HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 99-1123 ORIGINAL
CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS
ORDINANCE NO K~.~?//~--~
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS
AMENDING SECTION 15 OF THE SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE
OF THE CITY, THE SAME BEING APPENDIX B- SUBDIVISION,
OF THE CITY'S CODE OF ORDINANCES, AS AMENDED, BY
ADDING AN ACCESS POLICY APPLICABLE TO FM 423 AND
SH 121 IN THE CITY OF THE COLONY AND PROVIDING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of The Colony recognizes that SH121 and FM 423 are
designed and intended to be used as major routes carrying high volumes of
traffic; and
WHEREAS, the City of The Colony recognizes that driveway accesses allowed
to SH 121 and FM 423 cumulatively serves to reduce the capacity and flow of
traffic; and
WHEREAS, this access policy is intended for the purpose of preserving and
enhancing the traffic capacity of SH 121 and FM 423 by strictly limiting direct
driveway access; and
WHEREAS, this access policy will serve to protect the health, safety and welfare
of the citizens of The Colony; and
WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing and
considered the proposed amendment at its regular meeting held on April 13,
1999, and made recommendations to the City Council for amending Appendix
"B", Subdivision;
NOW;THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF THE COLONY, TEXAS:
Section 1. Incorporation of premises. The above and foregoing premises are
true and correct and are incorporated herein and made a part hereof for all
purposes.
Section 2. That Section 15 of the subdivision ordinance, the same being
Appendix "B" -Subdivision of the Code of ordinances of the City, is
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hereby amended by adding a new subsection (e) as follows:
(e) Access criteria, access standards, separation of driveways and
corner clearances applicable to SH121 and FM 423.
1. Access criteria._ Driveway access to SH 121 and FM 423 shall be
governed by the following criteria:
i. Access shall not be allowed unless there is no other reasonable
means of providing safe and adequate access to the property.
ii. Developments and residential subdivisions shall be required to
provide a public marginal parallel access street, alley or private parallel
access drive to serve the development or individual lots fronting SH 121
and FM 423, unless the requirement would make the property wholly
useless for any permitted use as zoned.
iii No development shall be allowed access if property excluded from
the development plans could have reasonably been used to provide
adequate alternative access.
iv Any property previously subdivided in violation of state law or city
ordinance shall not be allowed access to any arterial street, if other
access could have been provided except for such unapproved subdivision
of the property.
2. Access standards,. When driveway access is the only reasonable means
of providing safe and adequate access to the property as determined in
accordance with this section, the following standards shall apply:
Only one (1) driveway per property shall be permitted, unless all of the
following conditions are met:
i. The applicant submits a traffic engineering study performed in
accordance with accepted professional traffic engineering
standards as determined by the city engineer, clearly showing that
the traffic for the single permitted driveway would exceed five
thousand (5,000) trips per day or five hundred (500) trips per hour
during peak hour use;
ii. Permitting the additional driveway would not violate driveway
separation or corner clearance standards; and
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iii. The need for each additional driveway would substantially
outweigh any traffic problems or hazards created on the arterial
street by allowing the additional driveway.
iv. The driveway shall, whenever possible, be required to be
located and designed so as to provide joint or shared access with
adjoining properties.
v. The development which is allowed access shall be required to
pay for, design or provide, at no cost to the city, all traffic-control
signs, equipment, structures, devices or improvements which are
reasonably necessary to minimize the effect of the additional
access allowed or to provide for the safe movement of traffic or
pedestrians.
3. Separation of driveways.. Driveways shall be separated as follows:
(i) The regulations of this subsection are for the purpose of ensuring
that all driveways are separated by sufficient distance so as to avoid
interfering with the safe movement of traffic. The separation distances
specified shall be measured from the center line of each driveway at the
right-of-way line.
(ii) The minimum driveway separation standards for SH 121 and FM
423 is 200 feet. Driveway separation is measured from centerline of one
driveway to the center line of another driveway.
4. Corner clearance standards:
To ensure that the traffic movements from driveways do not unduly
conflict with the movement of traffic on intersecting public streets, the
minimum distances between driveways and the intersections of public
streets are adopted in this subsection. In interpreting and applying the
standards, the following shall apply:
(i) A reduced requirement may only be used if absolutely necessary to
provide driveway access to property where no other means of access
meeting the corner clearance requirement is reasonably possible.
(ii)The specified distances shall be measured at the right-of-way line from
the center line of the driveway nearest the intersecting street to the right-
of-way line of the intersecting street.
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(iii)The minimum corner clearance requirements for SH 121 and FM 423
is 150 feet:
Section 3. Effective date_. This Ordinance shall become effective from and
after its date of adoption and publication as provided by law.
PASSED AND APPRO)II~D by the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas
this the ,:~/,5~--.. day of ~/./-")L~-z-*c~ ,1999.
- - ~-' of Th~---'~o~
City Secretary,
City of The Colony, Texas
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Ci~~,,,~ /? Attorney,
City of The Colony, Texas
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