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Home My WebLink About01101980 ZPC Minutes34 REGULAR MEETING ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION JANAURY 10, 1980 The Zoning and Planning Commission of the City of West University Place convened in regular session at the City Hall, Thursday, January 10, 1980, -7:45 p.m., with the following members present : Chairman Casey, presiding; Members LaCook and Norton. Chairman Casey introduced himself followed by other members of the Commission and advised. that agenda item concerning the subdivision of a lot had been tabled at the. December .meeting and would be considered at this time; and that the public hearing on said subdivision had been closed and that participation from those in the audience would be only by invitation or questions from members. Chairman Casey stated for the record that he had reviewed the minutes of the pre- vious meeting on December 13, 1980 concerning subdivision of Lot 4, Block 85, West University Place 2nd Addition, and ascertained from the secretary that notice of meeting had been posted in the City Hall three days prior to the sch- duled meeting. Mr. Casey stated that he was concerned that someone had been paying taxes on the property for approximately ten years and that if the city has treated this as a separate lot a moral question might be involved. Mr. LaCook stated that taxes do not determine whether or not it is a legal sub- division; that anyone could sell any portion of a lot they owned but that it did not mean that it was a-legal building site. Mr. Weymouth presented statements showing he had paid taxes on the east one-half of the lot since-1970. Mr. Farrell came to the .meeting at this time. Mr. Casey inquired of Mr. Weymouth if he had talked to the title company concern- ing this lot. Mr. Weymouth stated they were granted title to the land and the only restriction was the payment of taxes and a ground easement on rear five ft, Mr. .Farrell stated he felt very strongly about this subdivision; that at the time of the public hearing four persons went on record for the subdivision and only one spoke against it; that considering Mr. Weymouth's professionalism he had no doubt that the house would be a real credit to the block and West University Place; and that there are other fifty foot lots on that block already and that it would do no harm and would do the city some real good. Mr. LaCook stated that he had previously spoken in favor of the subdivision; that. there are other fifty foot lots on the block and that the existing house is built on a fifty foot lot.. Mr. Norton stated that he would reluctanting have to refer back to his past state= merits about the general trend to subdivide all lots into fifty foot lots; that he had no doubt it would b'e a good project; that he felt that burden of proving it would be a strategic benefit to the city was on the applicant and he did not feel that was the case here. 35 Motion by Mr. Farrell, seconded by Mr. LaCook, that application from Mr. and Mrs. Allen G. Weymouth and Mrs. Marie B. Paxson to subdivide Lot 4, Block 85 West University Place. 2nd Addition 3500 block of Sunset into two .lots, each 50 ft. x 150 ft., each fronting Sunset, be approved, subject to compliance with all building setback requirements, building code, or other governing ordinances, whether or not herein specified, for any subsequent con- struction. Voting Aye r Casey Voting No: Norton Farrell LaCook Preliminary plans for the construction of townhouses were presented by Messrs, Bob Q Musemeche and Louis Marichal on Q Lots 3, 4 & 5, Block 1 Kent Place Addition 3500 block of BEllaire Blvd. Mr. Musemeche stated that the plans presented were basically the same as those pre- sented at the previous meeting which were turned down, but-that he had another set of plans which he thought would meet the approval of the Commission,. but that-the point in presenting these plans was to discuss and clarify interpretation of that portion of Ordinance N0. 1025 concerning building sites. Mr. Musemeche .asked the secretary if she had any communications from the City Attor- ney. Copies of a memorandum from the City Attorney were distributed to Commission members and Messrs. Msemeche and Marichal, which follows: "January 10, 1980 To: Mr. Michael Casey, Chairman Zoning .and Planning .Commission From: Mr. David Allums City Attorney MEMORANDUM in response to request from Mr. Bob Musemech for my comments on Sub- Section E of Ordinance N0. 1025 prior to tonight's meeting: The jurisdiction of the interpretation of Ordinance N0. 1025 rests squarely with the Zoning and Planning Commission. The consistency applied to projects of similar nature to the one proposed by Muse- meche and Marichal should be considered by the Zoning and Planning Commission under the same guidelines and tenants that they have applied in the past.. Should the Zoning and Planning Commission feel that additional clarification should be required by the City Commission relating to Sub-Section E of Ordinance No. 1025, then such recommendation should be made with suggested language. 36 The specific language of Section 2, of Sub-Section E appears to be specific in the number of square feet and the interpretation by the Zoning and Planning Commission regarding whether the common area is to be included in said 2,.000 square feet is one of interpretation by the Zoning and Planning Commission considering the-best interests of the city. /s/ David Allums" Mr. Musmeche said he felt the matter of excluding or not excluding common area as apart of the building site should be clarified so that future developers would know exactly what they could do on a property. He cited three instances within the city where townhouse projects included common driveways in computation of the 2,000 square foot building site; that they realized Ordinance No. 1025 has some vagueness and contradictionsl that the issue here is to resolve this thing because of future developers-and that a precedent has already been set. Chairman Casey advised that the interpretation of the ordinance is the responsibility of the Commission and that the majority had determined that the building site should contain 2.,000 square feet, exclusive of common property, and this interpretation had .been used at least during the term of office of the present Commission. Members of the Commission and Messrs. Museme~he and Marichal entered int a lengthy discussion on this point,`includng discussion of examples shown in the apprendix to Ordinance No. 1025, development of other projects, responsibility_of interpretation of ordinance, guest parking as part of common area, and precedents set. Messrs. Msemeche and Marichal presented another set of preliminary plans for the construction of six townhouses on Lots 3, 4, 5, Block 1 Kent Place Addition 3500 block of Bellaire Blvd. (Previous plans had been for seven units.) Commission members reviewed the plans presented and it was pointed out that .guest parking would be off Mercer Street and that one more guest parking space had been provided than was required by the ordinance. Motion by Mr. LaCook, seconded by Mr. Farrell, that preliminary plot plans for the construction of townhouses presented and dated January 10, 1980 on Lots 3, 4, 5, Block 1 Kent Place Addition be approved as submitted. Voting Aye: All Voting No: None Minutes of the regular meeting of the Zoning and Planning Commission on December 13, 1979 were approved as submitted. A draft of recommendations to the City Commission concerning accessory buildings 3'7 C Q Q and garage apartment use presented to the Commission at the December meeting was submitted for consideration. Motion by Mr. Norton, seconded by Mr. Farrell, that the Chairman be authorized to submit recommendations concerning accessory buildings and .garage apartment use to the City Commission as contained in draft dated December 13, 1979. Voting Aye: All Voting No: None With no further business to come before the Commission, upon motion duly made, seconded-and carried, the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Chairman ATTEST: