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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ 2014-04-02 MinutesTRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOD) CODE WORKSHOP MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS APRIL 2, 2009 1. CALL TO ORDER- CITY COUNCIL The City Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Oscar Trevino at 6:05 p.m. Chairman Randy Shiflet called the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to order as well. PRESENT Oscar Trevino Mayor John Lewis Council, Place 1 (present 6.1Op. m.) Ken Sapp Council, Place 2 Suzy Compton Council, Place 3 (present 6:15 p.m.) Dr. Tim Barth Council, Place 4 (present 6:35 p.m.) David Whitson Council, Place 5 Tim Welch Council, Place 7 Tom Lombard Council Elect, Place 3 Randy Shiftlet Chairman, P&Z, Place 4 Bill Schopper Vice -Chairman, P&Z, Place 6 Don Bowen Secretary, P&Z, Place 3 Mark Haynes P&Z, Place 1 ABSENT Scott Turnage Kelly Gent Mike Benton Steven Cooper Dianna Madar CITY STAFF Larry Cunningham Karen Bostic Jimmy Purdue Elizabeth Reining Mike Curtis John Pitstick Eric Wilhite Chad Vansteenberg Greg VanNieuwenhuize Craig Hulse Mary Peters Council, Place 6 P&Z, Place 5 P&Z, Place 2 P&Z, Place 7 P&Z, Ex-officio City Manager Assistant City Manager Assistant City Manager Assistant to City Manager Managing Director Director Planning and Development Chief Planner Assistant Planner Assistant Dir. of Public Works Director of Economic Development Public Information Officer Caroline Waggoner Civil Engineer Teresa Koontz Recording Secretary Mayor Trevino commended the Planning and Zoning Commission for the work they are doing. He commented that the widening of Loop 820 and the future rail stations will not only change the outside or drive through the city, but also the sustainable living that we are addressing in the Transit Oriented Development. There are a lot of good things going on and it takes these types of meetings and thinking in the future to see where we will be in 20 or 25 years. He said there will be a commuter rail in 2012 or 2013 running from Grapevine to downtown Fort Worth. At this time, our citizens cannot get on the train; they have to go to Grapevine because surrounding cities are not members of the "T". There is current legislation in Austin and we are making progress, along with discussions with our State Representative, Kelly Hancock, how important this is for our community. If we don't plan for this today, the train will be driving by and our citizens will be wondering why they cannot get on it here. We don't have the funding as of yet but are working with Vickie Truitt, State Legislator and she is doing a fantastic job helping us. Larry Cunningham, City Manager, said this was a great opportunity for us to get together and plan for the future rail. He commended the Planning and Zoning Commission for their hard work in the planning and development. Randy Shiflet, Chairman Planning and Zoning, commended Gateway Planning and City Staff for their hard work. They have made the plans understandable for the Commission to make recommendations accordingly. 2. DISCUSSION AND REVIEW OF TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND PLANS AROUND THE IRON HORSE AND SMITHFIELD RAIL STATION SITES. STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK John Pitstick reported on the previously held Stakeholder meetings. There were Open House meetings on September 29th and 30th, 2008, October 14t and 15th, 2008 and March 25th and 26th, 2009 for the Smithfield and Iron Horse areas. He explained that there was a general good consensus from the stakeholders although Iron Horse had concerns with the traffic on Browning Drive. Mayor Trevino addressed the traffic concerns on Browning stating that there will be a reduction once the 820 widening occurs. Mike Curtis confirmed that Public Works fully anticipates the congestion on Browning and Glenview Drive to decrease once the improvements are complete. John Pitstick stated the main concerns with Smithfield were the reservations of the surrounding neighborhoods, the right of way on Smithfield Road and quiet zones. Mayor Trevino asked about the quiet zones since the rail tracks cross Rufe Snow, Mid Cities, Davis, Holiday, Smithfield, Precinct Line and Eden Road. Mike Curtis answered that they could put the quad gates at the median and it would allow the horns at the intersections instead of on the trains themselves. The "T" is proposing to do these improvements on their plans. John Pitstick stated that some businesses in Smithfield had concerns with future parking expansions and use expansions. There was a general discussion about the residents on Arthur Court and the property owned by Jim Makens. SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS TOD DISCUSSIONS John Pitstick discussed the comments made by Council and P&Z at the last joint work session of February 2, 2009 to address