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06-22-1993 PLANNING AND ZONING MINUTES The Schertz Planning and Zoning Commission convened in a regular session on Tuesday, June 22, 1993 at 7:00 P.M. in the Municipal. Complex conference room, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. Those present were as follows: PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION OTHERS PRESENT BOB ANDREWS, CHAIRMAN DUANE MOORE, MERWIN WILLMAN, SECRETARY CUDE & ASSOCIATES KEITH VAN DINE DEBEE WOLFGANG DAVID RICHMOND TONY MORENO CITY STAFF PIA JARMAN KEN GREENWALD, COUNCILMAN STEVE SIMONSON, ASST. CITY MGR. MEMBERS ABSENT NORMA ALTHOUSE, RECORDING SECY. GEORGE VICK, VICE-CHAIRMAN MARK MARQUEZ, ADMIN. ASST. #1 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Andrews called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ~2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular Session June 8, 1993 Merwin Willman made a motion to approve the minutes for the regular session June 8, 1993. David Richmond seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor. Motion carried. Before moving on to Item #3, Chairman Andrews welcomed Tony Moreno and Pia Jarman as new members of the Commission. #3 CITIZENS' INPUT OTHER THAN AGENDA ITEMS There was none. #4 CONSIDER AND MARE. RECOMMENDATION: Request from Debee Wolfgang of 209 Westchester for a Special Exception to the Side Yard Setback and Rear Yard Setback and Encroachment into the Utility Easement (BOA #44) Debee Wolfgang was at the meeting to represent this request. Chairman Andrews reminded the Commission this request will require recommendation to the Board of Adjustment and then asked for Staff input. Steve. Simonson noted there-are two drawings. The one on the back of the application shows what's there, the patio slab, the clothesline and the doll house. The second page.. shows actual measurements. Mr. Simonson went on to say the house is set back extremely far from the street right-of-way.. We have a 12' utility easement and one corner of the house is only 13'8", or 1'8" away from the easement. The patio slab encroaches into the easement and the doll house is all in the easement. The house probably shouldn't have. been platted that way, but the Commission will have to deal with what we have. Debee Wolfgang spoke at this time and informed the Commission she has been renting the home for several years, but is in the process of purchasing it and she was not aware of the easement. Along with the doll house, there are trees in the easement and a fence. Ms. Wolfgang indicated it would be a personal, hardship for her to remove the doll house at this time. Debee Wolfgang advised there is property on the side of her home where she plans to put an addition for a utility room and storage sometime in the future, and. City Inspector Leonard Truitt is aware of that plan. Steve Simonson pointed out a couple of things. First of all, - the fence backs up to the Schertz Housing Authority fence. Second, the doll house is built over a 7200 KVA electric line which is buried only 30 inches deep and GVEC has expressed concern about this. Chairman Andrews wanted to clarify the request before the Commission at this time. The request is twofold: (1) to leave the doll house where it is, and (2) to build a patio cover. Mr. Andrews then asked when the doll house was put in and Debee Wolfgang answered her Dad built it about two months ago. Mr. Andrews then asked who the current property owner is and Debee Wolfgang replied it is Priscilla Coyne. Merwin Willman questioned if there are trees in the easement and Steve Simonson responded yes there are. At this time, Councilman Ken Greenwald pointed out that the fence does have a drop gate in case a utility company needs to .get through. Merwin Willman inquired how far the patio is into the. easement and Chairman Andrews determined it must encroach by at least 8'. Steve Simonson reiterated that the original slab was poured over this easement. Councilman Ken Greenwald mentioned that cable TV and telephone -lines are also located in-the easement. - -2- - Chairman Andrews wondered if anyone had contacted GVEC and Steve Simonson acknowledged the City had contacted them. GVEC confirmed that the lines are buried only 30" deep and they told the City they are very concerned. Councilman Ken Greenwald stated there is no other access because of Clyde Ford Village. Tony Moreno implied it becomes a matter of safety and asked how long the electric lines have been there. Councilman Ken Greenwald replied they have been there at least since 1971. Mr. Moreno then theorized there may be something in the works to redo the lines. Does GVEC have a policy about replacing them to make them safer? Steve Simonson indicated they are heavy duty cable lines and as far as he knows there are no plans to replace them. Chairman Andrews remarked that if they have to fix something in the lines, then GVEC will replace them. .Councilman Ken Greenwald reminded the Commission. that Paragon Cable has made a commitment to change over to a fiber optic system by 1995/96 and Southwestern Bell is also thinking about fiber optics. Merwin Willman couldn't see complicating the situation by adding .more to it. Mr. Willman said the trees can