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01-22-1987 (Planning & Zoning) Minutes - ~- MINUTES PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION CALLED MEETING THURSDAV, JANUARY 22, 1987 The Planning and Zoning Commission for the City of Wylie, Texas met in a called Meeting on January 22, 1987 in the Community Room at 800 Thomas Street. A quorum was present, notice of the meeting had been posted for the time and in the manner required by law. Those present were: Vice- Chairman Brian Chaney, Ben Scholz, Fred Ouellette, R. P. Miller, Jay Davis and Bill Chapman arrived late. Ken Mauk was absent. Representing the city staff was Gus H. Pappas, City Manager; Roy Faires, Code Enforcement Officer and ' Amanda Maples, Secretary. The meeting was called to order at 7: 00 p . m. by Vice- Chairman Brian Chaney. �7 - Changes were made in Item no. 2, section 2. 5, should read ~_ as follows: Exemptions: Nationally recognized social or faternal organizations, as defined by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, are exempt from the acreage and food sales provisions of this section. Also in Item no. 5, paragraph 2, ''acquired cheap" was misspelled. ITEM-N]^ 2 - AMENDMENT -T{l S MUM g1Rj,AND RgIAINING WALLS - Mr. Pappas stated that he had done some research with surrounding cities concerning this ordinance and found that while there are different ways to measure the slope, and 11% slope is not excessive. As a general comment the staff believes that 11% is a good measurement. However, if the Planning and Zoning Commission wanted to give any credibility to sod, the staff feels that it should be full sod, not hydromulch and that the degrees should not vary more than 5% or less. He stated that if Planninq and Zoning wishes to amend this ordinance they might require that tiebacks be used on retaining walls and they could give some consideration to terracing the lawn Vice Chairman Brian Chaney stated, for the information of the new Planning and Zoning Members, that this item came before the board on January 8, 1987. The City requires _^ retaining walls to be used where the slope of a yard is more than 11%. Mr. Bledsaw is a builder who feels that a retaining wall is not the only answer to errosion. He feels that if a slope is not too definate, fully soding the front and side yard would be sufficent to prevent erposion. At ~~ the January meeting Mr. Santry our City Engineer had some calculations for us confirming the use of retaining walls where the slope is greater than 11%. Mr. Bledsaw will have some percentage requirements from FHA for us to review tonight. Mr. Faires stated that he had spoken with Mr. Santry earlier in the day and he felt that an 11% slope with sod would be lenient and that terracing would require retaining walls between each terrace. Mr. Bledsaw of 808 Autumn Hill, Wylie, Texas, said that the FHA requirements were a maximum fall of 6 inches for the first 4 feet and after that point the fall could be as much as 45 percent. FHA recommends that ground cover be used for- lawns and sod for embankments they do not recommend retaining walls. Mr. Bledsaw also said that in his opinion a fully sodded yard would hold, he felt that a retaining wall for an 11% slope was too drastic. Mr. Bledsaw felt that thc percentages should be It to 10 percent for a nude yard, 10 to 25 percent for a fully sodded yard and over 05 percent should require a retaining wall also, the measurement should be taken from the slab to the sidewalk. � Vice Chairman Brian Chaney asked Mr. Faires if the City would require a homeowner to repair a retaining wall if it became broken down. Mr. Faires stated that the ordinance required a retaining wall and yes, the City would make them repair it. Vice-Chairman Brian Chaney was concerned because while the City could enforce a retaining wall , he was not sure how effective the City could be at enforcing that a sod yard be kept. He said that if someone allowed the yard or part of the yard to die then how would we make them resod the yard and at what point would we enforce that. Mr. Blewsaw said that FHA stands on the idea that unless a retaining wall is properly constructed, with the force of the water and soil pushing against it, it will not hold and if a slope is so drastic that it must have a retaining wall one should be made of concrete or masonry construction. Fred Ouellette stated that the ordinance should be defined more clearly and that if full sod would protect up to a 15% slope then that should be put into the ordinance. The ordinance should specify that full tiebacks be used on _ retaining walls every so many feet apart. He said that if a sod yard started to errod later then the City could say that they were not in compliance and require them to build a retaining wall at that point. ' Ben Scholz stated that sod yards should be taken care of at the level of the deed restrictions. Fred Ouellette said that he would like to see more study done on this ordinance to see if we could give more lead way to the builder. Vice-Chairman Brian Chaney asked if the Engineering Department would have any additional information for us concerning this matter. Mr. Faires said that he had spoken with Mr. Santry earlier and he said that a 4% slope was too drastic for a nude lawn and 11% slope was too lienant for sod. Mr. Santry also said that he had requested other materials which have not arrived yet. Fred Ouellette made a motion to table this item until further information could be obtained from I . W. Santry, Jr. , P. E. , City Engineer. R. P. Miller seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-2. - -�DJOUF�N X.NTO