design interest. Mr. Crook said they also have
nice landscaping.
Mr. Roseberry asked what the smallest and the largest
units would be.
Mr. Crook said the smallest unit would be 518 square
feet and the largest would be 1021 square feet.
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Mr. Roseberry asked how many of the 518 square feet
size there would be.
Mr. Crook said 68 which was 35 percent. He said there
would be approximately 60 percent one-bedroom units,
and 40 percent two-bedroom units.
Mr. Crook said if you would consider the 729 square
feet units as being closest to your 750 square feet
average, they only have four (4) buildings of the
smaller units that are substantially different from
yours.
Mr. Roseberry asked if there would be any three bed-
room units.
Mr. Crook said there would only be one and two bedroom
units because that is what the market demands.
Mr. Crook said with the variance in design, it does
not appear that there are 8 or 16 units which are
identical.
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Dr. Hahn asked about what percentage Mr. Crook said
the one and two bedroom units were.
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September 9, 1982
Mr. Crook said he could give him some exact numbers.
He said the one bedrooms would figure 61.9 percent
and the two bedrooms would figure 38.7 percent.
Mr. Erck asked what these apartments would rent for.
Mr. Crook said he wasn't sure.
Mr. Hope said they would start at about the high 40's.
Mr. Erck asked what that would be broken down to.
Mr. Hope said it is $40.00 per square foot per month.
Dr. Hahn said Mr. Crook was showing his plan as he
would like it to be and asked what if the Board did
not choose to grant the request, what would be their
changes.
Mr. Crook said in the mix of different type units, it
would present some difficulty in blending the build-
ings. He said from an architectural and planning
standpoint, nothing is impossible, but from the con-
struction dollar and budget and what their market
needs are for this project, that would be up to
Chasewood to decide.
Dr. Hahn said he noticed there was just one swimming
pool, located at the south end of the project, and
asked if there was some reason for its location and
for not having two (2) pools.
Mr. Crook said their preference for their leasing
and social facilities is on the street exposure.
He said this concept which they have developed over
the past three years has been very successful.
Mr. Roseberry asked if these apartments would be
metered separately.
Mr. Crook said they would be.
Dr. Hahn said he noticed a change in the site plan
which shows an entrance onto the access road.
Mr. Crook said at the time they prepared the site
plan the Board has, they did not know it would be
possible to have an entrance on the access road.
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Mr. Erck said he lives in this area and he wondered
if the developer was aware of the traffic problem
that exists at Rufe Snow and 820. He said there
would also be a safety problem with children from
the apartment complex walking over to the high
school.
Mr. Hope said this would be an adult apartment com-
plex and they would not have that problem.
Mr. Roseberry said as he remembers, the Board granted
a similar variance on the size of the apartments to
the ones located across from the Tarrant County Junior
College. He said at that time he had some doubts
about it, but to his knowledge, they have not pro-
duced any problems.
Mr. Helton said the Board did not reduce the parking
spaces.
Mr. Roseberry said they granted the square footage
request, but denied the parking request.
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Mr. Helton said parking has always been a problem.
Mr. Range asked if the beautiful brochure of Hunters
Ridge was basically the same as is proposed for this
area.
Mr. Crook said it was.
Mr. Ronald Perry, Engineer for this project, came
forward. He said if this project is built, Lewis
Drive will be constructed to Rufe Snow. Mr. Perry
said they contacted the highway department and they
saw no problems with the entrance to the access
road. He said they see no great problem between
traffic coming from the site and the traffic that
might be coming into the area or leaving from the
area.
Dr. Hahn asked why he would think that with the
addition of a high density to the area that there
would be no difference.
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Mr. Perry said during peak hours, this site is pro-
posed to generate approximately 93 cars being spread
over a one hour period which is just a little bit
over one car a minute. He said the other reason is
if the cars are going east or west, they are going
820 by the way of the access road. Mr. Perry said
the traffic from this project would probably go
down the access road to Rufe Snow.
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September 9, 1982
Mr. Roseberry said he had noticed the road that
previously lead from Reynolds Road in front of the
school property to Holiday Lane has been closed
off, so you must now go to Rufe Snow. He asked
if the City closed it.
Mr. Rice said the state closed it.
Dr. Hahn said there is basically one way to get out
of these apartments, which would be going west to
Rufe Snow.
Mr. Perry said that would be right.
Dr. Hahn said no one would want to go east on
Lewis Drive and get involved in the school traffic.
He asked if they had been out there to see the amount
of traffic generated at peak hours.
Mr. Perry said they had not, but the time most would
be leaving the apartments would be before the school
traffic began and after school was out in the evening.
