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01/11/2007-PZ-Minutes-RegularMINUTES: PRESENT: ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: PLANNING AND ZONING WORKSHOP January 11, 2007 Jerry Jenkins, Thomas Muir, Brian Hutcheson, Gary Bilyeu, Russell Martin Paul Edleman City Manger Jack Smith, Engineering Coordinator Samantha Renz, Economic Development Director Cecile Carson, City Engineer Rob Woods, Councilman Robert Patton 1. Chairperson Jenkins called meeting to order. 2. Workshop. Jerry Jenkins asked why this workshop was called. Gary Bilyeu indicated there was not enough time at the end of the meetings to discuss the ordinances, so the Commission agreed to schedule a workshop to get started. He indicated the first three ordinances they wanted to tackle were single family, parks, then multi family. Jerry Jenkins indicated if you compare Royse City's ordinances to what we have in place; in some pages it is very similar. There are some additional things the City of Sanger has not addressed. One of them is communication towers. Gary Bilyeu indicated instead of taking existing ordinances they thought it would be better to take an updated document, like Royse City's, look at it and submit it to the City Council with their recommended updates. Jerry Jenkins indicated he thought they should adopt the whole book and update it. Commission agreed it made more sense to use Royse City's ordinances. Discussion followed regarding references in the ordinances. Jerry Jenkins indicated that Royse City only has one Industrial category and he felt they should keep both Industrial categories that are currently in the City of Sanger ordinances. The current B3 that Sanger has was designed to cover the old downtown areas. Discussed and compared the differences in the Single Family I zoning categories in the City of Sanger's and Royse City's ordinances. '\.._ Jerry Jenkins indicated that the City of Sanger's Single Family 8 was designed to cover the old area of town. He passed down his notes comparing the zoning districts. Jerry Jenkins indicated if we don't encourage larger homes to be built downtown when one is replaced it's going to continue to be a run down section of town. From Wood to Willow, 10th to 5th, there has been a lot of cleaning up and updating. It's because they now have curb and gutter streets, people have made an effort to clean it up. Gary Bilyeu indicated that they all agree there are enough smaller homes in Sanger, those don't go away unless you tear down a house and build something else. There are a lot of houses to choose from to accommodate those people. Jack Smith, City Manager, indicated that even though the house is not bigger if it is tom down and re-built it has to be brick. Jerry Jenkins indicated that is another area that to consider; Royse City has 80% brick, the City of Sanger's is currently I 00%. Discussion regarding the current masonry requirements. Russell Martin indicated if the City changed to 80%, it would allow cedar columns, etc. Discussed there could be an allowance for Council to make an exception to exterior fa~e. I Thomas Muir expressed concern regarding a two story house having non-masonry on the whole second story. Jer,y Jenkins indicated he was in favor of the 100% masonry requirement. In Quail Run there are some things they did that ruins the look of the homes, such as the wood over the windows. Gary Bilyeu also expressed the need to define the City of Sanger's zoning categories. Jerry Jenkins indicated that grant home regulation is not addressed. He indicated he had a problem with them. The grant homes can be put anywhere and not meet city requirements City Manager indicated they are brick. Cecile Carson mentioned that technically they should meet all city requirements unless they get a variance. City Manager indicated the new homes on Railroad A venue are Habitat for Humanity homes. They got a variance on the home size. Discussed the dwelling size for grant homes. Discussed the grant program. Cecile Carson indicated through the comprehensive plan we will get information that will show where these type houses are. In Frisco everything is all on one sheet. They have a district called the original town district. Sanger could consider something like this as well. Continued to discuss grant homes, and the regulations. City Manager indicated the City could choose not to do the grant program. Discussed a category for Original Town, and whether the homes would then be non-conforming. Cecile Carson indicated any home that is tom down and re-built will have to meet the current standards. Discussed the Single Family Zoning categories. Cecile Carson indicated the City of Frisco has an estate category also. Discussed Planned Developments. A lot of Sanger will be PD's from here on out if this goes through. Gary Bilyeu asked about town homes and possibly having something specified for town homes or zero lot lines. In Denton there are 1300 units going in by Walmart, there will be multi-family, single family, and zero lot line units. He asked if Sanger should have something like that and, if so, where should it go. Cecile Carson indicated that the City of Frisco has patio home districts, common grass and/or garden areas; Town homes are condominiums. Discussed zero lot line homes in other communities. Cecile Carson indicated that there is a subdivision called South Mont in Denton, they have zero lot lines and start at about $400,000. There is another gated community across from it that has zero lot lines with larger homes, and the start in the 190's. .,._ '- Jerry Jenkins indicated that to a lot of people that is the preferred way of living. People don't want the maintenance. Gary Bilyeu indicated that if a builder wants to do that they can come to the Council and request it. This is just a starting point, and if people want to deviate, they can use the system to plead their case. Cecile Carson indicated it would then be a request for a PD or a new zoning classification. From an Urban Planning perspective, it's quality and amenities that bring people in, many areas requiring landscaping for single family and park dedication. We need to create a certain bar for an