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10-11-1988 PLANNING AND .ZONING MINDTES - The Schertz Planning and Zoning Commission convened in a regular session on Tuesday, October 11, 1988 at 7:00 P.M. in the Municipal Complex.Conference Raom, 1400 Schertz Parkway. Those present were as follows: PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION OTHERS PRESENT BOB ANDREWS, CHAIRMAN JIM SHRIVER, SCHERTZ TY.BRISGILL, VICE-CHAIRMAN BUSINESS CLUB KEITH VAN DINE, SECRETARY MERWIN WILLMAN CITY STAFF- MARY MARSH GEORGE VICK STEVE SIMONSON, ASST.. JOE POTEMPA CITY MANAGER KEN GREENWALD, COUNCILMAN NORMA ALTHOUSE, RECORDING SECRETARY #1 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Andrews called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. #2 APPROVAL OF I~IINUTES: Regular Session September 27, 1988 Joe Potempa asked that en Page 2, Paragraph 5, after neighborhood, the word "association" be added. Mary Marsh made a motion. to approve the minutes, as amended, for tl.e regular session September 27, 1988. M~rwin Tn'illrlan seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous ir. favor. Motion. carried. #3 CITIZENS' INPUT OTIiT:R THAN AGENDA ITEMS There w«s none. #4 CONSIDER A~TD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION: Discussion of Annual Report to City Council Chairman Andrews reminded the Commission this item had been tabled from a previous .session. Mary Marsh said, in her opinion, the Commission needs to be moxe specific in outlining it`s goals on the annual report. _ - Mary Marsh continued on, saying they had learned a lot at the -recent APA convention acid she feels the city plan definitely needs more work. Mrs. Marsh commented there are.lots of things we should be doing, that we aren`t doing, that we can'do. The first thing Mary Marsh menticned was the pattern of how to - approach the rewriting of the city plan. Mrs. Marsh-said she - thinks they should start over-and the_best starting point is to. have community involvement (1) with a survey of. the community and (2 ) with a citizen ` s group which repz esents- teach section- of the - City (each subdivision and _Schertz proper). The basis of input should be-where t11e City is; where it wants to go, and how it is going to get there. Mrs. Marsh said Schertz should be very proud because Dallas did not have-a comprehensive plan until 1957. - George Vick remarked that. at the convention it had been stressed that the comprehensive city plan should go hand-in-hand cti~ith the zoning ordinance. Mary Marsh pointed out that when the comprehensive city plan is tied. together .with .the zoning ordinance it helps a city in case off'-lawsuits.. George Vick added that it also makes the necessity .for granting variances very rare. Mr. Vick said a lot of this has come to light in the last couple of years as•the result of the enactment of new state laws.. ..George Vick also brought ;up the subject of approving variances and/or plats with contingencies. Mr. Vick staid that according tc state law, even if the developer ignores the contingency requirement, the final plat is automatically approved 3Q days after it is filmed. George Vick said, in talking with people from other cities, he found some of them had gone about writing their city plan by obtaining citizen input and obtaining input from business leaders, business clubs, etc. Getting to the subject of the annual report, Mary Marsh commented, that as far as goals, the Commission might want to take another Icok at the ,Tack Hays Boulevard Overlay District and at other entrances to the City. Mrs. Marsh said she didn`t think they were prepared to maize alI the necessary recommendations tonight and she would rather the report be late than incomplete. This prompted a discussion on whether c_r not the Commission needs to be more specific about it's goals or. the annual report. Number 13 ors the annual report (as drafted by Merwin Willman) refers to goals ftwc had -:bean listed) and the Commission discussed enlarging this list. Item (a) "Completion cf the updating of the City Plan" was felt to be inadequate, and after some discussion, was changed to = "Start the development of a comprehensive city plan for the City cf Schertz which will include input from at least these-four elments: 1. citizens, business, 3. Staff and 4. City. Council". - - - Item (b) "Review of all lard within the City zoned Predevelopment - to determine the best use cf t31e land" stayed the same: -2- It was decided to add Item (c) "Review Jack. Hays Boulevard Overlay District". Chairman