be removed and we can't do anything about the patio, so it .seems the only alternative is to move the doll house out of the easement. Chairman Andrews asked what about the patio cover and Mr. Willman noted that with the slab already encroaching into the easement, the cover would be in the same position. Chairman Andrews questioned if a utility vehicle would be able to maneuver between the patio-and the fence and Merwin Willman pointed out they may be able to get around, but they could still damage the patio. There was discuss-ion about how to handle this situation with several suggestions being made such as granting a side yard variance so the doll house could be moved or working something out on the side for the doll house and putting the clothesline in the easement: Debee Wolfgang appealed to the Commission for just a waiver to leave the doll house where .it is until GVEC needs to .move it. Ms. Wolfgang said she doesn't plan on keeping the doll house there for twenty years, probably just for four more years.- Ms. Wolfgang also stated she will forgo her plans to build a patio -3- cover. Chairman Andrews stressed the City will need to see something in writing as far as an agreement between Debee Wolfgang and GVEC. Keith Van Dine indicated he has no problem with this request if we can get some kind of agreement in writing between Debee Wolfgang and GVEC. Merwin Willman noted the Board of Adjustment will have to make the final decision, but the Commission should indicate to the Board the problems they have found with this request. Chairman Andrews then mentioned that we have a request from a lady on a property she doesn't own. Is there anything from the owner indicating, this is permissible? Debee Wolfgang said she should close on the property by the end of June and stated the owner is aware of the situation. Chairman Andrews informed Debee Wolfgang that the title company will take exception to the patio and the doll house being in the easement and will not guarantee any of that. Pia Jarman asked how the problem surfaced. Did GVEC complain? Steve Simonson answered no to that question and told Mrs. Jarman it was brought to the attention of the City Inspector. Mrs. Jarman then observed the patio has been there for years and so far there hasn't been a problem. Chairman Andrews said that's correct, the patio was built with the house. Merwin Willman made a motion to recommend to the Board of Adjustment that either the doll house be removed and the patio be removed or there be a written agreement between the City, the owner, GVEC and the other utilities stating that at such time as they would need to get into the easement for repairs, etc., the patio and the doll house will be removed at the owner's expense. David Richmond asked if that's a proper motion .and Merwin Willman said he would like to give the Board of Adjustment an option. The motion died for lack of a second. Keith Van Dine made a motion to recommend to the Board of Adjustment, that everything at the 209 Westchester property remain as ;is contingent on a written agreement between Debee Wolfgang and GVEC stating that at such time as GVEC needs to get into the easement for repair-s, etc., the doll house and/or patio will be removed at the owner's expense.' -4- . David Richmond seconded the motion and the vote was as follows: AYES: B. Andrews, K. Van Dine, D. Richmond, T. Moreno, P. Jarman. NAYS: M. Willman (Stated he still thinks the Commission ought to give the BOA an option.) Motion carried. ~5 CONSIDER AND TARE APPROPRIATE ACTION: Preliminary Plat Approval - Woodland Oaks Subdivision, Unit 5 (PC #194-93) Duane Moore of Cude and Associates was at the meeting to represent this request. Chairman Andrews informed the Commission this area is a PUD. Mr. Andrews then asked the Commission to disregard the plat that was included in their packages because we have an updated plat, even though a few things are still missing. Steve Simonson told the Commission this plat has been submitted to all the appropriate departments and they find no problem with it. The utility easements meet the requirements, you can see where the sewer line runs, and the width of the streets is 50'. They do need to put the correct reference for the floodplain map on the plat. Also, all the lot dimensions are not shown and they will be on the final plat. Mr. Simonson asked if the existing drainage right-of-way will be natural or will it be cemented. Duane Moore replied they will need to cement some of it, but basically it is a greenbelt area. Steve Simonson added that if it's done correctly, it minimizes erosion. Mr. Simonson further stated the plat conforms to the Master Plan and Woodland Oaks Drive is stubbed out to the end of the subdivision. As previously mentioned, the plat is missing lot dimensions. It is also missing the radii of the cul-de-sacs and the Certificate and signature lines. Mr. Simonson asked Duane Moore if any agreement had been reached between them and Mr. Wolverton on extending Woodland Oaks Drive on out to Schertz Parkway, but Mr. Moore did not know. Merwin Willman pointed out that the topography elevation lines are also missing on the plat. Mr. Willman then asked how they are going to work out the requirement for parkland and