area and at the same time need to look at desired housing types, and price ranges. We need to think about how to deal with a range of housing, like how do you help maintain lower end homes. Through government or charity programs? Discussed that Royse City has a minimum of 1800 square foot homes in there single family zoning category, any smaller homes must come in as a Planned Development. Cecile Carson indicated that she managed 12 Planned Development's at one point for the City of Denton; administratively, it is very challenging. There are a lot of files and records, and the ordinance for each development has the rules for each individual development. Jerry Jenkins again reiterated that they are going to -work on using the new zoning ordinance for the City of Sanger and making those changes from front to back, then come back with our recommendations for each of those same sections. Discussed the City of Sanger's current single family zoning categories, agreed that they needed to be reduced to fewer categories. Discussed minimum and maximum lot sizes for multi-family units. Discussed landscape credits. Discussed canopy covering, parking, etc. in multi family zoning categories. Gary Bilyeu indicated the City of Denton had really high square footage minimums on their multi-family units, he felt they should be smaller. Discussed apartment minimums in other cities. Discussed density and issues regarding water and sewer. Brian Hutcheson asked if the maximum coverage requirement included the driveways. Cecile Carson indicated it usually is the structure itself and accessory buildings. Jerry Jenkins asked if they need to allow for a master plan? Discussed differences in a Master Plan and a Planned Development. Cecile Carson indicated the main difference is the financing. Gary Bilyeu asked if that would be the Districts such as MUD's, and other utility districts. Cecile Carson indicated it would Discussed retail areas, and that commercial development is needed. Cecile Carson indicated that right now you have light industrial zoning and you can do anything form light industrial down, one of the challenges is to put industrial in Industrial zoning. She indicated that we don't want them getting high zoning and dropping down to something else. From an Economic development stand point, we want an actual Industrial Park. Discussed being able to zone down. Lengthy discussion followed. Thomas Muir indicated they should set zoning districts to do feathering. Jerry Jenkins indicated that if you had a property designated as an Industrial Parle Development, then you could put anything there that goes into Industrial Zoning and would not have to separate into light and heavy Industrial. He noticed today that there is a QT, then a hospital and a medical complex in another City, he asked how they make that transition. Cecile Carson indicated that part of that is called a node. On intersections you can have the four comers zoned as retail or office instead of having strips, then you have breaks at major intersections. Discussed various zoning layouts Discussed spot zoning. Jerry Jenkins indicated that in 1987, they zoned F.M. 455 as business roughly 500 feet from the Right of Way, he asked if that was too deep, and asked if they should look at the area one or two lots in. It seems they should back off and bring ·-- it down to 150', if they are going to change everything they might as well do it now. Cecile Carson indicated it was a long ways in; and this area was probably going to be the biggest controversy. Currently, they have residential districts that can morph themselves into business. It is existing, and to go back and try to change it might be challenging. They really need to look at the current use. It affects the value of the land, and the taxes could be higher because it has been changed to commercial. Discussed widening ofF.M.455 in the future, Discussed overlay districts, Historic districts and downtown areas. Discussed lighting, brick mail boxes and Parks were addressed in the subdivision regulations, but could be addressed in the zoning ordinance as well. Jerry Jenkins asked the City Manager what he thought about eliminating the City of Sanger's entire ordinance, and starting with Royse City's. City Manager indicated that is sounded like a good start. He explained the Planned Development submitted by Brooke Hill village, told what type and what size trees they were going to plant. It was a very detailed plan. Discussion continued regarding the new zoning ordinance, starting with Royse City's and looking at ordinances from other cities as well. Thomas Muir asked Cecile Carson if she could put a chart together with what she thinks the zoning categories should be and comparing them to other cities and bring it back to commission and let them look at it. Cecile Carson indicated she would. Discussion followed regarding Planned Developments and the fact that the development fees are higher for them than for single family developments. Jerry Jenkins indicated that Tomlin will be tied to the zoning ordinance in effect. Cecile Carson indicated there are laws that there has to be some expectation, and if you are developing under a certain set of regulations, there is a certain time frame to get it done. Discussed building permits and expiration dates. Jimmy Frazier asked who maintains the roads etc. in these districts. Staff indicated it would be the District's responsibility. Discussed that any changes or improvements can be written into the development agreement. Gary Bilyeu asked if they should make recommendations on this in parts or all at once. Consensus of the Commission to do it all at once. Discussed it would be economically better on the City to do at same time with Comprehensive Plan, because of notices etc. Cecile indicated that the complicated part of the zoning is the districts, that's the part that will require notification. She indicated theymight want to bring someone in to talk about legal aspects of non-conforming uses. Commission indicated staff should schedule and have meetings even if there is nothing to act on. Discussed that Cecile will have chart ready for next meeting. 3. Meeting Adjourned.