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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 1770 - zoning ; framed area City of West University Place Harris County, Texas Ordinance No. 1770 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS REGARDING "FRAMED AREA;" AND CONTAINING FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT. WHEREAS, the City Council and the Zoning & Planning Commission C~Z&PC") of the City of West University Place, Texas ('City") have held a joint public hearing on a proposal to amend the Zoning Ordinance of the City, as last re-formatted and re- adopted by Ord inance No. 1672, adopted March 12, 2001 and as subsequently . amended ('Zoning OrdinancelJ); WHEREASJ the Z&PC has made a final report to the City Council with respect to such proposal, which report is attached as Exhibit A and made a part of this ordinance; and WHEREAS, the City Council has considered the report of the Z&PC and now formally approves and adopts that report; and WHEREAS, all notices, hearings and procedures relating to amending the Zoning Ordinance, as may be required by law, the City Charter or the Zoning Ordinance, have been duly given, held and followed, and the City Council has jurisdiction to amend the Zoning Ordinance as provided herein; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE: Section 1 M The City Council officially finds, determines, declares and adopts all of the matters set out in the preamble of this ordinance, and the Zoning Ordinance is hereby amended as recommended by the Z&PC, according to the attachment to the Z&PC's final report in Exhibit A, which is attached and made a part of this ordinance for all purposes. Section 2. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict only. Section 3. If any word, phrase) clause, sentencef paragraph, section or other part of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstancet shall ever be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, neither the remainder of this ordinance, nor the application of such wordJ phrase, clausef sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this ordinance to any other persons or circumstances, shall be affected thereby. Section 4. The City Council officially finds, determines and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of each meeting at which this ordinance was discussed, considered or acted upon was given in the manner required by the Texas Open Meetings Act, as amended, and that each such meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during such discussion~ consideration and action. The City Council ratifies, approves and confirms such notices and the contents and posting thereof. The City Council officially finds, determines and declares that sufficient notices of the joint public hearing were givenf and the City Council ratifies, approves and confirms such notices, including the contents and the method in which they were given. Section 5. This ordinance shall become effective on the tenth day following its publication, as provided in the City CharteL f CO~~ERE:, P~SS~D AND APPROVED on first reading on I~ council~'rs Voting Aye: Councilmembers Voting No: Councilmembers Absent: NSIDERED, PASSED AND APPROVED on second reading, AND SIGNED, on , XOr/ Councilmembers Voting Aye: Councilmembers Voting No: Councilmembers Absent: Recommended: Reviewed: City Attorney Exhibit A Zoning & Planning Commission City of West University Place, Texas 3800 University Boulevard West University Place, Texas 77005 July 6, 2004 Honorable Mayor & Members of the City Council City of West University Place . 3808 University Boulevard Houston, Texas 77005 Subject: Final report on a proposal to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of West University Place, Texas ("Ci ty") rela ting to \\ framed area If To the Honorable Mayor & Members of City Council: The Zoning & Planning Commission of the City submits this, its final report, on the subject proposal, for the assistance of the Council as well as other interested persons. Scope of Proposal. The proposal includes amending the definition of "framed areaU in Article 2 of the Zoning Ordinance, adding two related definitions and providing a special rule regarding PNC (prior non-conforming) status. The principal purposes are to: (1) Regulate the size and bulk of buildings. (2) Help to regulate height, stories and population density and help to preserve yards and open spaces. Proceedings. Pursuant to public notices, the Zoning & Planning Commission and the City Council held a joint public hearing on June 141 2004. The hearing provided an opportunity for parties in interest and citizens to be heard in relation to the proposal. At the hearing, City staff provided a slide show and additional input. At least eight witnesses appeared and offered testimony. The Commission has considered all of this information and the Comprehensive Plan. At its meeting on June 24, 2004, the Commission considered and approved several revisions to the proposal, as set out in the attachment to this report. The revisions provide some additional flexibility to owners and builders, but the basic proposal was not changed. Recommendation. Based on the extensive review given this proposal, the Commission: (i) finds that the proposed amendments, if adopted, would be in the public interest and consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, (ii) finds that the proposed amendments reasonably address circumstances which have arisen since the last comprehensive revision of the zoning ordinance, (iii) makes its final recommendation favorable to the amendments, and (iii) recommends that the City Council adopt the amendments. Effective Date. At least two witnesses advised the Commission that they had projects underway on May 10, the date when temporary limitations on building permits were imposed pending the consideration of this proposal. They have asked if it would be possible to allow them to complete those projects under the prior ordinance rules. The answer depends upon the effective date for the new amendments. Unless a different date is set by the City Council, the effective date of an ordinance is usually the tenth day following its publication. For example, if an ordinance adopting these amendments is finally approved by City Council on July 26, and if it is published on July 28, the effective date could fall