Planning & Zoning Commission
	Agenda Request
Agenda Of:	October 23, 2008	Agenda Request No:		iv-a
Initiated By:	Leticia Garza, Administrative Manager	Responsible Department:		City Secretary
Presented By:	Glenda Gundermann, City Secretary	Department Head:		Glenda Gundermann, City Secretary
		Additional Department. Head (s):		N/A
Subject / Proceeding:	Minutes Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting October 14, 2008 Approve Minutes
Exhibits:	Minutes October 14, 2008
Clearances			Approval
Legal:	N/A		Director of Planning:
Recommended Action
Approve the minutes of the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting October 14, 2008.
Exhibits

STATE OF TEXAS	§
COUNTY OF FORT BEND	§
CITY OF SUGAR LAND	§

CITY OF SUGAR LAND

Sugar Land Planning and Zoning Commission MEETING

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

REGULAR MEETING

The City of Sugar Land Planning and Zoning Commission convened in a regular meeting open to the public and pursuant to notice thereof duly given in accordance with Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, as amended, in Sugar Land City Hall within said City on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 6:30 o'clock P.M. and the roll was called of the members; to wit:

Bridget R. Yeung, Chairman

Joe Zimmerman, Vice Chairman

James Shaw

Carl Stephens

Farha Ahmed

Marlena Berger

Paula Stansell

Ke Chen

Larry Davidson

QUORUM PRESENT

All of said members were present with the exception of Commissioner Chen who arrived at 7:05 p.m.

Also present were:

Aaron Dobbs, Assistant City Attorney

Sabine Somers-Kuenzel, Director of Planning

Doug Schomburg, Assistant Planning Director

Leticia Garza, Administrative Manager, and

A Number of Visitors and Staff

CONVENE MEETING

Chairman Yeung convened the session, open to the public, to order at 6:35 o’clock P.M.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Chairman Yeung introduced Public Comment stating that citizens desiring to address the Planning and Zoning Commission with regard to matters on the agenda would be received at this time. There were no public comments.

MAYOR WELCOME COMMISSION MEMBERS

Chairman Yeung introduced welcoming comments by Mayor James A. Thompson.

Mr. James A. Thompson, Mayor stated that on behalf of the City Council he was honored to address the Commission and to welcome them to the beginning of a new term as Planning and Zoning Commissioners. Mayor Thompson expressed appreciation to Commissioner Zimmerman for his many years of service on the Commission; stating that he was fortunate to have appointed Commissioner Zimmerman to the Commission during his first term in office as a Council Member; commenting that the City of Sugar Land will benefit from his service for many years to come. Mayor Thompson congratulated the members who were reappointed and welcomed Mr. Harish Jajoo as a new member of the Commission. Mayor Thompson stated he has been acquainted with Mr. Jajoo for over 20 years and believes that he will be an asset to the Commission with his many years of experience in working for the community. The Mayor stressed the importance of the work and decisions of the Planning and Zoning Commission to the City of Sugar Land and the importance to the City Council as the Commission carries out the vision and direction of the City. Over the past few years through member term limits experience and knowledge has been lost and replaced with new members; Mayor Thompson encouraged the Commissioners to take advantage of training opportunities and tools as the work of the Commission is difficult and complex; City Council and Staff support the Commission and are available to provide assistance and guidance.

MInutes

Chairman Yeung introduced consideration of and action on approval of the minutes of the regular City of Sugar Land Planning and Zoning Commission meeting held on September 25, 2008.

Following a full and complete discussion, Commissioner Davidson, seconded by Commissioner Berger, made a motion to approve the minutes for the City of Sugar Land Planning and Zoning meeting held September 25, 2008 with changes: (1) show that Commissioner Shaw was absent at said meeting, (2) on page four, paragraph six, change the number “350” to “330” and (3) on page six, paragraph one, eliminate the word “Children’s” from the first sentence. The motion carried unanimously.

facts, findings and recommendations

Rezoning of 4.858 Acres

Chairman Yeung introduced consideration on a recommendation to the Mayor and members of City Council for rezoning of 4.858 acres located at University Boulevard and New Territory Boulevard to Planned Development (PD) District Final Development Plan.

