10-12-1993 PLANNING AND ZONING MINUTES
The. Schertz Planning and Zoning Commission convened in a
Regular Session on Tuesday, October 12, 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 DON DEAN,
MERWIN WILLMAN, SECRETARY SCHERTZ CHURCH OF
KEITH VAN DINE CHRIST
DAVID RICHMOND
TONY MORENO CITY STAFF
PIA JARMAN
KEN GREENWALD, COUNCILMAN STEVE SIMONSON,
ASST. CITY MANAGER
NORMA ALTHOU5E
MEMBERS ABSENT RECORDING SECRETARY
GEORGE VICK, VICE-CHAIRMAN
#1 CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Andrews called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.
#2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Public Hearing and Regular
Session September 28, 1993
Merwin Willman made a motion to approve the minutes for the
Public Hearing and Regular Session September 28, 1993. Pia
Jarman seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor.
Motion carried.
#3 CITIZENS' INPUT OTHER THAN AGENDA ITEMS
There was none.
#4 CONSIDER AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION: Preliminary Plat
Approval - Schertz Church of Christ
Subdivision (PC #201-93)
Don Dean of he Schertz Church of Christ was at the meeting to
represent this request..
Chairman Andrews asked for Staff update. _
Steve Simonson informed the--Commission it is a straightforward
plat of the existing land with frontage on Pfeil St. and
Schertz Parkway. We have required a site plan be submitted
before approval of the final plat.
Chairman Andrews noted. there were 5 items incomplete when the
original checklist was done, but they have all been corrected.
Merwin Willman questioned why they placed a 1' non-access
easement on the north side and Steve Simonson replied he does
not know, it was their choice.
Mr. Willman then inquired about the easement on the north
side. They show a 20' easement and then a 16' easement. Is
that part of this plat or does it belong to the Knights of
Columbus?
Steve Simonson replied it is his understanding that is the
existing easement through the property and is not on the Church
property. It is adjacent to the Church property.
Mr. Simonson commented they will need to look at the site plan
to determine the ingress/egress.
Chairman Andrews asked if there's an overlay on the area and
Steve Simonson replied the overlay on Schertz Parkway stops at
E. Live Oak Road.
David Richmond called attention to the fact they spelled Church
wrong on the plat - they spelled it Chuuch.
Chairman Andrews inquired if a curb cut. on Schertz Parkway is
anticipated in the future and Steve Simonson answered yes it is
and they will also exit on Pfeil St.
Merwin Willman wondered if the street will go all the way
through and Steve Simonson advised it will not. There is a
connecting drive, but Mr. Simonson said he didn't want to
speculate too much because he hasn't seen the site plan. They
are not going to put in a City street.
When asked about the site plan by Chairman Andrews, Steve
Simonson confirmed it will be submitted with the final plat.
Merwin Willman made a motion to approve the preliminary plat
for the Schertz Church of Christ .Subdivision. David Richmond
seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous -in favor.
Motion carried.
At this time.a lady attending the meeting started to speak and
wanted to .know if the City is ever going to implement a curb
.recycling plan through Alamo Waste or just keep adding trash to
the land. ~ -
Chairman Andrews asked for her name and she identified herself
as a citizen of Schertz. When pressed further by Mr. Andrews,
she said her name was M.J. Blumberg.
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Chairman Andrews advised Ms. Blumberg he really doesn't know
whether or not Schertz will get curbside recycling (he has
heard rumors), but City Council, not Planning and Zoning, will
make that decision.
Ms. Blumberg commented then maybe we can have a local glass
factory .and container fill, and maybe solar electric
engineering on all new buildings for cost efficient air
conditioning.
Ms. Blumberg left the meeting at this point and Chairman
Andrews thanked her for coming.
#5 CONSIDER AND MARE RECOMMENDATION: Discussion of Ex-Officio
P&Z Member on Board/Commission of Task Force
Chairman Andrews commented this had been discussed briefly at
the last meeting when Mark Marquez was here. The idea is for
an ex-officio P&Z member to sit on the Board of the Task Force
and an ex-officio member of the Task Force to sit in on P&Z
meetings. This should help provide coordination between the
two bodies so they both have some sense of direction as to
where current and/or future development is going. There are
times when there's a close parallel between what the Task Force
is doing and what the Commission is doing.
Tony Moreno questioned when the Task Force meets and was told
by Merwin Willman as needed. It probably averages once every
month to six weeks, usually on Thursday nights.
Mr. Moreno then volunteered to be the ex-officio P&Z .member to
sit in on Task Force meetings.
Chairman Andrews, noting Tony Moreno had nominated himself,
asked if anyone wanted to second his nomination or volunteer
themselves so we can go forward with the recommendation
process. Mr. Andrews remarked we will need some type of
concurrence from City Council on this matter.