Dr. Hahn asked if they had considered the other
developments that will be built later to the west
and north of this site.
Mr. Perry said they have not made a traffic study,
but may at a later date.
Dr. Hahn asked if they owned the property to the west.
Mr. Hope said they had an option on another 10 acres
to the west.
Mr. Perry said they did a study for the Chasewood
Company on actual parking space demands, some with
the same social and economic demands as the one
proposed for this site. He said they also covered
other types of apartment complexes, higher and
lower ranges, to see if there was any difference
and there was not. Mr. Perry said these are actual
counts during the week, late at night, and they also
checked them on the weekends and during the day. He
said they found the parking demand was heavier from
12:00 to 4:00 in the morning during the week.
Mr. Perry said the following chart shows the highest
peaks of parking found. He said these are actual
counts of the occupied spaces, apartments occupied,
and parking space demand.
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APARTMENT
Chaparel Creek-Irving
Hunters Ridge-Ft. Worth
Witsonian-Mesquite
Town Oaks-NRH
ac. SP.
482
282
168
340
APT. OC.
346
241
135
238
PK. SP.
1.39
1.17
1.24
1.34
Mr. Perry said this accounts for cars, motorcycles,
boats, etc. parked there.
Mr. Range asked if the low parking space average was
caused from single adult apartments.
Mr. Perry said it was not, these figures were mix-
ture apartments.
Mr. Perry said his client was requesting a variance
from the 2.5 to l.6 parking spaces, which is higher
than any shown in this study. He said they are
interested in providing adequate spaces, but not
more than would ever be needed. Mr. Perry said
they would put it into green space.
Mr. Roseberry asked if 1.6 was all they could provide
or could they sacrifice some green area and provide
the required spaces.
Mr. Hope said with their concept, they would not build
if they could not get a variance for at least 1.75.
He said they were interested in supplying the demand
needed for the project.
Dr. Hahn said a few years ago due to a fire, he and
his family were forced to live in the Town Oaks
Apartments complex for four months and he said he
found the parking totally unacceptable. He asked
Mr. Rice what the required size is of our parking
spaces.
Mr. Rice said 9 feet by 20 feet.
Dr. Hahn said he felt more parking would be a selling
point. He asked if these would be asphalt parking
lots.
Mr. Perry said they would be concrete.
Mr. Range asked Mr. Rice if there had been a trend
to change the parking requirement in other cities or
does our ordinance exceed that of other cities.
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Mr. Rice said some have 2.5 requirement and none
smaller than 2.0.
Mr. Perry said they have done projects in approxi-
mately 10 Texas cities and some in Oklahoma and this
City's parking requirement, whether proper or improper,
exceeds that of any place they have seen. He said
Fort Worth requires one and one-half spaces, Dallas
1.7, and the most excessive requirement in this area
is Carrollton which requires two spaces per unit. He
said most places figure about 1.6 to 1.75 spaces per
unit.
Mr. Helton asked Mrs. Calvert if there had been any
correspondence.
Mrs. Calvert said there had not been any.
Dr. Hahn asked if there had been any consideration to
widening Reynolds Road.
Mr. Rice said he had not heard any.
Mr. Helton said if they park on both sides of Reynolds
Road, it would make it a one-way.
Mr. Rice said that would have to come from the Police
Department.
Mr. Range said he thinks we all share a mutual con-
cern about the traffic congestion at that corner,
with the construction in the area, but with the com-
pletion of Rufe Snow, it should make it considerably
better. He said he goes through the light at 6:15
every morning and 4:15 in the evening and he goes
right through, but he realizes that at certain times
of the day, you have a time getting through.
Dr. Hahn said with the new mall and the other added
construction on both sides of Rufe Snow, it is going
to be a problem.
Mr. Erck said he was concerned about how much more
could be put in those few square miles, with the
retail, restaurants, and now apartments.
The Chairman said he would like to direct the Board's
attention back to the requests that were made, about
the parking spaces and square footage of this complex.
The Chairman called for anyone else wishing to speak
to please come forward.
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Jim Ramsey, 4604 Lariat, came forward. He said
he is the Mayor Pro Tem of this fine City.
Mr. Ramsey said he was here to urge the Board to
not grant these variances. He said he was here to
represent the Mayor who was out of town himself.
Mr. Ramsey said he was against having apartments
directly in front of the high school. He said that
transit dwellings are not conducive to a good envi-
ronment for a high school. He said he found out from
the Police Department that the five recent drug busts
were all from apartments. Mr. Ramsey said he realizes
that under the present zoning, it is going to be very
difficult for the City Council to stop this legally,
but they should be aware that when the Council reviews
the plat later this year, the Council will go over it
for minute details.