Mr. Doug Schomburg, Assistant Planning Director stated that a public hearing was held September 25, 2008 for a general overview of the proposal as the second step to a two step Planned Development (PD) process, the first of which was approved May 20, 2008 by Ordinance 1683 for the entire 7.799 acre area; this request is for 4.858 acres known as Telfair Central in the Telfair General Plan.

During the public hearing items discussed included the movement of traffic, museum operations, food and beverage facilities and bus parking; the Commission consensus was that there were no major issues with the project. In response to the Commission request for additional information on green screens, Mr. Schomburg stated that a green screen was a structure intertwined with greenery to provide buffering; pictures were shown to provide a visual of the green screen concept.

Permitted uses for the PD are (1) eating that are accessory uses (SIC 5812), (2) museums (SIC 84) and Parks and Recreation Facilities (SIC 99). The site plan includes minor modifications with the addition of a green screen along the new construction area on the north side of the building.

Ms. Jennifer May, Management Assistant II stated in response to a question regarding the entrance of the buses to the site that buses would come into the property off of University Boulevard through the access road.

Staff recommends approval of the PD District Final Development Plan. In response to a question that the site had adequate parking, there is shared parking with Newland facilities that will be addressed through development agreements, separate from the PD. Staff will research to ensure that appropriate greenery is selected and used for the green screens to provide coverage throughout the year.

Following a full and complete discussion, Commissioner Zimmerman, seconded by Commissioner Davidson, made a motion to approve a recommendation to the Mayor and members of City Council for rezoning of 4.858 acres located at University Boulevard and New Territory Boulevard to Planned Development (PD) District Final Development Plan. The motion carried unanimously.

Subdivision plats

Telfair Section 15

Chairman Yeung introduced consideration on Telfair Section 15 Preliminary Plat.

Ms. Lisa Kocich-Meyers, Senior Planner stated that Telfair Section 15 contains 40.791 acres, with 139 lots and 8 reserves, currently zoned Standard Single-Family Residential (R-1); the main access to the area will be from Easton Avenue, located on the eastern side of the property.

The Commission approved a preliminary plat on October 9, 2007, the approval expired on October 9, 2008; the plat before the Commission is the same plat with the minor modifications: (1) showing proper street names instead of placeholders, (2) an extra line off the rear lot line was removed from lots “E” and “F”, which was a condition of the preliminary plat approval and (3) Reserve “A”, the drill site, located within Telfair Section 15, now includes the restriction of “drill site, landscape and open spaces” in a response to comments from the Commission.

Staff recommends approval of the preliminary plat with the condition that before final platting either of these options happen first (1) Easton Avenue bridge final plat or (2) approval of Chatham Avenue Phase III final plat for connectivity and circulation as required by the traffic impact analysis.

Commissioner Shaw stated that he is concerned with platting the area without showing or having a connection to 90A from across the bayou; there is the potential for the City to become responsible for construction of the infrastructure should the developer for any reason not be able to complete the project, and questioning whether the developer was bonded for the bridge.

Sabine Somers-Kuenzel, Director of Planning stated that the preliminary plat for Easton Avenue originally showed the entire length from 90A to New Territory; with submission of the final plats there were only portions of the area; the last segment to be platted is the bridge. Staff became concerned with the bridge platting when plats were received differently than what had been anticipated; the development agreement was reviewed for guidance with the conclusion being that the City was covered. A development agreement specifies more clearly public exactions and the requirements for infrastructure for streets, utilities and other projects that will serve areas other than just the immediate surroundings and development. The concept of public exactions is that basically the City will take over when the development ceases to benefit 100% from that infrastructure, the difficulty lies in defining at what point the development is not benefiting 100% and at what point or phase the City needs to step in and in what dollar amount. In addition to being covered by the development agreement, the bridge is to be funded through the LID, providing the City with a double financial assurance that the in a worse case scenario the bridge would be built.