Tony Moreno asked if anyone else might be interested so they
could share information. Chairman Andrews observed that Merwin
Willman usually goes to the Task. Force meetings.
Mr. Willman mentioned that the Task Force is in the process of .
reorganizing and they want to come up with a new name. Right
now they are known as the. Economic Development Task°Force, but
all the items and projects they had in the organizing are
pretty well completed. -They are trying to come up with
something new.
Chairman Andrews predicted it may develop into something on
down the road or just feather on out. One thing he knows is
that Mark Marquez is working with the Tri-County area and the
businesses coming in there and the Commission has knowledge of
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site plans, plats, etc. to keep the flow going. We have to
keep the flow going when a business comes in, especially if
it's one of consequential size. We may be able to divert
problems businesses encounter when coming into the City.
Steve Simonson revealed they do that right now on Staff. When
a new business is considering locating in Schertz, there are
three main sources they contact - him, John Bierschwale or Mark
Marquez. A meeting is then called and all the main Staffers
are in the same room. Schertz labels itself as the "City of
one-stop shopping." Any questions a prospective new business
may have are all answered at that meeting.
Mr. Simonson further stated the Economic Development Task
Force is out there actively seeking new businesses and looking
to expand existing businesses and as soon as they get contact
and bring a new business prospect in, then they turn it over to
City Staff. It has worked well. -
Merwin Willman insisted there should be a cut off where the
Task Force stops and Planning and Zoning takes over. The
Commission has a pretty good track record for moving things
along and he would hate to see a delay.
David Richmond asked if the Task Force has a charter and
Chairman Andrews replied not yet.
Mr. Richmond then questioned if the Task Force was established
by City Council and if so, can't the Council control their
responsibilities.
Councilman Ken Greenwald answered they are pretty much limited
to economic development - it's kind of an all-encompassing
umbrella. Mr. Greenwald then remarked he thinks there is a
charter.
Steve Simonson pointed out the Commission has clear cut
responsibilities.
David Richmond commented that as long as Mark Marquez is a paid
.employee, and since the City Council established the Task
Force, then Council should be able to draw up some- guidelines
to avoid encroachment. into the .responsibilities of the
Commission.
Councilman Ken Greenwald observed that if an ex-officio were to
sit in on the_Task Force meetings,_ there should be ns~ problem
_ with encroaching on each other's responsibilities.
Since the Commission agreed having an ex-officio would be
advisable,, Chairman Andrews asked that the request for
appointment of Tony Moreno as the ex-officio member on the
Board of the Task Force be forwarded to City Council. '
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#6 CONSIDER AND MAKE RECOMMENDATION: Renaming of Live Oak
Blvd. (PC #188-93)
Chairman Andrews related this. process had begun back on
February 8th of this year and he feels we should go forward
with it.
Mr. Andrews then asked for an update.
Steve Simonson reported he had a call from Margie Lubianski who
said Selma hadn't had a meeting since she received his letter,
but it will be on their next agenda.
Mr. Simonson went on to say he had talked with Ann Smith from
Cibolo who said they will be bringing it up at their meeting
tonight.
Mr. Simonson felt he should have formal replies from both
cities by the next meeting.
Steve Simonson mentioned that he had asked Cibolo to consider,
and give us some feedback, on the possibility of doing
something with the proposed overpass because you can't have a
three-way intersection of Wiederstein Rd. If the Commission
wants to go ahead and rename Live Oak Blvd. to Wiederstein Rd.
for our City, Mr. Simonson indicated he foresees no problem
from our sister cities.
Tony Moreno remarked he thinks it's a good idea to be doing the
groundwork now.
Merwin Willman asked if the Wiederstein Rd. that comes off
IH-35 is in .the City or in the County and was told by Steve
Simonson it is in our ETJ.
Keith Van Dine explored the possibility of Schertz going ahead
and then, for some reason, ,the other cities having a problem
and asked where that leaves us. Steve Simonson indicated that
just means Schertz doesn't have two roads with the same name.
Merwin Willman made a motion to recommend the proposed name
change for Live Oak Blvd. be forwarded to City Council for the
scheduling of a public hearing.
Chairman Andrews .inquired if we don't have to get approvel from
the Post Office and Steve Simonson said we already did. -
_ Keith Van Dine seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous _
- in favor. Motion carried. -
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#7 CONSIDER AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION: Review of Sagemont
Subdivision
Tony Moreno commented he had gone looking for Sagemont and
couldn't find it.
Steve Simonson advised it's between Woodland Oaks and Savannah
Square, and surrounds-Autumn Winds Nursing Home.
Tony Moreno questioned how it will interface and Chairman
Andrews pointed out Hillview Lane will tie in. Steve Simonson
pointed out, however, there won't be any giant north/south
road.