Mr. Ramsey said these apartments will cause a tremen-
dous parking problem for Richland High School. He
said there are from 100 to 200 cars parked each day
on this property where the proposed apartments are
to be built.
Mr. Roseberry said he was curious why the school has
not provided parking and why the use of that land has
been allowed, not only for parking, but also a race
tract which goes unnoticed by our Police Department.
Mr. Ramsey said he and Mr. Davis have discussed this
with the School Board. He said the Police do patrol
this area because he gets complaints from parents of
school children who have received tickets. Mr. Ramsey
said they are wanting to know why the Police are out
in a field giving parking tickets, and you must keep
in mind when they are out there, it takes them away
from patrolling the streets.
Mr. Ramsey said that in May, the last month of school,
28 percent of the parking tickets issued in this City
were given around that high school to high school kids.
Mr. Ramsey said he realizes this company is a first
class company, judging from their plans and brochures,
and if he were going to build apartments, these would
be the ones he would turn to. However, he said, you
would think that with their expertise they should be
aware of the existing problems and be willing to
cooperate with the city's ordinances.
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Mr. Ramsey said there is something else they have
not thought about. He said some of those high
school students will use the apartment parking during
school hours and this will cause problems with the
apartment tenants, and they will be calling the Police
who are already burdened with problems.
Mr. Ramsey said in viewing the photographs of the
apartments, he was not sure if they would meet the
75 percent masonry requirement; if not, they would
need another variance which would have to be brought
before the Council. He said this variance would not
be granted.
Councilman Richard Davis came forward. He said he
lives at 7108 Shauna, just south of this proposed
development. Mr. Davis said he was not against con-
trolled development in this City, and he was all for
spreading the tax base out because when you spread
the tax base out, his taxes would go down. Mr. Davis
said he was concerned with the quality of apartments
to be built.
Mr. Davis said the Board mentioned granting some
variances to other apartment complexes in the city.
He said he lived in University Plaza apartments and
the parking was terrible.
Mr. Davis said he was concerned with the view this
would be from the freeway and the view the high school
would have. He said he was also concerned that there
is proposed five entrances on Reynolds Road. He said
all the entrances shown on this plat except the one
on Lewis and the one on the access road will be dumping
out on Reynolds. Mr. Davis said Reynolds Road is not
a collector street; it was built a 31 foot street, a
50 foot right-of-way. He said they will be dumping
93 or 95 cars onto it.
Mr. Davis said Rufe Snow is bad and he is not sure it
will ever get better. He said we are building a nice
street there and he is proud of it and he is also
proud of the development in the area, but with develop-
ment there will be increased traffic.
Mr. Davis said we cannot tell the School Board they
need to build more parking. He said if they see the
need, it would be their problem. Mr. Davis said they
do have some land on the northeast corner of the high
school, which they use for band and practice fields.
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Mr. Davis said he was a Richland High School student
at one time and he parked in that field many times.
He said they have been using that field for parking
for over 10 years. Mr. Davis said he sure hates to
have to give high school students parking tickets
because it is not their fault the school doesn't
provide enough parking, but if apartments are built
here, the City would have to protect the rights of
the tenants if some students park there.
Mr. Davis said the gentlemen has already said if they
do not get at least 1.75 parking space variance, it
would not be feasible to build. Mr. Davis said that
was okay, because our forefathers had set these ordi-
nances and they studied and felt that 2! parking
spaces would be adequate for the growth of this City.
He said he did not care what the other cities have.
Mr. Davis said if this apartment complex is to be
built in this City, let's make it the very best.
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Mr. Davis said he was not speaking as a Councilman,
he was speaking as a future parent who will someday
have a kid in that school.
Mr. Davis said he appreciated the individuals on this
Board who are giving of their time to serve on this
Board; to come and listen and make decisions as they
do, but he said he would urge them to look very strong
at these variance requests. Mr. Davis said he was
not against apartments.
Mr. Davis said the gentleman said the small apartments
would be in the upper 40 range per square foot and
that would roughly be only about $207.00 per month.
He said that is not a very expensive apartment.
Mr. Davis said his house payments are three times
that much.
Mr. Davis said they need to consider if these apart-
ments would be an eyesore to 820.
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Mr. Davis said he understands this Board is not here
to address the zoning of this property which was
granted many years ago, but if they are going to
build in this zoning, they need to be sure it is
something the City needs and can be proud of. He
said Town Oaks apartments have run down and they
also have drug problems.
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Mr. Range said the Zoning Ordinance is 15 years old
and the reason for this Board is to adopt changes
or grant variances when the need arises. He said
he understands there is work being done on writing
a new ordinance, and he asked if Mr. Davis knew if
there would be any changes relative to these two items.
Mr. Davis said they have not gotten that far yet. He
said he had two work sessions with the Planning and
Zoning Commission and they worked on the outline and
the classifications, but they plan to have the new
ordinance ready to present to the Council before
December. Mr. Davis said there will be public hearings
held and he would request that since this Board is so
directly related to the Zoning Ordinance to attend
and participate in it.
The Chairman called for anyone else wishing to speak
to please come forward.
Mr. John Cook, 7001 Grapevine Highway, came forward.
He said he is one of the general partners who owns
this property.
Mr. Cook said in developing this property from Rufe
Snow to the high school, they have already spent
approximately one-half million dollars in improvements
in order to complete the storm drain and complete
Lewis Drive it will cost an additional one-half mil-
lion. He said the completion of Lewis Drive will be
contingent on them being able to sell the property
to have the funds.
Mr. Cook said in regard to this property being used
for parking, he said this property has been offered
to the school, but the school said they did not need
it. Mr. Cook said they just park there because it is
closer. He said you could find empty parking spaces
available anytime of the day.
Mr. Cook said each of us at one time or another have
had to live in apartments. He said he feels the need
for apartments in our society. Mr. Cook said he has a
son who goes to North Texas state and his wife is a
registered nurse and they live in apartments and she
gets in from work from 10 to 12:00 o'clock at night,
so he feels they should not characterize anyone by
the time they come in at night.
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September 9, 1982
Mr. Roseberry said he had a comment to make if it
would not be out of order, regarding the School Board
and City Council. He said he was very proud of our
City and being in real estate, he tries to sell our
City, but he said we have the highest tax rates in
the Birdville School District of any area around.
Mr. Roseberry said Richland High School is a shame
to the City because of its parking, especially with
its ability to rectify and improve that. He said the
Police Department does not patrol that; he said he
has a daughter that goes there. Mr. Roseberry said
he takes his daughter to school and it is dangerous
because of the parking. He said it could be easily
remedied by the school since they have the land and
the funds.
Mr. Roseberry said it seemed to him as a citizen and
a Board member, what we are unwilling to put on the
School Board, it seems we are willing to put on
private enterprises. He said he would like to see
the problem remedied by the proper individuals.
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Dr. Hahn said he agreed with Mr. Roseberry regarding
the school's parking problem which they have had for
10 years and have not rectified it; however, the
situation will remain and the students will park
wherever they can park under whatever circumstances
to get to the closest door possible, and these de-
velopers need to realize they will have a problem
with this. Dr. Hahn said he is also unhappy with
the way the School Board has responded at this time.
Mr. Erck asked Mr. Hope if they were aware of the
towing policy of this City.
Mr. Hope said he was not.
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Mr. Erck said since he is a businessman here, he
could tell him from experience. He said you call
the Police Department and they tell you it is on
private property and it is your responsibility;
then you call a towing service, which there is only
one on this side of Fort Worth. Mr. Erck said the
towing service hopes to collect for it, but if not
they have to go to the state to be able to get the
material that is in the car for payment. He said
they are only going to take one or two off your lot
on any given day. Mr. Erck said he wondered if they
were willing to take on this responsibility with
students parking there.
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September 9, 1982
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Mr. Hope said he did not come here to discuss the
high school's inability or unwillingness to provide
parking for its students. He said he feels they
have demonstrated that the 1.6 to 1.75 parking spaces
would fill the need for their residents. Mr. Hope
said as far as the quality of these apartments, they
will be some of the finest in the state. He said
lenders are not running around asking for new deals,
and this will not be an eyesore; it will be something
the City will be proud of.
The Chairman said the Board had gotten off the sub-
ject and for the rest of the evening, he would like
to stick to the facts.
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Mr. Davis said he would like to ask Mr. Hope to please
accept his apology, he did not intend to characterize
what these apartments were because at one time he
lived in apartments. Mr. Davis said what we are
concerned with tonight is a size variance and a park-
ing variance. He said the Board should ask themselves
if the parking is going to be what this City needs and
is the size of these apartments going to be compatible
to what we want to see on 820, and is this project
going to generate the tax base and income we want
to see in this City. Mr. Davis said he is not
against apartments, but he is for the best apartments
we can have in this City.
.
Mike Carrancejie, 5750 Rufe Snow Drive, came forward.
