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Home My WebLink AboutOrd 1840 - front porches City of West University Place Harris County, Texas Ordinance No~ 1840 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS REGARDING FRONT PORCHES; AND CONTAINING FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT. WHEREAS, the City Council and the Zoning & Planning Commission ("Z&PC") of the City of West University Place, Texas (UCityU) 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 Ordinance No. 1672, adopted March 12, 2001 and as subsequently amended C'Zoning Ordinance"); WHEREASf 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 OrdinanceJ 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. 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 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 All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict only.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, sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, 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 word, phrase, ----- clause, sentenceJ 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 given, and the City Council ratifies, approves and confirms such notices, including the contents and the method in which they were g;ven~ Section 5. This ordinance shall become effective on the tenth day following its publication, as provided in the City Charter. ~ONSIDERED, PASSED AND APPROVED on first reading on ?' , ;;0"7 ~ Councilmembers Voting Aye: Councilmembers Voting No: Councilmembers Absent: on CONSIDERED, PASSED AND APPROVED on second reading, AND SIGNED, ~ ";:;:5 ,..27tJ '7 . Councilmembers Voting Aye: Councilmembers Voting No: Councilmembers Absent: ~ Recommended: City M nager 70 Prepared by J.L.Dougherty, Jr.; approved as to legal form:~ r 7 ~--- City Attorney ~ WUPcodes/updates to/54 0 front porch heig ht ADOPTING Exhibit A Zoning & Planning Commission City of West University Placet Texas 3800 University Boulevard West University Place, Texas 77005 December 14, 2006 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 ("City") relating to FRONT PORCHES 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 would add a separate limit on the height of porches that project into front yard areas_ The height limit would be the same as the depth of the front yard. For example, on a site with a 20-foot front yard depth, the maximum height of a projecting front porch would also be 20 feet. (Note: The Zoning Ordinance already limits the volume and design of porches in front yards.) The proposal would clarify that such front-yard porches are only allowed on a building site in a residential district with a front-yard depth of 20 feet or more. One of the principal purposes of the amendment is to impose a height limit based on the size and scale of the site. The limit should help prevent overcrowding and help provide adequate light and air. Proceedinos,After Preliminary Report. Pursuant to public notices, the Zoning & Planning Commission and the City Council held a joint public hearing on November 13, 2006. The hearing provided an opportunity for parties in interest and citizens to be heard in relation to the proposal. At the hearing, City staff explained the proposal, and a number of witnesses made presenationS6 The Commission has considered all of this information and the Comprehensive Plan. The Commission recommends no amendments to the proposal. Recommendation. Based on the review given this proposal, the Commission: (i) finds that the proposal would be in the public interest and consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, (ii) finds that the proposal reasonably addresses circumstances which have arisen since the last comprehensive revision of the zoning ordinance, (iii) makes its final recommendation favorable to the proposal, and (iv) recommends that the City Council adopt the proposal. The Vote. This report was authorized by the Commission at its meeting held on the date of this report. The vote was as follows: Commissioners ::rntilifi....1 BrtW;'IJ Albu)<} MaC-MMU8J ~1+dr~;t.f voted "aye; /J no "noes; U tto one absent. Respectfully submitted: ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS By: ~ For the Commission Amendment relating to front porch height 7-13-06 (preliminary report version) Amend Note 1.2 of Table 7-6 as follows: Note 1~2. Porch In Front Yard. On a building site in a residential district with a front yard depth of 20 feet or more__ a porch may project up to 120 inches into the front yard if it meets all of the following criteria: (i) It is neither designed nor usable for motor vehicles; (ii) The volwne of the projecting part of the porch does not exceed 50 cubic feet per foot of front street line (Example: the maximum .projecting volume on a 52Y2-foot wide site would be 50 cubic feet x 52.5, or 2,625 cubic feet). (Hi) The porch's outside perimeter is open and unobstructed, except for the following features: (a) Ordinary window screens. (b) A solid or partially open safety rail not higher than 3.5 feet above the porch floor.. (c) Supporting vertical columns, if the total width of the outer faces of the columns does not exceed either 50% of the outside perimeter of the porch or 25% of the theoretical outside perimeter of a maximum-sized porch. The width of a column is measured at its thickest point above 3.5 feet above the porch floor. The "maximum-sized porch" is 120 inches deep and extends from one side yard line to th.e other, but it is limited by the open area requirement for the front yard~ The "outside perimeter" of a porch is the portion of the perimeter out in the front yard; it does not include the portion of the perimeter adjacent to a building or lying along the front setback line. (iv) At no point in the front yard does the porch have a height greater than the depth of the front yard (Examole: If the depth of the front yard is 20 feet__ the maximum hei~t in the front yard is also 20 feet)