Merwin Willman declared it's been platted since 1985 and is
just sitting there waiting to be developed.
Tony Moreno wanted to know if the utilities are-laid out and
Chairman Andrews stated they were setting it up for easements
in the back yards, there is nothing there at the present time.
Mr. Moreno said he assumed the Commission wants the utilities
in_front and Chairman Andrews acknowledged that's correct.
Merwin Willman implied many things have happened since this
plat was approved and there are questions he has about it, so
he wondered if we should have them resubmit the plat. One
thing was that there was going to be a through road, but the
Master Plan and the plat don't agree and they should.
There was a brief discussion on the plat with Merwin Willman
saying he thinks they ought to recommend Morton come in with a
new plat.
Tony Moreono asked if they want a new Master Plan submitted
also and the consensus of the Commission was that they do.
Steve Simonson, theorizing Morton may say they have an approved
plat and want to develop it just as it is, asked what he should
tell them.
Chairman Andrews asked how far we got with the plat-and Steve
~5imonson replied the final plat was approved but never
recorded.
Keith Van Dine asked if there's no time limit for developing
after a plat has been approved-and Chairman Andrews replied _
there is not. That is one of the subjects; that: was discussed
- at the APA conference. - -
Chairman .Andrews suggested writing a letter to Morton telling
them we were reviewing the files and found that in 1985
Sagemont was in the final platting stages. Advise themC that
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since that time there have been considerable changes- in the
thinking of the Planning and Zoning Commission concerning road
networks and utility layouts and easements. Mr. Andrews also
suggested we request a reply from them as to their intentions
for the area and ask them to get together with us so we can
bring them up to date.
Tony Moreno praised Chairman Andrews' strategy.
Merwin Willman brought up the street names, wondering if we
should question them on some of those because a lot of them
sound alike.
Chairman Andrews recommended putting street names on a list of
things we wish to discuss with them. Mr. Andrews also
recommended giving Morton a 60 day time limit to respond.
Steve Simonson asked how about, in the letter to Morton, saying
we are reviewing all former plats not acted upon, then saying
everything Chairman Andrews recommended, and then saying we
would like a reply within 60 days or we will formally negate
the plat. The Commission concurred with that idea.
Keith Van Dine asked how many other old plats we have that have
not been acted upon and Steve Simonson replied only one - NCS
#2 which was going to be a Dairy Queen on IH-35.
Mr. Van Dine stated they should also be sent a letter, but
Steve Simonson pointed out there is no one to send a letter to,
the gentleman who was working on it is deceased. Mr. Van Dine
thought it might be a good idea to send one anyway to the last
known address. The letter will be returned, but everyone
having an old plat not acted upon will have been notified.
Chairman Andrews inquired if Greenwood hadn't been platted and
Steve Simonson replied no it hadn't, a conceptual Master Plan
is all we have for Greenwood.
David Richmond questioned if a 60 day response time from Morton
will get us an answer before the holidays.
There was some discussion on this and then Mr. Richmond wanted
to know if this_all began with an inquiry to Steve Simonson
from Morton. Mr. Simonson admitted that's correct - someone
from Morton had contacted him on the very day he had mentioned
it to the Commission.
#8 GENERAL DISCUSSION
Pia Jarman•
Divulged she had learned a lot at .the APA conference and the
impression -she got, over and over, from her courses wad that
the public needs to get involved. How do you go about that?
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Mrs. Jarman referred to something Steve Simonson had told her
about a bus tour where the public was invited and only one
person showed up.
Mr. Simonson expounded on that saying it was back in the days.
when the City advertised in the Herald and the one person who.
showed up was Bobbie Vonada who later served on the .Commission,..
Continuing on, Mr. Simonson said when we started the
Comprehensive Plan, we sent a survey to everyone in Schertz for
their input and received only 200 back.
Chairman Andrews stressed this is not just a small. town
problem, he has talked with others at the conferences who have
had similar troubles. It seems people would rather- watch
meetings on TV like they do in San Antonio.
Steve Simonson noted that could probably be arranged if they
got together with Paragon Cable or set up their own video
camera and taped the meetings so they could be shown at
specific times to the public. Mr. Simonson emphasized he is
willing to do anything to get people involved.
Keith Van Dine disclosed that he knew of a way to get everyone
to participate - put something on the agenda from. every area of
the City.
David Richmond:
Mentioned he thinks it's ludicrous that the Seguin-Gazette is
our official newspaper rather than the Herald, especially when
the Herald is delivered to us once a week and we all have
access to it.
Councilman Ken Greenwald told Mr. Richmond there is an
Attorney General's legal opinion which tells what an official
newspaper is, what it must do and what it must have. One of
the things it must have is a second class mailing permit and
the Herald does not have one. The Herald does not qualify as a
legal newspaper. If the City posts an election, a zoning
change or a .bond issue and somebody challenges it, the
election, zoning change, and/or bond issue is null and void.
