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Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - 12/13/2023 MINUTES PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION December 13, 2023 PRESENT: Blake Haney • Member Michael Grassi • Member Doug McCulloch • Member Matt Marrs • Member Paul Mason •Alternate No.2 Mark McBurnett • SAFB Liaison Wayne Pharries • Member Jeremy Woodward ♦Vice-Chair Councilor Bobby Whiteley • Council Liaison Kinley Hegglund, City Attorney ♦ City Staff Monica Aguon, Legal Department • City Staff Paul Menzies, Assistant City Manager • City Staff Terry Floyd, Development Services Director • City Staff Fabian Medellin, Planning Manager *City Staff Christal Cates, Senior Executive Asst. •City Staff Cedric Hu, Planning Technician • City Staff ABSENT: David Cook •Chairman Noros Martin • Member Cayce Wendeborn • Member Steve Wood •Altercate No.1 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairman, Mr, Jeremy Woodward, at 2:00 p.m. Chairman Cook proceeded to make the following comments: III. PUBLIC 'COMMENTS Vice-Chairman Woodward asked if there were any comments from the public. With no response, Mr. Woodward closed public comments. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Matt Marrs made a motion to adopt the October 11 , 2023, minutes. Mr. Wayne Pharries seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously, 7-0 VII. CONSENT AGENDA Case P 23-26 — Garcia Creek Subdivision, Lot 1, Block 1 Case P 23-28 — Rancho Vista Place, Unit 1, Lot 1, Block 1 Planning and Zoning 2 December 13, 2023 Vice-Chairman Woodward asked if there were any items that needed to be moved the regular agenda. Mr. Medellin stated there were no items to be moved to the regular agenda. Mr. Marrs made a motion to approve the consent agenda with Mr. Paul Mason seconding. The vote passed unanimously 7-0. VIII. REGULAR AGENDA 1. Case C 22-16 — 1411 Taylor Street: Consider taking action on an extension for a previously approved conditional use at 1411 Taylor Street to allow for a duplex in a Single Family-2 (SF-2) zoning district. Mr. Matt Marrs made a motion to approve the case. Mr. Wayne Pharries seconded the motion. Mr. Cedric Hu presented the case and stated the owner and applicant, Mr. Scottie Smith of Phoenician Development Group, met with staff last year regarding the development of a duplex in a residential area and is now requesting an extension on his original conditional use permit that was approved, the Commission in October 2022. Currently, the City ordinance does require a conditional use approval for development of a duplex in a Single Family-2 (SF-2) zoning district. Mr. Hu stated the subject property, at 1411 Taylor Street, was located in central Wichita Falls, three blocks north of Zundy Elementary. The property is currently vacant and surrounded by other residential structures with residential uses. Mr. Hu stated the applicant's site plan showed 2 residential structures, each having 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. The structure would be a total of 2,236sf., placed 26ft. from the front property line, 36ft. from the rear and 11ft. from both sides, adhering to ail setback requirements. The subject property is surrounded by other residential properties, located to the northwest a few blocks from the Commercial Corridor (CC) along Kemp Boulevard and to the southeast more residential and some Limited Commercial (LC) properties. Mr. Hu advised staff sent notices to 23 surrounding property owners located within 200ft of the subject property and received no responses. Staff recommended the approval of the proposed duplex at 1411 Taylor Street subject to the following conditions: 1. A total of 4 parking stalls be provided meeting the design standards of Section 6200 — Off Street Parking Regulations. 2. The duplex shall comply with all applicable building code regulations, permitting, and inspections. Vice-Chairman Woodward asked if the applicant was present and wished to make a presentation. The applicant was not present. Mr. Woodward asked if there were any comments from the public. With no comments, Mr. Woodward asked the Planning and Zoning 3 December 13, 2023 Commission if they had any comments or questions. Vice-Chairman Woodward called for a vote. The proposal passed unanimously with a vote of 7-0 2. Case C 23-17 — 1626 Pearl Avenue: Consider taking action on a conditional use at 1626 Pearl Avenue to allow for a duplex in a Single Family-2 (SF-2) zoning district. Mr. Matt Marrs made a motion to approve the case. Mr. Wayne Pharries seconded the motion. Mr. Fabian Medellin presented the case and stated the owner and applicant, Mr. Kenny Reynolds was the president of Home for Freedom, a non- profit for homeless veterans had met with staff and presented his mission with the organization. Mr. Reynolds, at that time had not obtained a property, so staff gave general guidelines on development regulations for residential structures. Recently, Mr. Reynolds acquired the subject property, a trustee property formerly owned by the City. Mr. Medellin stated