Ms. Somers Kuenzel stated in response to a statement that the bridge component had to be considered when moving forward with the plat; the development agreement is not specific on phase by phase components when there is a multi-phase development, but has three to four large thresholds. When the request was submitted, the question was asked if this was the last plat in the development that the developer would be responsible for, and at what point is the street system being overwhelmed; in order to not overly impact the streets in the development the conditions for approval of the preliminary plat were added.

Commissioner Stephens stated that if the final plat approval is given without platting of the bridge, the plat expires, and if something happens to the developer, the development agreement does not give the City the authority to plat and provide access. It was recommended that at least one of the conditions provided in the recommendation (1) up to 90A or (2) up to University be in a recorded plat; in a worse case scenario with a recorded plat the City would have a right of way that could be paved; without the City runs the risk of not owning the property and not being able to do any work.

Ms. Somers Kuenzel in response to a question of whether the plat complied with the development code stated that the plat did comply with the condition to plat either (1) Easton Avenue Bridge or (2) Chatham Avenue, otherwise the Traffic Impact Analysis shows that the surrounding streets might be overloaded.

The Commission discussed recording plats versus having final plat approval. Ms. Somers-Kuenzel requested that the Commission allow staff the flexibility to review and consider replacing final plat approval with final recordation prior to final plat approval; with follow up information provided at a future meeting.

Commissioner Zimmerman stated he wanted to ensure that as a Commission, they did not over reach what was legally allowed through the Development Code, while he does not disagree with the suggestions, the Development Code does not give the Commission the authority to deny submitted plats with conditions if they comply with the Development Code.

Ms. Somers Kuenzel stated that there is a section at the beginning of the Development Code that relates to Traffic Impact Analyses and what can be done; after reviewing the plat and looking at the Traffic Impact Analysis the conditions were added to alleviate possible traffic concerns.

Ms. Lisa Kocich-Meyers, Senior Planner stated in response to a question that Easton Avenue final plat was approved June 2008 and has not been recorded.

Commissioner Stephens stated that the one foot reserve at Brampton Lane, shown in note 25, is not reflected in the plat and requested that it be added. Staff was asked to clarify the note reading “Easton Bridge over Bull Head Bayou” to indicate that it is more than just the area across the bridge.

Following a full and complete discussion, Commissioner Zimmerman, seconded by Commissioner Davidson, made a motion to approving the Telfair Section 15 Preliminary Plat with the staff recommended conditions that before final platting that either (1) Easton Avenue Bridge final plat take place or (2) the approval of Chatham Avenue Phase III final plat occur. The motion carried unanimously.

REPORTS

PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION LIAISON REPORTS

Commissioner Berger, Planning and Zoning Commission Liaison, commented that at the City Council meeting of October 7, 2008, the conditional use permit for the Hyatt Place at Lake Pointe was approved; Council discussed the November 2008 ballot propositions for approval of a Cultural/Entertainment District and authorizing venue-specific taxes that would come from (1) hotel/motel occupancy tax, (2) parking tax and (3) ticket tax; workshop on a proposed $75,000 donation from Sugar Land residents Robert and Valerie Brindley for a two mile mountain bike trail in Sugar Land Memorial Park in memory of their son, Justin Brindley.

CITY STAFF REPORT

Ms. Sabine Somers-Kuenzel, Director of Planning, commented that there were no staff reports, and expressed a final farewell to Commissioner Zimmerman thanking him for his work and contributions over the past eight years to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

ADJOURN

There, being no further business to come before the Commission, Commissioner Zimmerman, seconded by Commissioner Shaw moved that the meeting adjourn. The motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned, time at 7:12 o'clock P.M.

Bridget Yeung, Chairman

(SEAL)