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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 1735 - amend zoning ; regarding yards or setbacks { .. City of West University Place Harris County, Texas Ordinance No. 1735 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS REGARDING YARDS OR SETBACKS; AND CONTAINING FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT. WHEREAS, the City Council and the Zoning & Planning Commission C~Z&Pcn) of the City of West University Place, Texas C'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 Ordinance No. 1672, adopted March 12, 2001 ("Zoning Ordinance))); WHEREAS, 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 it; 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. 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 set out in the attachment to the final report of the Zoning & Planning Commission (attached as Exhibit A)~ 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 All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict only.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) phrasef 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 jurisdictionf neither the remainder of this ordinance, nor the application of such word, phrase, clause, 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 thereat 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 given. Section 5. This ordinance shall become effective on the tenth day following its publicationJ as provided in the City Charter. PASSED AND APPROVED on first reading on Councilmembers Voting Aye: Councilmembers Voting No: Councilmembers Absent: %~ J~3. PASSED AND APPROVED on second reading on Councilmembers Voting Aye: Councilmembers Voting No: Councifmembers Absent ,~. Recommended: Reviewed: Signed: Exhibit A Zoning & Planning Commission City of West University Place, Texas 3800 University Boulevard West University Place, Texas 77005 March 13, 2003 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 yards or ~setbacks' (see the 3-7 exception) 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 is to amend the "Narrow Site 3-7 Exception" that appears in Note 2 of Table 7-2 of the Zoning Ordinance. As a general rule, the note requires a lO-foot separation between buildings on adjacent sites. The amendment would confirm this rule and the measurement method currently in use (measure from the ~main wall surface" of each building) . Note 2 also addresses a special situation when a new building is ~boxed in" by prior buildings close to the line on both sides. In this situation, Note 2 now allows a separation between buildings (on one side) as small as six feet. The proposal would increase the minimum separation in this special situation to eight feet. The proposal also includes some minor clarification and cross-referencing. The Commission considered additional amendments related to this proposal, including: (i) a restriction on side fences and (ii) a requirement for added fire resistance and sprinkling for new buildings built close to side property lines. The additional amendments would' be more appropriately considered as amendments to Chapter 6 and the Standard Codes Schedule of the Code of Ordinances, not the Zoning Ordinance. Therefore, the Commission believes the additional amendments should be considered by the Building & Standards Commission, and the Commission understands that the City staff has presented them to the Bse. proceedinos. Pursuant to public notices, the Zoning & Planning Commission and the City Council held a joint public hearing in the Council Chamber of the Municipal Building. The hearing provided an opportunity for parties in interest and citizens to be heard in relation to the proposal. City staff provided input to the Commission. The Commission has reviewed the Comprehensive Plan. The Commission has considered all of this information, and now recommends the proposal, as amended and attached to this report. 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 (iv) recommends that the City Council adopt them. The Vote. The vote on approval of this report was as follows: Conunissioners Whitlocl\)Pohl)Sieuart)tehie)Brw}ll voted \\aye; 11 no "noes; If Commissioners N~'5CO) BOucher absent. Respectfully submitted: ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS By: ~ Proposal for amending yard or "setback" regulations, ("3-7" rule) 2-13-03 Amend Note 2 of Table 7-2 of the Zoning Ordinance, as folJows: Note 2. Narro.w Site "317tt Exception. At tern ate side yard areas apply to a building site meeting all four of the follo\ving criteria: (A) The build ing site is less than 55 feet \vide. (B) The use is single-falnily (detached) use. (C) Outside the rear yard, no main wall surface of any building is closer than 10 feet to any ll1ain wall surface of a "prior buildingH on another bui lding site (unless there are "prior buildingsU on both sides, each within seven feet of the property line, in \vhich case the minimum seoaration from a ~"orior building" is eight reet). A uprior buildingH is a building in existence, under construction or covered by a current building permit \vhen a bui Iding permit is issued for the subsequent building. CD) The owner has designated alternate side setback areas in a form approved by the building official and in accordance with all of the following criteria: (1) Minimum setback, interior: 3 feet. (2) Minimum setback, street side: 5 feeL (3) Minimum setbacks, both sides cornbined: greater of 1 0 feet or 20% of the building site width. (4) On each side, the setback is uniform in width along its entire length. See Ai t~vI.... 10 Table 7 -Sa regarding "alternating drive\vayH rule.