the subject property of 1626 Pearl Avenue was located east of the Kell Boulevard and Brook Street intersection. The structures previously on the property had since been demolished with the use of a Community Development Block grant funds, leaving the property vacant and ready for development. Originally, Mr. Reynolds wanted separate structures but a duplex was recommended by staff. One definition of a duplex was presented to the Commission by Mr. Medellin as, "different structures sharing common walls, while still maintaining the look of a single-family home". The proposed duplex will follow this definition, being separate with adjoining walls. Mr. Medellin displayed aerial photos showing the subject property surrounded by residential uses in a Single Family-2 (SF-2) zoning district. The site plan shows the property will consist of two tiny homes with approximately 448 sq. ft. of living space per building. Each of these buildings will consist of one dwelling unit. Each of the dwelling units will have approximately 448 sq. ft. of living space, and be equipped with a 64 sq. ft. patio at the front of the structure. A driveway for each tiny home will also be built for parking. Staff notified 23 property owners within 200ft. of the subject property and received 2 responses, 1 in favor and 1 opposed. When staff reached out the neighbor in opposition due to the worry of raised taxes, it was advised what the non-profit would be building on-site. Staff recommends approval of this request to allow for a duplex at 1626 Pearl Avenue with the conditions outlined below; 1. The property be subject to platting requirements prior to construction permit issuance. 2. The applicant must provide and maintain adequate parking for the development. 3. The tiny homes shall comply with all applicable building code regulations, permitting, and inspections. Planning and Zoning 4 December 13, 2023 Vice-Chairman Woodward asked if the applicant was present and wish to make a presentation. Mr. Reynolds briefly spoke to the Commission regarding the mission of his non-profit, Home for Freedom. Mr. Woodward asked if there were any comments from the public. With no comments, Mr. Woodward asked the Commission if they had any comments or questions. Vice-Chairman Woodward called for a vote. The proposal passed unanimously with a vote of 7-0 3. Case TA 23-01 —Text Amendment: Consider a recommendation to amend the City Code of Ordinances, Appendix A — Subdivision and Development Regulations, to amend platting requirements and formally adopt a Pavement Design Manual to comply with regulations as set forth in Texas House Bill 3699. Mr, Terry Floyd thanked the Legal and Public Works department and all City staff that had worked on the text amendment and asked the Commission to favorably recommend to City Council at the December 19th, 2023 meeting. Mr. Floyd stated this amendment to the subdivision regulations was to achieve compliance with Texas House Bill 3699 related to requirements for plat applications and 30-day "shot clock" for plat approvals. Mr. Floyd stated the amendments did not add any additional requirements to the current platting process City staff followed. Mr. Floyd gave a brief background of House Bill 3699 advising it clarifies the 30-day plat approval "shot clock" timeline requirements. Mr. Floyd advised it would require the adoption of a Pavement Design Manual that is currently available to the public on the City website. Mr. Floyd stated Municipalities could not longer require analyses, studies, documents or agreements as part of a plat application and any such request would be removed off the plat applications. Mr. Floyd did advise that multiple extensions could be requested by the plat applicant as needed. Mr. Floyd gave the Commission the following proposed subdivision amendments: • Infrastructure (water, sewer, drainage) improvements must have approved plans, accepted installation or surety in place prior to plat application being filed with the City. • Adoption of a Pavement Design Manual. The adoption would not change any current pavement design standards, rather it would collect all the standards into one document as required by HB 3699. • Reiterates adoption of 2011 Stormwater Drainage Manual • Minor text changes to correct Director of Comm. Dev. title • No changes to current Planning Commission plat approval process Mr. Floyd stated that staff recommended the Planning & Zoning Commission favorably recommend the proposed subdivision regulation changes to the City Council. Mr. Floyd advised, additionally, the proposal was given out to the attendees at the Development Stakeholder meeting on December 8th, 2023 and discussed the proposed changes. Mr. Floyd stated he was available for any questions the Commission would have. Planning and Zoning 5 December 13, 2023 Mr. Woodward asked if there were any comments from the public. Mr. Tanner Wachsman stated he was at the Stakeholder meeting held December 8th, 2023, and was concerned about the amendment and changes to the text. He stated he was given the proposal not even a