He said he is a real estate developer within North
Richland Hills and is presently developing a 95 acre
business park known as NRH INdustrial Park.
Mr. Carrancejie said he was speaking in favor of
the proposition before the Board. He said they were
trying to create a corporate business environment and
they are doing a national promotional campaign.
Mr. Carrancejie said when they bring new businesses
into this area, their concern is housing, not only
the purchase of homes but also the quality and avail-
ability of apartments to lease. He said he has found
that in looking at the apartments that North Richland
Hills has to offer, they are not the quality that
these apartments will be. Mr. Carrancejie said he
felt it was the Board and City Council's responsi-
bility to go look at some of these apartment com-
plexes these people have built and not just base
their opinion on the apartments that are in this
City now. He said the Chasewood Company is a first
class company and they build apartments you would
be proud to have in your City.
.
.
.
Page 17
Z B A Minutes
September 9, 1982
Mr. CarranCe)1e said in his development over the
State, this parking requirement is the most re-
strictive he had seen. He said most of the cities
he had delt with that theirs were based on square
foot range or a maximum of 2.0 parking spaces.
Mr. Carrancejie said it has not hurt these cities
in their growth. He said he felt we would be doing
a disservice to turn away a developer of this type
who is going to add something to the City.
Mr. Carrancejie said his company has recently in-
stalled 4,000 feet of four-lane Industrial Boulevard
at our expense and have turned it over to the City.
He said with this proposed development part of the
funds will go to build Lewis Drive, which would
eliminate some of the traffic problems. He said
the kids coming from the north and Watauga could
turn on Lewis Drive instead of going to Rufe Snow
and 820. He said he understands there is a traffic
light to be installed at Lewis Drive and Rufe Snow
which will help.
Mr. Carrancejie said he would like for the Board to
consider this project and approve it on the merits of
what type of project it is and that there is a definite
need in this City for a project like this. He said
he has toured four of their projects and found they
are first rate and would be something to be proud of.
The Chairman called for anyone else wishing to speak
to please come forward.
There being no one else wishing to speak, the Chair-
man closed the Public Hearing.
Dr. Hahn asked if anyone present knew of a complex
such as this close to a high school. He said to
his knowledge, he has never seen one.
Mr. Helton said they have them in Garland and
Carrollton.
Dr. Hahn said he felt this corporation is a fine
group, but he questions their choice of location.
.
.
.
~
Page 18
Z B A Minutes
September 9, 1982
Dr. Hahn said in his experience on this Board for
more than 10 years, he feels we do not need less
parking spaces. He said this company has stated
they plan to build and maintain these apartments, but
he has never known a corporation that would not sell
for profit. Dr. Hahn said regardless what kind of
apartments they are, they all tend to decline with
age. He said that after a few years houses get
older and so do apartments.
Mr. Range said he finds it difficult to evaluate the
request based on the facts because the facts have been
camouflaged by personal views as to whether the apart-
ment complex should be there or not. He said that is
not this Board's decision; this Board has no authority
to restrict the building of apartments there. Mr. Range
said it is this Board's authority to make sure it com-
plies with the ordinance as we so desire.
Mr. Helton asked Mr. Rice if this property is properly
zoned for apartments.
Mr. Rice said it was.
Mr. Helton said if they come in with building plans
for the 2.5 parking spaces and 750 square feet and
meet the building codes, could they get a building
permit.
Mr. Rice said they could if they meet the building
codes and fire codes.
Mr. Range said he recommends the Board approach each
variance separately.
BA 82-14
SQUARE FEET APPROVED
Mr. Range made a motion that a variance be granted
to the Chasewood Company for that portion of BA 82-14
regarding the average square foot of 750 be approved.
Mr. Roseberry asked if it was proper to handle this
request in two parts.
Mrs. Calvert said it would be because they are re-
questing two variances.
.
.
.
Page 19
Z B A Minutes
September 9, 1982
BA 82-14
PARKING DENIED
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Roseberry seconded the motion and the motion
carried 4-1 with the following vote recorded:
Range, yea; Roseberry, yea; Helton, yea; Erck, yea;
and Hahn, nay.
Mr. Erck moved that the Chasewood Company not be
granted any variance with regard to the 1.6 parking
spaces, and that they must follow the City ordinance
of 2.5 parking spaces.
This motion was seconded by Dr. Hahn and the motion
for denial carried 4-1 with the following vote
recorded: Erck, yea; Hahn, yea; Range, yea; Helton,
yea; and Roseberry, nay.
The Chairman stated the first portion was approved
and the second portion was denied.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
c
OF ADJUSTMENT