S BOA 02-05-1991
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BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING
FEBRUARY 5, 1991
The Schertz Board of Adjustment convened Tuesday, February 5,
1991 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the Municipal
Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The following
members were present: Mayor Earl W. Sawyer, presiding; Joe
Potempa; Hal Baldwin; Barbara Stanhope; Mary Marsh and Ken
Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager Kerry R. Sweatt and
City Secretary June Krause.
Mayor Sawyer welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked if they
would stand and join him in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Sawyer then read a proclamation in which he proclaimed the
month of February as "Volunteer Month" with the 14th being
"Vol unteer Day". He mentioned that Mr. Merwin Willman is the
City's nominee for Volunteer of the Year.
#1 BOA HEARING: The purpose of the BOA Hearing is to
receive citizen input on a request by Alco Creative Builders on
behal f of Henry Spires I 3713 Olde Moss I for a three foot rear-
yard setback variance to the Zoning Ordinance.
Mr. Sweatt reminded Council that this was discussed at the last
Workshop I with a drawing being furnished. There is an existing
building on the property this was a shed that was placed
wi thout obtaining a permit. It was placed wi thin twelve inches
of the fence on the Savannah Drive side of the lot. It is eight
foot wide by twelve foot long and eight foot high. The placement
of this shed violates two sections of the zoning regulations.
One is the proximity to the side yard and the other is the
distance from the rear of the building. The Planning & Zoning
Commission held a publ ic hearing on this issue. Notices were
sent for this hear ing to property owners wi thin three hundred
feet of this property. The Planning & Zoning Commission
recommended that the variance be granted with the provision that
the building be turned around so, that the length ran wi th the
width of the lot, so that the twel ve foot length was set back
from the side a minimum of three foot, which would qualify with
that requirement. By turning the building, this would reduce
the var iance needed from five foot to three foot for the rear
separation between the main building and the utility building. A
tabulation of those that responded was furnished in the packets.
Mayor Sawyer asked if there were any residents wishing to speak
on this request and there were none.
Mr. Baldwin asked if there was a slab under this building and Mr.
Greenwald said no, that it was skid mounted.
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#2 Consider and take action, if any, on the above request.
Mr. Greenwald moved to approve the setback as approved by
Planning & Zoning Commission granting the three foot variance to
the back yard. Mrs. Marsh seconded the motion.
Mr. Potempa asked if the owner has obtained a permit.
Mr. Sweatt said no, but if the request is granted then he will
have to secure the permit at a double fee.
Mayor Sawyer then called for a vote on the motion, with the
motion carrying as follows:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
#3 Consideration of and appropriate action regarding
granting of requested variance for the benefit of Resurrection
Baptist Church.
Mr. Sweatt said that after the discussion of this item at the
last workshop session, he and Mr. Spain had discussed this. He
said he had contacted our insurance carrier - TML - to discuss
the position of both the insurance company and the City as it
might stand on liability of this issue. Obviously, our carrier
has concern - the Executive Director has assured us that the City
does have a degree of 1 iabil i ty. There are concerns regarding
persons that might participate in any type of agreement - such as
victims. The bottom line is that any type of action in this
regard does broaden our exposure.
Mr. Spain said he had received a letter this date from the
attorney for the church and they are beginning to layout the
intended uses. There are a lot of things a church is involved in
beside services. They are laying out the immediate uses and some
possible future uses. He said what he is prepared to do is to
provide their attorney, if it is the Council's pleasure, a draft
of an agreement. It addresses, on one hand, the desires of the
church; but at the same time, addressing the safety concern and
not departing more than is absolutely necessary from the overall
zoning plan that the City has. It may mean that there are some
things that a church might want to do in the future that the City
would feel would be inappropriate and the church would have to
look at that. If it is the Council's pleasure, the agreement
could be ready the next afternoon.
Mr. Greenwald moved to grant the requested variance from APZ-l
zoning for the benefit of the Resurrection Baptist Church to
operate the church facility in the existing building at 909 FM
1518. However, as part of my motion, the variance will not
become effective unless and until the City Attorney approves, and
the City Manager signs, an agreement between the City of Schertz
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and Resurrection Baptist Church regarding the nature and the
scope of variance. the conditions under which the variance would
end, and other matters which the City Attorney and the City
Manager believe are appropriate to reflect the safety concerns of
the City. I want my motion to be clear; this variance will not
be effective unless the City Attorney and the City Manager are
satisfied with the terms of final agreement between the City and
Resurrection Baptist Church.
Mr. Potempa seconded the motion.
Mr. Sweatt said he would ask Attorney Spain to speak to one
concern so as not to mislead the church in this regard.
Mr. Spain said the only comment he would like to make to the
church is the action taken at this meeting is intended to take
care of whatever action the Council needs to take on this matter.
He said we will begin to work on the agreement but he wanted to
make clear that the variance is not granted until the agreement
is signed. He again said that since the variance is not granted
until the agreement is signed, if it is a question of closing on
the property on a certain date or not keep this in mind. He
added that he hoped the agreement could be finalized rapidly.
Mayor Sawyer then called for a vote on the motion and it carried
as follows:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
Nays: NONE
Mayor Sawyer said that pending reaching an agreement, he wanted
to welcome the Resurrection Baptist Church into our community and
said he looked forward to working with them in the future.
Mr. McDaniel said he realized it was not final but they did want
to say thank you for Council's time and the opportunity to let
them give their side of the request.
Mayor Sawyer then declared the Board of Adjustment closed at 7: 17
p.m.
ATTEST: