Agenda Request

	Planning & Zoning Commission
	Agenda Request
Agenda Of:	04-22-10	Agenda Request No:		iii-a
Initiated By:	Nelda McGee, Executive Secretary	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 March 25, 2010 Approve Minutes
Exhibits:	Minutes March 25, 2010
Clearances			Approval
Legal:	N/A		planning Director:	sabine somers-kuenzel
Recommended Action
Approve the minutes of the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting March 25, 2010.
Exhibits

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

CITY OF SUGAR LAND

Sugar Land Planning and Zoning Commission MEETING

Thursday, March 25, 2010

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 Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 6:30 o'clock P.M. and the roll was called of the members; to wit:

Bridget R. Yeung, Chairman

Carl Stephens, Vice Chairman

Farha Ahmed

Marlena Berger

Sandy Hellums

Harish Jajoo

Nancy Porter

James Shaw

Paula Stansell

QUORUM PRESENT

All of said members were present, with the exception of Commissioner Berger and Commissioner Hellums, who were absent, and Commissioner Jajoo, who arrived at 6:35p.m.

Also present were:

Aaron Dobbs, Assistant City Attorney

Sabine Somers-Kuenzel, Planning Director

Doug Schomburg, Assistant Planning Director

Robert Valenzuela, Assistant City Engineer

Mr. Richard Mancilla, Engineer II

Robin Hicks, Administrative Manager and

A Number of Visitors and Staff

CONVENE MEETING

Chairman Yeung convened the session, open to the public, to order at 6:30 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.

minutes

Chairman Yeung introduced consideration on the minutes of the regular City of Sugar Land Planning and Zoning Commission meeting held March 09, 2010.

Commissioner Stansell stated that she has requested the recording secretary review the March 09, 2010 meeting audio tape for pertinent comments not included in the circulation plan discussion summary (page 4, paragraph 2) and that the minutes be amended to include respective comments.

Following a full and complete discussion, Vice Chairman Stephens, seconded by Commissioner Stansell made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular City of Sugar Land Planning and Zoning Commission meeting held March 09, 2010, with amendments as deemed appropriate following review of the audio tape. The motion carried unanimously.

Subdivision Plats

Telfair Section 24

Chairman Yeung introduced consideration on Telfair Section 24 Preliminary Plat.

Mr. Doug Schomburg, Assistant Planning Director stated Taylor Morrison is the current owner of the property; the two plats are located in Tract 5 of Telfair Development and are the first to be considered from the area. Telfair Section 24 consists of 28.07 acres, 46 residential single family lots and 6 reserves; access is gained from University Boulevard; the property is zoned Standard Single-Family Residential (R-1). Section 24 is immediately adjacent to University Boulevard and the 95 acres shown on the General Plan; Section 25 abuts the plat and is dependent on it for access.

Staff recommends approval of Telfair Section 24 Preliminary Plat with the following conditions of: Correction of typos in the Dedication Block, and Applicant dedicates a separate instrument prior to recordation of the Final Plat for the additional 7 feet needed to satisfy the CenterPoint 14-foot minimum requirement for the perimeter utility easement

Commissioner Shaw asked about planned uses for Reserve F and Reserve C. Mr. Chris LeBlanc, LJA Engineering, Incorporated stated Reserve C (along Wentworth Avenue) will be a linear chain of amenity lakes with sidewalks and landscaping; Reserve F will be a recreation center area.

Commissioner Shaw asked what type of housing product is planned for lots in the area. Mr. Keith Behrens, Newland Communities, stated the Telfair Section 24 plan is for 70 and 80-foot product similar to development on the north side in Tract 4; Telfair Section 25 will be 90-foot product.

Commissioner Stephens asked who owns the 15-foot access easement shown on the plat and if the CenterPoint access easement will have 7-feet. Mr. Chris LeBlanc, LJA Engineering, Incorporated stated the 15-foot access easement is to the drill site and belongs to the state; the issue of the 7-foot CenterPoint access easement has been resolved; the access will go away as a condition of commercial development on the site.

Commissioner Stephens addressed the dedicatory language and requested corrections to change “being officers Taylor Morrison” to “being officers of Taylor Morrison” in the first paragraph; change “designed” aerial easement to “designated” aerial easement in the second and third paragraphs; change “sold” public utilities to “said” public utilities in the third paragraph.

