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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/29/1988 City Council 00290' OF C ?Y COUNCIL HELD ON FEBRUARY 29, 1988 The Special Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:30 p.m. on the 29th day of February, 1988 at City Hall with following Council roll call: Don Amick, Mayor Present Rick Harris,Mayor Pro-tem Present Johnny Spears,Councilman Present Michael Robinson,Councilman Present Steve Glazener,Councilman Present Harvey Bradley,Councilman Present Mar]ene Poole,Councilman Present and with seven members present a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE REQUEST BY REDWOOD PROPERTIES ON WYNNEWOOD PENINSULA Mayor Amick explained that this is a Work Session and that no action will be taken. The Mayor stated that the Public Hearing had been continued and when it is again opened then the public may speak, going on to say that the purpose of this particular meeting is not to hear from the public. Mayor Amick said that the Council had requested members of the Planning and Zoning Commission to be present at this meeting and to speak as individual members, not as a Board. Chairman Fiumara said he was not comfortable with the members being present and speaking as individuals. Chairman Fiumara said he also did not think was fair to ask some of them to leave the room so that there was not a quorum present. Mayor Amick said that no meeting of P & Z had been posted because he did not want them to come as a Board. At this time, the City Secretary advised the Mayor that according to the Open Meetings Law, boards and commissions do not fall under the posting requirement. ("It should be noted that a city board or commission which acts solely in an advisory capacity and has no rule-making or quasi- judicial power is not required to comply with the Act." Article 6252-17, V.A.C.S.) The Mayor then advised Chairman Fiumara to call his board to order if he would be more comfortable in doing so. Chairman Fiumara called the Planning and Zoning Commission to order with the following members present: Robert Fiumara, Earl Brantley, Kathy Bock, Agnes Foster, and Robert Doss Mayor Amick then called upon Member Bock to address the Council, giving her reasons for voting for the zoning change request. Member Bock stated that her concerns had been for a quality development for our City, the traffic problems and especially the SF-4 district, i.e., 1500 sq.ft, min. homes and 7000 sq.ft, lot sizes, (She said Redwood had stated that the market will dictate what sells and doesn't sell.) and she saw a need for a fire station site. Member Bock also said that the request for duplex zoning was not a strong point. She went on to say that after meeting with Redwood, they (Redwood) offered an average of 1650 sq. ft. homes and they agreed to attach Deed Restrictions as part of zoning, they agreed to a left turn lane from 423 onto Boyd Rd., they agreed to dedicate r.o.w, for additional utility easements, to escrow money with the City for improvements to Boyd Rd., to dedicate 3 1/2 acres for a fire station. Member Bock said the school site is still a concern, but that will have to be worked out between L.I.S.D. and Little Elm, going on to say she feels the developer has compromised quite a bit to meet the 002900 city's desires. : ~y~[eAmick asked Member Bock to ~laborate on her first concern square footage of the homes Members Bock said that there is assurance in the Deed Restrictions that the average minimum will be 1650 sq. ft. and that the City Attorney John Boyle, says that the Deed Restrictions, made part of the amending zoning ordinance can be enforced by the City. Mayor Amick asked her how she views the adequacy of Boyd Rd. as it now exists. Members Bock said that currently there would be a problem with the road, but that the developer is not going to ~ develop before improvements are made to the road, and she cited page 3, 2(a) (b) and (c) of the Deed Restrictions with regard to those improvements. Mayor Amick asked if she felt $150,000 was a fair amount and Member Bock said the amount of money was never discussed. She did say that the developer expects 65% of the residents in this area will be people moving from their existing homes in The Colony and she has a problem with that, but that doesn't really have anything to do with zoning. Mayor Amick asked how she views the traffic impact on FM 423 and Member Bock said she believes the left turn lane will help but that eventually a signal light will probably be needed, going on to that the traffic engineers say there will only be a 6% impact. Councilman Spears said he was concerned about the traffic, stating that the City will be responsible for improving 423 as it passes through the Eastvale area. Member Bock said that is a state road, and you can't really penalize a developer for the condition of a state road. There followed a