Duane Moore answered they are proposing- to use the dry detention pond as some of the park area -5- Steve Simonson remarked they will have to take a look at the final .plan and admitted there is access to this area off Dimrock and Tiny Elm. Mr. .Simonson then brought out the fact that the 1' non-access easement is on the plat. Chairman Andrews asked how the mandatory homeowners association will be phased in, but Duane Moore did not know. Steve Simonson explained that if there's anything special in the subdivision (such as a mandatory homeowners association) the City requests it be noted on the plat. There was then discussion about drainage with several members expressing concern. Steve Simonson seemed to feel there were no problems with drainage, but noted we will have to see when Unit 6 comes in. Merwin Willman made a motion to approve the preliminary plat for Woodland Oaks Subdivision, Unit 5 contingent on all lot dimensions, cul-de-sac radii, the correct floodplain map reference, the certificate and signature lines, the topography elevation lines, and the homeowners association statement being added to the plat. Keith Van Dine. seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor. Motion carried. Chairman Andrews asked Duane Moore when the Commission can expect to see a final plat and asked how soon they plan to start building. Mr. Moore replied very soon for the plat and the developer is looking at starting to build sometime around August 1st. ~6 CONSIDER AND MAKE RECOMMENDATION: Review and Discussion . of Side Yard Setbacks in Areas Zoned R-2 Chairman Andrews reminded the Commission they have a list of all variance requests since January of 1991. Merwin Willman commented it's not as many as it seemed, just a lot of requests lately. David Richmond noted it bears out his personal opinion that they need to continue looking at variance requests on an individual basis rather than making a wholesale change to the ordinance. Merwin .Willman mentioned that maybe the Commission needs to . -look at the procedures, they may need to be more stringent. Steve Simonson explained that the .Commission doesn't get half of what the City gets asked as far as variances. The Staff -6- tries to work with people on these things. Requesting a variance is a formidable process. The Staff has been given authority to make a decision on things such as curb cuts and storage sheds in mobile home areas. Keith Van Dine spoke in favor of leaving the process as is - on a case by case evaluation. Mervin Willman remarked the Commission may want to review the Zoning Ordinance, but Chairman Andrews felt it was best to leave it as it is right now. #7 GENERAL DISCUSSION Mervin Willman: (a) Alluded. to the annual APA conference held every year during .the first week of October and said it's in Houston this year. Speaking to the new members, Mr. Willman said this is something the City pays for to show appreciation for work done by the Commission. On this subject, Chairman Andrews asked if we ever got in the books that were ordered at the conference last year and Steve Simonson replied yes we did. (b) Also informed the new members there are various checklists they use, such as the checklist for a subdivision plat. All the items on the checklists can be found in the appropriate ordinances. Steve Simonson: (a) Told Keith Van Dine he suspects the Schirmerville area will be getting it's street light back very soon. Pia Jarman• (a) Said she is pleased to be a member of the Commission and will try and learn. Mervin Willman advised Mrs. Jarman if she has any questions, during General Discussion is the time to ask them. Tonv Moreno• (a) Remarked that at the last meeting the Commission learned all .about the applicants. Now, he would like to learn something about the members of the Commission. Going around the table, everyone gave Mr. Morena some -information about themselves. - . -7- Chairman Andrews: (a) Noted that approximately 3 years ago, a property owner in Silvertree combined two lots into one by vacating and replatting. The property is now for sale and may be sold as two separate lots, so now we may see an unvacate and replat. Steve Simonson commented that should be taken care of with the filing of a new plat. (b) Mentioned the water run-off bill making it's way through Congress and reported that San Antonio implemented it's run-off fees this month. Councilman Ken Greenwald related that these run-off fees implemented by San Antonio only pay for the study. Mr. Andrews said he knows population is one of the deciding factors in determining-these fees, so Schertz does have. a way to go. Councilman Ken Greenwald: (a) Reported the Council of Mayors is meeting in Detroit and they are trying to introduce a policy making it a requirement that if an agency (such as the EPA) mandates something, then the agency mandating the action has to pay for it. Steve Simonson pointed out that the run-off fees being charged by San Antonio are minimal. # 8 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Andrews adjourned the meeting at 8:30 P.M. The next meeting is scheduled for July 13, 1993. It will be a Planning and Zoning public hearing on the request for rezoning Dove Meadows and will be followed by a regular session. -8-