The Regular _~ Meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission was adjourned in order to convene into a joint session with the Parks and Recreation Board. %TEM E JP1H1,SESgIQN _NITH PARKS AND R EAT ON @0ARD - The Planning and Zoning Commission met in a joint session with the Parks and Recreation Board Members with the exception of Chairman Derek Ammerman" John Morgan and Willie Benitez. Mr. Pappas stated that the Parks and Recreation Board has been working to develop a Park Master Plan in order to designate certain areas of the City as current and future park sites. This would be considered the current Master Plan and they are working on a future Master Plan which will be ready in another month. The Parks Board makes their recommendation directly to the City Council . The City Council relies on both the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Board for recommendations on how the City should develop. You may recommend this plan to the City Council so that they may adopt it and it can be placed over our Land Use Plan Map. In this way developers will know where parks are planned for _ in our City. However, the Parks Board does feel that this plan is amendable. Fred Ouellette asked where the park zones are. � Mr. Pappas said that the park zones were not mentioned on this map but they had discussed useing the Lift Station Districts as the Park Zones. If you would pass this plan you could make it apply to the Lift Station Districts. ITEM ���_-�_- T I8N 1PARKS DE - Mr. Faires wanted to reafirm that this ordinance has been tested through the Supreme Court in November of 1984 and it was upheld in favor of College Station. Ben Scholz was unclear on Section 1a pertaining to the remodeling of structures on existing residential property, he wanted to know how it applied to an individual home. Mr. Pappas stated that the City Council , under the Homerule Charter, has decided that recreational areas are important and developers should provide them whether they are developing new subdivisions or tearing down old subdivisions and rebuilding them. An individual house would not qualify. However, if you bouqht blocks of old homes and tore them down and subdivided the lots, that would apply. _ Vice-Chairman Brian Chaney was not clear on Section 4 pertaining to parks being located on 50 acre tracts of land. Mr. Faires stated that because of the size of major parks, they should be taken out of large tracts of land so that the developer would have a better opportunity to recover financially from the dedication of the land. R. P. Miller was unclear as to how proper access would be obtained to the parks. Mr. Pappas stated that this ordinance establishes a rule which says that no longer can a developer develop a subdivision with the maximum number of lots and have no consideration for parks, he must do something. The specific location of the park will be delt with by each of the boards coming as near as possible to the Master Plan. Then in reviewing the plat you will see the park. At this time you will look at whether the park is in the right place and if the access and utilities are adequate to the park. This ordinance will not be popular with the developers and you may have to wait a considerable amount of time in the future before you are appreciated for your effort. It is unfortunate that we have to come to this but it is � unrealistic to think that the City of Wylie will have good parks in the future without it. Curtis Hale asked if this ordinance would discourage development in Wylie. - ~ Vice-Chairman Brian Chaney said that he had visited with some developers that have built in Austin. Their comments were about how restrictive Austin is. They tell the developer how many trees to put in and even what kind, this ordinance is not nearly as restrictive as that and Austin is growing all the time. Mr. Pappas stated that some developers will scream about this ordinance but Austin is an example of a city that is getting better looking because of development and because of that beauty it is now a hot spot to build. Mr. Faires predicted that within one year at least five cities would call Wylie wanting a copy of this ordinance. Jay Davis asked if a charge of $225. 00 will be enough to cover the cost of building these parks. Mr. Pappas said No, but it will greatly reduce the cost of bond issues. Fred Ouellette stated that the Parks and Recreation Board should be added to Section 4 and that "This which are to _ supoortive of these parks. " be removed from this section. Ben Scholz made a motion to accept the ordinance with the above stated corrections. Bill Chapman seconded the motion. Motion carried 6-0. The Parks and Recreation Board also approved this ordinance, see Parks and Recreation Minutes of January 22, 1987. BON- OE PARKS - Bill Chapman made the motion to accept the Parks Master Plan and to use the Lift Station Districts as the Park Zones. Jay Davis seconded the motion. Motion carried 6-0. The Parks and Recreation Board accepted the adoption of the Parks Master Plan at a previous meeting. Vice-Chairman Brian Chaney asked Mr. Pappas to schedule a workshop for the City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission because there are new members on both boards and he felt the need for them to get to know each other and discuss the general development of the City. .~_ ,I TEM NO. 7 - Ben Scholz made a motion to adjourn the Planning and Zoning Meeting of January 22, 1987. Bill Chapman seconded the motion. Motion carried 6-0. Brian Chaney, Vice-Ch r m a n Planning & Zoning Comm ssion Respectfully Submitted: Amanda Maples, Secretary ' �