week ago and had not be given long enough to read it in full and research it. Mr. Wachsman asked that the Commission consider not recommending the amendment and send it to a committee or the Stakeholders group for a deeper review and what the changes would mean for everyone in the future. With no further comments from the public, Vice-Chairman Woodward opened the floor for discussion from the Commission. Mr. Pharries advised he agreed with Mr. Wachsman, that there had not been enough time to review the amendment and suggested the recommendation be tabled until more time could be given for review. Mr. Michael Grassi stated he had a question that he had at the Stakeholder meeting and he was asking again and hoped since Mr. Kinley Hegglund was present could confirm an answer since there was discussion among the attendees at the stakeholder meeting. Mr. Grassi stated adopting the pavement standards had to be done by ordinance as required by the State, that Mr. Hegglund was going to write something to be part of the ordinance that was going to be presented to the Commission, however, he did not see any of that verbiage in his packet given to him at the start of that meeting. Mr. Floyd asked what piece Mr. Grassi was referring to. Mr. Grassi stated the section that stated modifications could be made to the pavement design manual without a vote from the City Council. Mr. Floyd stated that was correct, changes would be made by staff, as that is how the pavement design manual is currently written. He stated in the event staff were to do that, on a rare occasion, staff would make every effort possible to bring that forward to Stakeholders as has been done with previous subdivision regulation modifications. Mr. Floyd stated if the Commission wanted to make a different recommendation staff would be happy to discuss those options as well as having verbiage to require a 90-day notice and/or a meeting to discuss without a formal adoption by the City Council. Mr. Floyd advised as it currently is, staff makes those changes and makes every effort to notify development community of the changes before they are made and discuss them. Mr. Grassi asked if that piece had been written that was going to go before City Council. Mr. Floyd stated staff was in the process of finishing those changes, this was brought before the Commission now because of the timeline of compliance with the State and staff wanted additional input from the Commission. Mr. Floyd stated if there was something the Commission would like added, staff could do that before sending to Council. Mr. Grassi clarified that Mr. Floyd was asking the Commission to make a recommendation on an item that had not been completed, noting he was not saying if he was for or against it, but that he was asking how the Commission would know what was being recommended if the packet was not complete for them to read at the time of voting. Mr. Floyd stated if the Commission had recommendation on how they wanted the design manual, he recommended them add a 90-day notification process verbiage, that was why Mr. Hegglund was Planning and Zoning 6 December 13, 2023 present at the meeting to be able to add those items to the manual before presenting to the Council. Mr. Pharries asked for clarification that staff could make changes to the pavement design manual without a vote from City Council. Mr. Floyd stated that was correct as that is currently the process and that staff would make every effort to notify the development community for discussion. Mr. Floyd stated they were there to discuss those options. Mr. Pharries stated he feels the City Council is there to act as a buffer between City employees and the public. He stated Mr. Floyd was stating the Commission could add in verbiage to require a 90-day notification period but it sounded more like a 90-day warning period, that this is what staff is changed and they had 90 days to warn of what the new regulations would be without anyone getting a say in it, that they could discuss it, but have no influence on it. Mr. Pharries stated it was his recommendation that it would be something that would have to be adopted by Council and not just staff approval. Mr. Floyd asked if that was what he wanted to include with the favorable recommendation to Council. Mr. Pharries stated he felt the Council was the voice of the people and he felt this was cutting them out. Mr. Blake Haney stated staff was asking the Commission to give a favorable recommendation to the Council, asking the Commission to recommend something that isn't yet written and asking the Commission to just trust what staff will write and present to Council. Mr. Haney asked what if the Commission later read the amendment and didn't agree what the verbiage, what could they do to make any changes. He stated he agreed with those that had spoke before him, enough time had not been given to review the material and make a recommendation one way or the other. Mr. Floyd stated the changes were being made only for the City's compliance to State law. Mr. Haney asked if they had to do what