discussion regarding the city's share for installing signal lights in various locations and the State's share of those installations. Councilman Spears said he believes it will cost the city money to allow this development. Councilman Poole stated a RUD could be established to handle the improvements. Councilman Spears also stated that the land for the fire station will be donated, but the City will have to build it. Councilman Poole said it always cost the City to development and Councilman Spears said it looks like a burden, if not to the City, to the homeowners. Councilman Spears also expressed concern over the density and asked why the P & Z had not asked for larger homes. Member Bock said originally the density was higher, including a duplex area, and now it has been changed to the average of 1650 minimum, but only 39 larger homes are planned in the area. Councilman Harris said that perhaps the City should look into the RUD and stated that as far as being concerned over the taxes to residents, he stated that the residents in The Colony have already paid taxes to get improvements within the City. Councilman Harris did say he was concerned over the school issue. Member Bock said a letter had been received from Little Elm Superintendent, stating it would be very unlikely that the transfer would be approved by the Board. Councilman Harris asked for the Little Elm response to the increase in their district. Mr. Bill Hall, City Manager said that Little Elm had said to give up a portion of their district to L.I.S.D. they wanted an exchange of equal value. Councilman Poole, addressing the fire station issue, said that .. the City still has an option on land across from the High School for a fire station and that it has b~en determined that a fire station is not needed in that area at this time, suggesting that the bond money allotted for that station be used to build a fire station in the Redwood Development. Mayor Amick said the Council had said the money would be put back into debt retirement and that he would not be comfortable with using it for another purpose other than what was voted for by the citizens. Councilman Harris said that every time a new development comes in the issue of house size comes up, stating that he is sure all 0290 0 ' concerned would like to see larger homes, and if we don't want SF-4 then Council should let P & Z know before the development ~%s in ~nd .not penalize the developer for coming in with homes meet minimum requirement, going on to say that if the Council wants, a larger minimum then the ordinance should be changed. Mayor Amick said perhaps that needs to be addressed in the near future, perhaps raising the square foot minimum to force larger homes to be built, stating that if it would please the Council he will ask P & Z to look at raising that requirement and bring a recommendation to Council. At this time, Mayor Amick asked Member Agnes Foster to address the Council, with reason for voting No on this issue. Member Foster said she voted no because the development does not provide what the city needs, citing the following reasons: 1. P & Z did not get a recommendation from Inspections 2. She did not feel Boyd Rd. could handle the traffic, not only from residents from the school buses. Major concern of The Colony is traffic. 3. Objections of the residents of Wynnewood and Mr. Strief's road, even though they are not residents of The Colony. 4. Impact on our Public Service 5. Minimum size of homes 6. Feel Deed Restriction strength is vague and until tested, we don't know if enforceable or not. 7. Too high density 8. Signal light problem Councilman Glazener stated, with regard to the school district issue, that when a buyer looks into buying a home, he should understand the situation and that it is in the best interest of the developer to make services available to the buyer, going on to say that goes for the school district as well. There was a discussion regarding the promises made by salesmen and developers and that things don't always work out as planned. The Mayor did say that he sees the school issue as a potential problem. Councilman Glazener agreed, but stated that when people are buying they must make themselves aware of these things. Councilman Poole said the land is within The Colony, the school district is not and the Council can't really address that problem. Councilman Harris said we just need to be sure where the kids will go to school. Mayor Amick asked what impact the improvement to the road would have on the taxpayers. Member Foster said that if the State or County does not improve the road, the City will have to. Mayor Amick asked if anyone could give insight as to when Frisco is going to develop north of The Colony and flood FM 423 with traffic. Member Brantley then addressed the Council: 1. Off-site improvements - FM 423 to Boyd Rd., stating the left turn lane has been addressed but he still felt it would be a dangerous situation at the intersection. Member Brantley said the Denton County Traffic Plan shows Boyd Rd. crossing Stewart Creek Peninsula and onto meet 121. He said he does not feel the present road is adequate to handle the future traffic and that it needs to be a divided roadway. 