Andrews questioned if they should also take a lock at a: .possible overlay district alcng...FM 73: Mr. Andrews said he -can foresee parking problems on FM 7Q because of the lack of frontage. After some discussion on whether or not an overlay is really needed and whether cr -not they should wait. for more information on the widening of FM 73, the Commission decided to add Item (d)."Review necessity fcr an overlay district on FM 7$". Joe Potempa commented he thought there had been some talk about beautifying the entrance to the City alarg FM 7~. Steve Simonson informed the Commission Mr_. Sweatt, City Manager, has sent a letter t~o Southwest Texas State University .asking them for their assistance in planning these entrances on F,M ?8. Joe Potempa also asked about an overlay district along IH-35, but the Commission didn't see an}T need for it. Chairman Andrews briefly mentioned there might be a need in the future to change some of our restrictions on L'reeway Manor as far as required frontage for businesses. Keith Vt~.n Dino arrived at the meeting at 7:3Q P.M. Joe Pctempa said he would like to see more of the Staff funded to attend the next conference. On this subject, Steve Simonson remarked he does think the Staff Planning Coordinator should always b~. one of those funded by t.ze City to attend because there is se much the conference has to offer. Steve Simonson commented there are lots of cities without comprehensive plans and Schertz has a plan. Mr. Simonson further stated Schertz also has a comprehensive zoning map, special overlay ordinances, and has worked within an AICUZ which many other cities have not done. Steve Simonson said he feels Schertz should do throe things: (1) have something at the next conference, for example either an article of recognition cr a workshop; (2) blow it`s own horn about what accomplishments it has made thus far; and (3) work caith City Council Council on goals that benefit everyone in the City. Mr. Simonsen went on tc sa}T we should write to the Texas Chapter ,cf the APA and asked to get- on their agenda. Mr. Simonson stated someone needs to tally from a small city's point of view and he feels sure Schertz could put together a lot of material and show what can be done by a smell city. _ Mary Marsh commented a letter should be sent to APA, because they are in the planning stages fcr the next conference, telling them.... how .the small cities felt -left out (they should ~~rnish courses _ which cover small, medium and large-sized cities), and volunteering to make a presentation, with a small city point of -3- . . W w view, at the next conference. Chairman Andrews reminded the Commission that if they send a letter and are accepted on the agenda, it will be. a -l:ot of bard work. P'!r. Andrews _ pointed out it taJies approximately three months to prepare a one-hour course. The Commission wanted-'the writing of this letter to be Item (e) on the goals for the annual report and it was suggested by Mary Marsh that :Steve Simonson and Merwin Willman get together and work out the correct verbage for this goal. Ken Greenwald remarked` that at some of the TML sessions what they had dane was coerce other small cities, as well as Schertz, to write a letter asking TML .why they- didn't gear some of their presentations to cities with smaller populations. Keith Van Dine remarked he thinks there's something about saying "small city" that has a negative connotation, and he thinks more- emphasis should be placed on saying a-city with a population of less than 15,0'00 or 20,000. Joe Pctempa noted that at the conference they kept bringing up 'the City of Plane, Texas and expounding on it's it's access to a number of major highways. Mr. Potempa pointed out he thinks Schertz also has a lot tc offer. Steve Simonson reviewed for the Commission all that Schertz has tc offer - utilities,. roads, zoning, staffing, a City Council with foresight (they went ahead and annexed 5,000 acres which bring v~•ry little back at the moment). Mr. Simonson said Schertz has a vision, it can share with other small cities. .?ce Potempa also mentioned parks and recreational facilities ar~d asked if Schertz shouldn't have some kind of clause in it's ordiance about requiring the developer cf a. new subdivision to set a percentage of the land aside for such facilities. Merwin G~'illman responded by saying that it was required in the old ordinance, but then tl^.e State Supreme Court fcund trat requirement unconstitutional. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court fcund that requirement to be constitutional and row the requirement is bacJs in the new Subdivision Ordinance. Ty Srisgill pointed out. there are 30 plus acres in the Greenshire Subdivision wr.ich will eventually be a park. Further discussion on the annual report was tabled until Steve Simonson and Merwin [Willman can get together and work out the verbage for goal (e) regarding a letter. to APA. rr5 GENERAL DISCUSS.T~ON - Mary Marsh, di-recti~g her remarks to Ken Greenwal3, stressed it is vitally important that it be taken care of immediat_e1y that the City Council cannot_be the Board of Adjustment, it has to b~ -4- someone outsi3e of City government. Mrs. Marsh said they have - been told this by both the APA and it's lawyers. Chairman, Andrews cammonted he sup~arts "nary .Marsh on this opi.nian. Mary Marsh recommended that City Council be advised and Keith Van_ Dine said, were it to be made a formal recommendation, he would second it. Steve Simonson asked if the nca charter has gone to the City Attorney's office yet. Ke.. Greenwald said he didn't knave for sure . Keit11 Van Dine brought. up the following: (a) At the 1987 conference, the City of Plano came up a lot like it's .the forerunner of small cities. Mr. Van Dine said Schertz could take it's place and he, for cne, would be interested in participating in the presentation a workshop. (b) Informed Steve Simonson they leveled cff the ground where the new water tower went in out in his area, and it's looking good. Commented the majority of people in the Schirrnervilie area are happy with the City of Schertz - they've gotten more Pram Sc.acrtz i.n one year than they got from San Antonia in fifteen years. Joe Potempa mentiorLed that Chase who had attended the r_onferer~ce received a survey farm to fill out and he had included an his t1.ze statement "please gear to small cities, bring to our level". George Vick brcught up the following: (a) Asked if there are a rash of signs (street and traffic) j Ti15S1ng. Steve Simansart Salsa. yeS and rC:L~IaCeI;tentS are being i ar erect. i (b) Said he was surprised to learn that after number 1, English, and number Spanish, the two most mammon spcken languages in the United States are number 3, Vietnamese, and number 4, Korean. Merwin Taillman brought up the fol'Iowing: ta) Referring back to a comment made, at a previous- meeting, by Anne Carman of E~iamesteaaers' Arts and Crafts abcut selling $6,000 at their Shaw which brought sales tax into the City af.Schertz, Mr. Wil-lman asked how did the sales taY come to_ the City-.- - Jim Shriven of the Schertz Business Club .informed the Commission if you sell ~=our- products going from City to .City, you -must file a tax form. -5- There was. some discussion regarding the. possibility of being able to-track the exact amount of sales tax that came into the City from the Homesteaders. -It was suggested that it was-probably paid to the C,it.y by tYie.State Comptroll.ers's office in a lump sum along with ether sales tax. Ty Brisgill questioned the possibility of having the inspector - check to see if the Homesteaders have a valid Tax ID number. (b) Asked if we have a tentative agreement with the railroad regarding the right-of-way along FM 7°. (Steve Simonson said yes we do, but_Southern Pacific has been sold and the engineer.we were dealing with has retired. Mr. Simonson said the Highway Department is :moving ahead and suggested going with the current people and getting another letter from them.) Mr. Willman asked if a letter had been sent to the new owners regarding the .agreement with the previous owners and Steve Simonson said yes it has,. bizt as of yet he has no reply. (c) At 200 Mitchell, the inspector said a storage building is going up, but it looks more like an apartment. tSteve Simonson said he would check into it.) hen Greenwald reported that City Council had approved the storage building amendment to the Mobile H::me Ordinance. Jim Shriver informed the Commissicn he had spoken with a representative of Jack-in-the-Box wl.o said the new establishment they`re building in Schertz will seat almost 100 people. Mr. Shriver also said the representative he spoke with had commented they are expecting big things in the future out of the City of Schertz. Chairman Andrews told Steve Simonson he nad found some traffic signs in his dumpster and asked Mr. Si:rcnson if the City wanted them. Steve Simonson replied yes. ~6 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Andrews adjourned the meeting at 3:2~ P.M. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Octaber 25, 190°. -G-