on August 7. Transition rules in Chapter 12 of the Zoning Ordinance would allow the following projects to proceed under the prior ordinance rules (assuming August 7 becomes the effective date): (1) nWork under constructioD9u This could include work for which complete applications for permits-including plans and specifications--are applied for before August 7, subject to certain additional conditions. (2) "Other committed work." This could include major remodeling or construction of a principal building, if: {i} the site was bought at least 90 days before August 7, and (ii) complete permit applications- including plans and specifications--are applied for within 90 days after August 7. Other conditions apply. The Commission also discussed May 10, 2004 as the effective subject to certain additional conditions. (2) "Other.. committed work." This could include major remodeling or construction of a principal building, if: (i) the site was bought at least 90 days before May 10, and (ii) complete permit applications-including plans and specifications--are applied for within 90 days after May 10. Other conditions apply. The Commission considered both approaches and recommends the first approach (let the effective date fall on the tenth day following publication). This would allow some projects to be completed under the prior ordinance rules, but those projects would be considered prior non-conformities (PNC's). PNC's are subject to more-stringent regulations under Chapter 12, particularly with the newest amendment to Chapter 12. For example, if such a project burns down, Chapter 12 may not allow it to be rebuilt (instead, it would have to be brought into conformance) . The Vote. This report was authorized by the Commission at its June 24, 2004 meeting. The vote was as follows: Commissioners Brown, Passamanol Inaba and Beloff voted "aye;" no "noes; rI Commissioners Ross I Sle'wart and Horowitz absent. Respectfully submitted: ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERS TY PLACE, TEXAS B Proposed Amendment For tlFramed Area" ZPC final report, as adopted 6-24-04 Amend the definition of t'framed area, " as follows: Fran'led area. The [rUIned area is measllTcd by takil1g the olltside dimensions of e"very bllilding 011 e~/ery floor le~/el, excludil1g DIlly: (i) space in an attic or bnsemel1t, if tIle space cannot be reac11ed tlTIo~agh a fi),ed access<t"vny, or if it has less tllaIl seven feet of l1endroom, and (ii) any spa~e '(~Vllicll tIllS ordinance al1o~"vs to project into a frollt yard. Framed. area incllldes all area under a solid"l fixed roof that l1as a floor or could su.pport a floor (and llilY' other aren't floored or not~ '.-vhcre tIlcrc is at leu::;t se'/el1 feet of possible l1Cigllt beneath enclosed building space)~ except: ill iliL (iii) (iv) ill (vi) attic or basement area"l if the area cannot be reaclled through a fixed accessway-:; or if it has less tl1an seven feet of possible height~ area bel1eath eaves'! cornices~ roof extensions" "greenllouse" or bay windows" cal1tilevered space and similar parts of buildings that proiect outward from tIle main wall of a building 110 more tllall 24 inches'! if the area is otllerwise completely open to tIle outdoors~ aREl unellclosed porcll area of a principal building~ if tIle porch directly faces the front street line or side street line of tIle buildil1g site and. is l1either d.esigned nor llsable for motor vellicles~ "crawl space" at ground level~ unenclosed wall(wav or "breezeway" space if: (A) tIle space directly connects a principal building to an accessory building containing garage space located bellind tIle principal bu.ild.il1g: (B) the widtll of tIle space does 110t exceed eight feet~ and (C) no part of the roof is 11igher tllan 14 feet: and. space for recessed. entries (garage or home) or windows tllat is cOlnpletely open to tIle outdoors on at least one side'l if: fA) the space faces tile front street line or side street lil1e of the building site'! (B) the space is not larger t11m 100 square feet" alld (C) tIle total of all such spaces is less thaIl 200 square feet. (TIle foregoil1g exceptiollS sllall be strictly construed and applied to tIle defined spaces only.) Framed area is measured all each floor level (or grotlnd leveL wllere tllere is 110 floor) tlsillg tIle outer walls (or perimeter) to calculate tIle area (also illCllldil1g: the outer walls of bay win.claws'! cantilevered space atld similar space'! regardless of the 11eight of the floor). In this definitioll"l "possible lleight" is measured from tlle ground (or structllfe supporting the floor) to overllead rafters" ioists or other structural conlponents. Add new definitionsJ as follows: Enclosed. El1closed'l when referring to porell space or building space'l means that 51 % or more of the perimeter of ..tIle space is enclosed bv wall surfaces that are less 111aJ.1 75% open to outside air and light. For this purpose.. ordinary insect screens are considered Doell to outside air and light. Unenclosed Unenclosed.. Whetl referring to pore}l space or building space.. Ineans the space is not "ellclosed" as defined above. Amend Section 12-103(c) to read as follows.. (c) Loss to casualty, etc. If 51 % or more of the replacement cost of a structure is lost to casualty~ elninel1t domain, involulltary demolition or otller silnilar cause, tIle stru.ctlrre loses PNC status~ Exception~: This does not apply to a bllildil1g llsed for SFR purposes.. except as to nOl1- compliance with framed area regulations (i. e. t ill case of SUCll a 51 % or greater loss~ PNC statlls for nOll-COmpliaI1Ce with framed. area regulations is lost). For this purpose, "replacemel1t cost" is determined by standard cost levels for similar structllres as most recelltly .pu.blislled by tIle Southern Buildillg Code Conference Il1ternational ("SBCCI") or similar agency. See} e.g~, tIle SBCCI's internet publication of "Building Valuatiol1 Data," Wl1ich provides average COl1struction costs per square foot, by type of COllstruction and occupancy group, with factors to modify tllose costs for tile HOUStOl1 area. TIle ZBA lnay issue a special exception to allow stIch a strllcture to be rebuilt and retain PNC status, if the ZBA finds: (i) rebllilding is necessary to avoid su..bstantial economic waste and. economic l1ardsllip, a11d (ii) tllere will be 110 substalltial adverse effects of the rebllilt structllre.