2. On-site improvements - All streets are wide enough. 3. Size of homes - agree with the 1650 sq. ft. average. Councilman Bradley asked if the main concern is in and out traffic on Boyd Rd. and Member Brantley replied it is. Councilman Bradley asked if any homes had been planned to front Boyd Rd. and Member Brantley said no. Councilman Harris asked if another 2 lane road can be put in beside the existing roadway and Member Brantley said to be done correctly, the existing road should be torn up and re-built, stating that after soil samples 00290 ,' are done, we might be able to build the road. Chairman Fiumara, addressed the Council on reasons why he voted No. If the County does not improve Boyd Rd., the City will have to and $150,000 is not sufficient. P & Z asked for a P.D. zoning and Mr. Fitzgerald had said that the Council had seen the plan and liked it as it was. Mayor Amick stated that he had not seen the plan and the rest of the Council stated they had not either, except for Councilman Poole, who stated that she did see the plan, but had also recommended P.D. to the developer. Chairman Fiumara said he did not believe in Deed Restrictions because they place a burden on the City, however, the Attorney had said they proper, and he felt the road is inadequate. He then stated that 67 people did petition P & Z objecting to the zoning and that the school district is a problem. Mayor Amick asked why he should be concerned because the co-owners of the property do not like the development or why he should be concerned because the existing homes in Wynnewood Haven Estates.' have an average house size of 2000 plus square feet. Chairman Fiumara asked the Mayor if he cares what his neighbors think and the Mayor said he does, but that they live in The Colony. Chairman Fiumara said these residents will be citizens Colony, but their kids will go to a different school distriCt. Mayor Amick said that Carrollton deals with that situation and he would hope that The Colony has the intelligence to deal with two school districts also. Mayor Amick asked what the Fire Department opinion is and Chairman Fiumara referred to the letter Member Bock had read from Chief Morrison, stating a 25 minute response time. Mayor Amick said the Police Department saw no major impact on service. Chairman Fiumara told Councilman Harris that P & Z did ask for a mix of SF-2 and SF-3 but the developer insisted on SF-4. Mayor Amick asked why Chairman Fiumara felt Deed Restriction were a burden and the Chairman said that if they are not enforceable, then we will be in a legal battle. Councilman Bradley addressed the earlier discussion regarding asking the citizens of The Colony to vote for a fire station on the Peninsula, when it will not benefit them directly, stating that with another fire station the key rate for the entire city would go down and that could definitely affect all citizen's insurance rates. Councilman Harris asked if the utility cost is the developer's and Mr. Hall said 100%, stating there are no utilities and the developer will have to take care of that. Councilman Harris asked if the land is flipped and not developed is there any guarantee the developer will put in the utilities anyway. Mr. Hall said no and Mayor Amick said you cannot place that restriction on zoning. Councilm~n Harris asked if the developer brings in a project and then does not develop, will the next developer have to put in the utilities. Mr. Hall said that since the land is within the City, the new developer can demand the service, and then can de-annex if the City does not respond. Mayor Amick then stated that his intention for this meeting was to hear from the P & Z members, stating that he knew Redwood Developer representatives were at the meeting and if the Council desires they can give their presentation. The Council agreed not to hear the presentation at this time. Mr. Art Anderson asked to make a brief comment, but the Council stated they did want a rebuttal tonight. Mayor Amick asked if the Council would be ready to vote at the march 7 meeting and Councilman Harris said he would like to have another work session in two weeks to hear from the developer. The Council agreed another session is necessary and Mayor Amick 002900 perhaps next week and asked the other members to let him know when they could all meet. With no fu,~th~ ~bu~iness to address, Councilman Bradley moved to adjourn the meeting and Councilman Glazener seconded the motion which carried with all members voting Aye. APPROVED: ATTEST: ?a~d~I H~~~ ~.~,~ City Secretary ~k '...../3 ~ r ~ ~.....":~