David Richmond stressed that needs to be communicated to the
public.
Mr. Greenwald retorted it was communicated to the public 18
months ago when theCity changed to .the Seguin-Gazette,, _
nevertheless, it_is on the-.City Council's workshop agenda
tomorrow night if anyone's interested.
Another fact pointed out by Mr. Greenwald was that if the .City.
were to use the Express-News for an official newspaper, it
would probably take a penny's tax increase just to pay for the
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legal notices. They would run approximately $25,000 per year.
Chairman Andrews said he was under the impression legal notices
would be advertised in the Newsletter. Mr. Greenwald
indicated there was an oversight and he apologizes for that,
but they are trying to see that, from this time forward, all
legal notices are advertised in the Newsletter.
Keith Van Dine remarked the Seguin-.Gazette has too low of a
circulation in the area and is too expensive.
Mervin Willman•
Commented that at all the Commission's public hearings, the
Chairman states we will have 10 days to make our recommendation
to City Council. We didn't have 10 days this last time, so we
should stop saying it or change it.
Steve Simonson reminded the Commission there is a side issue
here. We run the legal notices concurrently for Commission and
Council public hearings to save money. This time there didn't
happen to be 10 days between public hearings. However, in
regard to the decision on Darwin Peek's request, Chairman
Andrews asked you if you wanted to table your recommendation
and have a special meeting and you said no.
Mr. Willman contended there are times you have to go against
the public's will and he likes to have time to write out what
he wants to say.
Keith Van Dine asked how about giving the Commission until 10
days after the Council's public hearing to make their decision.
Steve Simonson advised that by the time you did that, working
in all the meeting schedules, it would be about three weeks
hence.
Chairman Andrews requested discussion of this item be placed on
the agenda of the next meeting.
Mr. Willman noted that after City Council's public hearing on
Darwin Peek's request, Mr. Peek passed out a letter to the
Council and he has made a copy for the .Commission. -
Councilman-Ken Greenwald:
(a) Referred to the copy of the information on the high speed
rail the Commission had been given and suggested they read it
- through. It requires an:extra_200' right-of-way_ along_ the _
- existing tracks and could have a serious impact on Schertz.
Steve Simonson added that all the rails will either be under or
over. At the meeting they showed us a lot of pictures of what
they did in France. For a while it was thought this project
was dead in the water, but that's hardly the case.
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Mr. Greenwald reported they said a public hearing will be held
on this proposed project. Initially it was thought to have
private funding, but rumors now say it will be federally
funded.
Steve Simonson told the Commission the people building the high
speed rail have authority to utilize bonds and are backed by
the State on this, and have acquired the right of eminent
domain.
Chairman Andrews asked what kind of time frame we're talking
about and Steve Simonson said it appears they won't acquire the
right-of-way for 2-3 years, so construction won't start for 4-5
years.
(2) Informed everyone that a tax abatement had been granted to
Technos Corporation.
(3) Asked if the Commission has an individual on the TIF
group. Merwin Willman answered no they don't.
Chairman Andrews observed that what the Commission has that
should be coming up soon is the review of the Capital Recovery
Fees.
Steve Simonson:
(a) Passed around a copy showing the way Tri-County Business
Park is being advertised.
(b) Revealed Mayor Sawyer has asked the Texas Department of
Transportation to reduce the speed on FM 3009 to 40 mph.
(c) Reminded everyone there is an APA luncheon this Friday (the
15th) at the Live Oak Civic Center. Representatives from the
City will be speaking.
(d) Reported we have a Wendy's looking to locate behind
Stop-N-Go on FM 3009.
(e) Advised there is no construction yet on the Taco Bell.
because there is still a corporate fight going on over who will
build it.
Chairman Andrews:
(a) Conveyed he is glad to hear the public hearings will now be
in the Newsletter.
(b) Questioned why, since we can't change 'the name of Elbel
Road, can't Towncreek, Aero and Borgfeld all be changed to
Elbel since they're all the same road.
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Steve Simonson explained, jokingly, because that is a good
example for him to point out to developers as a deterrent not
to name roads that way.
(c) Mentioned the courses at the APA conference saying some
were boring and some were fantastic. One thing they talked
about this year was plats that have been approved for a number
of years without anything ever developing and the idea of
giving them a deadline or a sunset as they called it. We are
in the process of converting all our ordinances into a Unified
Development Code (UDC), but in the interim it would be a good
idea to put a sunset on platting in the ordinance.
Merwin Willman agreed because the draft of the UDC is a
minimum of six months away.
Mr. Andrews requested that discussion of putting a sunset date
in the platting process be placed on the agenda of the next
meeting.
#9 ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Andrews adjourned the meeting at 8:27 p.m.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is October 26, 1993.
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