the State said. Mr. Floyd stated the City would be in violation of State law and obviously staff didn't want to do that. Mr. Floyd stated staff wanted to work with the development community to make these changes, that staff did not advocate for these changes, rather they were given to us by the State. Mr. Grassi stated if this was to go to City Council on Tuesday, December 19th, and they pass it, the effective date would not be for another 30 days, so the City will be out of compliance no matter what. Mr. Floyd stated that was correct unless the Council wanted to put in an emergency order that would take effect immediately, that the plat application would follow that time-line and still be in compliance with State law. Mr. Haney asked why the Commission was just now finding out about the proposed amendment changes and if it had been an on-going thing. Mr. Floyd stated it was passed earlier this year by State Legislation and staff needed to review what it was, what it meant, changes required and how it would affect the community. Mr. Floyd advised some cities made some changes and some have not so far, that staff was striving to be in compliance. Mr. Haney stated this was started the beginning of the year, passed by stated legislature in June, why did staff wait until December 13th to present to the Commission. How did all these other cities get the information and process the changes and we couldn't. Mr. Floyd stated there were some cities like us that had not made the changes. Mr. Haney asked what cities those were. Mr. Floyd stated Denton and Abilene were still working on their Planning and Zoning 7 December 13, 2023 amendments. Mr. Haney stated it seemed there would be many cities not in compliance with the State by January 15t, 2024 and not just us correct. Mr. Floyd stated he was not sure, that was the information relayed to him, but that matter would be between that city's staff and legal team. Mr. Haney stated he believed the Commission needed to wait to allow more time for home builders and the Commission to review. Mr. Pharries stated it was his understanding that the Commission was being asked to only recommend and not to approve the amendment. Mr. Floyd stated that was correct. Mr. Pharries stated from that point of view he didn't feel comfortable voting to recommend something that was not completed, when changes will be made. He stated it was his opinion that the Commission not recommend until it was completed and they had time to review it. Ms. Monica Aguon stated on behalf of the legal department, that was the reason they were present, if the Commission chose to recommend to the Council with modifications, such as who would make the changes, City Council or staff alone, that option could be written in and moved on to Council for a vote. Vice-Chairman Woodward stated he saw Mr. Wachsman raise his hand and wanted to give him the opportunity to speak. Mr. Wachsman stated if the amendment was to move on to Council today he had proposed modifications to the text he would like to present to the Commission, however, he felt it would be a better option to table this recommendation until the amendment could be reviewed as it was a lot to read through and digest and have a round-table discussion. Mr. Wachsman stated he did have papers with his recommendations on them for the Commission if they would like to see them. Mr. Pharries stated he didn't believe they could make changes to ordinances they haven't seen, and that writing ordinances is not the job of that Commission. Mr. Grassi asked if they made a recommendation today if they could post-pone the City Council meeting for 30 days to have time to meet with the Stakeholders and discuss. Mr. Floyd stated yes, if that was the recommendation of the Commission. Mr. Paul Mason clarified the Mr. Wachsman, he was not against the being in compliance, just concerned with the wording. Mr. Wachsman stated that was correct, he has always found it harder to modify an ordinance than it is to make changes before the ordinance is passed. Mr. Wachsman would like to see exactly what requirements were to be implemented with the pavement design manual that would affect the City, that no one could know who would be here 10-20 years from now and how they would interpret that ordinance versus how it is presented today. Vice-Chairman Woodward asked if he had presented his proposed his ordinance verbiage modifications to Mr. Floyd or any other staff. Mr. Wachsman stated he had only received the information last Friday and had scrambled to make time in his schedule just to read through it, that no, he had not discussed any of it with City staff. Mr. Pharries made a motion to table the discussion until further information was provided and completion of the text amendment. Mr. Blake Haney seconded the motion. The motion to table the discussion passed unanimously with a vote of 7-0. Planning and Zoning 8 December 13, 2023 IX. ADJOURN Vice-Chairman Woodward adjourned the meeting at 2:42 pm. c (it,-' / David Coo Chairman Date I / ! © 2'I - Terr - oyd, Directorent Services Date