their concerns. Ken Sapp asked about Bates Container and how their proposed expansion plan would be affected? John Pitstick said they could come forward with a special development plan but overall the heavy manufacturing in the TOD core would ultimately be a non -conforming use. We have talked to the Bates and Sanders Families' regarding the plan. Other comments discussed were intensity of uses on Loop 820, street types, concerns over a sea of parking lots, equal treatment for both sides of Davis Blvd, creating a true Mixed Use District, non -conforming uses and buildings, and the Historic Smithfield Architectural Review Board. Mr. Pitstick said other recent staff recommendations were to expand the Permitted Use Tables, clarifying required mixed uses in general mixed use zones, and add language stating that non -conforming buildings not conforming to TOD standards may be approved with Special Development Plan. SPECIAL FRONTAGE STANDARDS John Pitstick said that commercial will be required on the first floor of Main Street and Iron Horse at the rail stations. On the arterial frontage, we will begin to unify the development along Davis and Mid Cities with a 15 feet landscape buffer with surface parking no deeper than 70 feet along the frontage. On Boulevard frontage in the Iron Horse area, there will be a build -to zone and no more than 50% of the lot frontage can be covered in parking areas which forces that building to be on the frontage. John Pitstick asked if there was a consensus with the Special Frontage Standards? Bill Schopper asked about Smithfield Road? John Pitstick answered the Character Zones will stipulate the build -to -zones and the core area will define even stricter guidelines. Jay Narayana of Gateway Planning answered that essentially the Special Frontage Standards set up a different set of standards other than the Character Zones. For example, if the TOD Core is quite urban, but next to Davis, which is quite suburban, you try to adjust for some unique adjacency. This is to create some nuances within the development standards to address specific conditions. There was a consensus to accept the Special Frontage Standards as presented. CHARACTER ZONES John Pitstick explained the Permitted Uses encourage Mixed Use zones, retail, restaurant, office, residential, light industrial and institutional. Auto related uses only allowed in Mixed Use, Arterial and High Intensity zones with Loop 820, Mid -Cities or Davis Boulevard frontages. The Non Permitted Uses are only auto related uses in the TOD core area, outdoor storage uses, storage warehouse (mini -warehouse) and major manufacturing. Referring to the Historic TOD Core, Jay Narayana said the character zone development standards as to where the building should be on the lot, building height, parking location and continues by summarizing standards that apply to development in that specific character zone. John Pitstick said in the Mixed Use conformance, if you have 10,000 square feet of building or 5 acres, you have to conform to the Mixed Use standards. There are parking requirements with on -street parking, for instance if you have a building that is under 3,000 square feet, we do not require parking onsite. There are allowances and incentives for shared parking within 1,200 feet with other churches and parking lots. The TOD Core has potential for new, higher intensity mixed use development, maximum 4 stories, with mixed use conformance 10,000 square feet or 4 acres, parking less than 3,000 square feet shared within 1,200 feet. Jay Narayana stated that in the Historic Core, TOD Core, and High Intensity Mixed Use there is no residential density maximum. It is controlled by the height, the form of the building and parking. John Pitstick stated that the High Intensity Mixed Use guidelines are 10 stories maximum with a 250 feet transitional area. The building heights would be transitional to create character in the core area. Ken Sapp asked about the fire protection issues when you get above 6 stories? John Pitstick answered it would have to sprinkled, but the Fire Department is limited due to ladder trucks and other equipment. There would be special requirements for buildings taller than 6 or 8 stories. Jay Narayana added that anything above 10 stories there is criteria built in for plazas or open spaces. This is being reviewed by P&Z and Council to determine the public benefit of a building that is taller than 10 stories that is the point of negotiation between the City and the applicant at that point. Structured and shared parking will have to be considered from the standpoint of not wanting the parking demand to all be surface parking. The General Mixed Use for Iron Horse will have 3 stories maximum, generally 1 to 2 stories with potential for a wide variety of mixed use development that could include office, live -work, light industrial and retail. There would be conformance standards of 10,000 square feet or 5 acres with 25% ground floor non-residential. Parking for non- residential less than 3000 square feet with shared parking within 1200 feet. Chairman Randy Shiflet asked once this TOD Code was in place, would property owners like Jim Makens, be able to come back and change facades and make minor changes in order to raise the value of his property in the future? John Pitstick answered yes, absolutely. Mixed Use would allow them to do retail, residential or a number of other uses. It would give more flexibility to the current property owners with predictability for the future. The Smithfield General Mixed Use has the same standard as Iron Horse with nuances in the percentages of ranges preferred. The Arterial Mixed Use is similar to C-1 or C-2 as it is currently zoned allowing the existing uses to occur. Jay Narayana said essentially the goal is to protect the existing residential neighborhoods and not inadvertently cause issues, so the Transition Standards would help the area transition down properly. There is a 2 story height maximum within 25 feet and 6 feet masonry wall with setbacks. This would allow preservation in the existing neighborhoods. John Pitstick explained that the High Intensity Mixed Use has no adjacent residential, commercial adjacency within 250 feet of any other zone limits no more than 2 stories above the adjoining district. There are bonus provisions for Iron Horse and Smithfield for 10% increase in commercial over 15%. In the High Intensity with building heights over 10 stories, we want to see introduction of plaza, squares or open civic spaces, structured parking with 10% minimum residential uses. There was a consensus to approve the Character Zone Standards as presented. STREET TYPES Eric Wilhite explained the Commercial Main Street will have 60 feet of right of way with narrow travel lanes of 10 feet, sidewalks at 11 feet and tree well of 5 feet with tree type requirements on each street. The Avenue section, which includes Smithfield Road, Boulder and Combs Drive, has 2 travel lanes and parallel parking and is similar to the Commercial Main Street requirements. This could change if we did angled parking and depends on the development and the type of uses that are next to it. Commercial Avenue includes Iron Horse Blvd. at the rail station and has wider streets with taller buildings. There are 10 foot sidewalks, 6 foot tree well and 8 feet of parking along with pedestrian elements like park benches and ornamental lighting. The TOD Boulevard will have a 14 foot median between travel lanes with a total of 80 feet of right of way with 2 separate drive lanes of 11 feet each. There will be no street parking in this area. The TOD General Street has 60 feet of right of way with 8 feet of parking and 11 foot drive lanes with varying building typologies. There is a 20 foot build -to zone to create the street wall effect. The TOD Alley has 16 feet of pavement with 20 feet of right of way and shared parking with adjacent buildings. Ken Sapp asked how the timing would work with the modifications of these boulevards and avenues in relation to the development. Eric Wilhite answered if one of the streets would qualify for the sustainable development grants then the city and developer could work together to accomplish further development. He stated that in some cases the infrastructure would have to be in place to help develop the character zones for future development and functionality. Tim Welch asked about the TOD Alley with the screen for surface parking and if we could put a 5 foot retaining or screening wall in lieu of the shrubs? Eric Wilhite answered that the landscape portion of the provisions and code do allow a 4 foot non -living screen similar to Sundance Square. We are working on still finalizing the plant selection for street trees in the Parks Department. Tom Lombard asked if we were anticipating a lot of congestion in the TOD area. Eric Wilhite said The "T" has done an additional concept layout to show a park and ride and trolley or van type services to get people to the stations. There was a consensus to agree on the Street Types as presented. ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS Eric Wilhite said the main point of the architectural standard is to create sustainability and a pedestrian oriented public realm through using the architectural elements and the form, not a particular style. The key design principals are created by the location on the street, pedestrian friendly building massing and scale, feature buildings, elements and storefronts, building materials and types. The code has these building type illustrations that show the shop front building, 3 and 4 story mixed use loft, 2 story live -work, apartment, multi -unit house, townhouse, detached house and commercial high rise buildings. One of the key things is the historic Smithfield architectural standards, which are already in place, with more style control in this area by doing the building form or creating a horizontal rhythm. The doors, windows, roof forms, awnings and canopies and building materials are in the code. The masonry standards are similar to the present ordinance which requires 80% masonry which is brick, stone, granite and tile with 20% other material. The TOD residential is different because it allows for 100% cementitious fiberboard and masonry brick, with 25 % other material for accents. Tim Welch asked if the code allowed masonry tilt walls if they come back with some kind of facade? Eric Wilhite said yes, as long as it is textured. There was a consensus to accept the TOD Architectural Standards as presented. CIVIC SPACES John Pitstick said there is an illustrative plan that encourages location, scale and design of civic spaces with squares, parks and greens appropriate in any zone. All development shall provide a minimum of 10% of gross area in usable open space with no more than 50% for private open space. New development less than 10 acres may pay park fee in lieu of open space requirement. Plazas and squares should link station platform to commercial areas, with plazas % to 1 acre and squares'/z to 2 acres. Open spaces with pocket parks, children's play areas, greens, squares, linear greens are encouraged. Active parks limited to 10% of parks in station areas are not encouraged in the station areas. Don Bowen asked if the private parks and play areas remain privately owned or deeded to the City? John Pitstick said there would be some stipulations if they are deeded to the City, but they could be maintained by the homeowner or business associations depending on the situation. Bill Schopper asked if this was more expensive than the current park dedication requirements and fees? John Pitstick said it was the same fee. There was a consensus to accept the TOD Civic Spaces as presented. APPROVALS AND APPEALS John Pitstick said the process for approvals and appeals would have to meet the requirements of the City and approved by City Staff. If the applications meet the guidelines, then they will go through DRC and move forward. If the applicant is requesting flexibility, modifications or incentives, they will have to be reviewed under a Special Development Plans through Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. We are currently trying to seek a master developer to work with the City to initiate the development. Mayor Trevino said keep in mind since we cannot join The "T" at this time, the TOD will not develop if the legislature does not see we need an additional way of offering mobility to our citizens. Even with the widening of 820, there will still be a level of congestion and this will give people who work in downtown Fort Worth or at the airport another option. It is likely that the developers and investors will not be here until they see a more sure thing. Mayor Trevino said this will make commuting more convenient for the citizens, especially the senior citizens, in addition to improving air quality, quality of life and sustainability. John Pitstick said local businesses are getting excited about the TOD and are starting to think about how they can market it. In addition, there is a lot of existing parking already so we can utilize what is here. Scott Polikov of Gateway Planning stated they are working with City Staff to help the development incentive process by creating incentives for possible investors. There was a consensus to approve the TOD administrative site plan approval and special development as presented. TIMING OF ADOPTION OF TOD CODE John Pitstick discussed the timing and adoption of the TOD Code. We are recommending creation of the Code after the zoning is in place and there is some private interest from a developer. It would have to be an expressed written statement from a developer that they will do a specific project. It is being proposed to adopt the TOD Code and bring to Planning and Zoning to May 21, 2009, to City Council June 8, 2009. The re -zoning meeting dates will be Planning and Zoning on July 2, 2009 and to City Council July 13, 2009. This will help the deadline for the Sustainable Development Grant on October 2, 2009. There was a general discussion to change the proposed dates of P&Z to June 25, 2009 due to vacations being scheduled. Mayor Trevino commended City Staff for their hard work and dedication as they have held public meetings to bring awareness and understanding to the citizens. There was a consensus to move forward with the creation of a TOD Code and rezone properties around the Iron Horse and Smithfield station sites. 4. ADJOURNMENT There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 8.40 p.m. ATTEST: Don owen, Secretary PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION By: Randy Shiflet, Chairman CIT '0� RICH :ti %�� Q n :s By. ATTES�: % 7r,(, fI Monica [Solko, Assistant City 961cfetary