Commissioner Stephens asked if the property was subject to the avigation easement (Note 25) or the easement stopped at U.S. Highway 59; Mr. Schomburg confirmed the avigation easement applies to the entire property. Commissioner Stephens asked if there would be any Aerial Easements on the plat, since notes only reference Utility Easements. Staff confirmed that AEs will be noted on the Final Plat.

Commissioner Jajoo asked for clarification on stormwater and waterline easements in the applicant’s plat. Mr. Richard Valenzuela, Assistant City Engineer stated Reserve D is where the main box culvert for the site comes through, and it is shown as a combined easement because there is a waterline in that vicinity. Normally a storm sewer is in the parkway area; it can deviate from that due to curvature of the pipe and curvature of right-of-way lines, it is covered with a storm sewer easement. The waterline is behind the storm sewer and they parallel each other on the same side of the road.

Commissioner Jajoo asked for clarification on Note 8 regarding the area “Zone X” and if there is a Letter of Map Revision on file. Mr. LeBlanc stated it was the same LOMR done for Tract 4 and is part of the same Fort Bend Levee Improvement District No. 17; LJA will verify the designation and work with staff to clarify the Note.

Commissioner Jajoo asked for a definition of “intense” rainfall in Note 16. Mr. Valenzuela stated it refers to the three-year storm frequency in accordance with the Fort Bend County Drainage District.

Commissioner Ahmed asked if the Box Exhibits are legally binding. Mr. Schomburg answered the recorded plat is the only legally binding instrument; the Box Exhibits are a graphic tool to show lot width for irregular lots and are used during the preliminary or planning stage to ensure a residential plat is meeting the requirements. Commissioner Ahmed asked if staff makes the assumption for the 5-foot side setbacks, even if it is not clearly represented graphically. Mr. Schomburg affirmed the assumption and stated the Box Exhibits are not a house pad, only a width tool, and could extend all the way to the property lines, crossing over easements or side building lines.

Mr. Schomburg added a clarification that the dedicatory easement language is from CenterPoint, not the City.

Following a full and complete discussion, Commissioner Jajoo, seconded by Commissioner Stephens, made a motion to approve Telfair Section 24 Preliminary Plat. The motion carried unanimously.

Telfair Section 25

Chairman Yeung introduced consideration on Telfair Section 25 Preliminary Plat.

Mr. Doug Schomburg, Assistant Planning Director stated the proposed Preliminary Plat for Telfair Section 25 is for 18.58 acres consisting of 40 residential single-family lots and a 0.19 acre reserve currently zoned Standard Single-Family Residential. The plat abuts proposed Section 24 and will gain access from University Boulevard; it complies with the Telfair General Plan Minor Amendment No. 4 and all applicable development regulations.

Staff recommends approval with the conditions of:

Clarification of Reserve A (approximately 800 square feet)

Dedication of separate instrument prior to recordation of Final Plat for the additional 7 feet needed to satisfy Center Point 14-foot minimum requirement

Correction of any typos

Commissioner Shaw expressed concern that City code allows only a singular access (Wentworth Avenue) through the property. Mr. Schomburg stated Wentworth is considered a collector and will loop around for subsequent tracts and additional connections back to University Boulevard. Commissioner Shaw asked if there will be a connector behind the lots to work in conjunction with pathways on the elevation of the ditch. Mr. Schomburg stated conceptual layouts including Hike and Bike Trails are being considered, with potential connectors on both the north and south side; staff will continue to work with the applicant to determine best utilization.

Commissioner Stephens stated the condition for approval needs to be changed from “Final Plat approval of Telfair Section 24” to “Final Plat approval and recordation of Telfair Section 24 before Telfair Section 25 is recorded”; and requested that the same changes be made to the dedicatory language of the plat as on the Telfair Section 24 Preliminary Plat.

Commissioner Ahmed asked if Reserve A needs to be noted or taken off. Mr. Schomburg stated staff will recommend the Final Plat have a callout that references Reserve A, since the current table reference to Reserve A is not clear.

Commissioner Stephens asked if Reserve A could be shown on the Final Plat as a continuation of Reserve F from Section 24. Mr. Schomburg said staff would note the Commission is approving the plat with that change.

Commissioner Jajoo asked for clarification regarding the legend and the shaded cross-hashed lots in the plat. Mr. Schomburg stated that is the Box Exhibit Commissioner Ahmed referred to earlier; it is not a house pad, but a graphic lot-width tool to ensure irregular lots meet the minimum width at the building lines.

Commissioner Stephens commented that it is confusing because the legend depicts some space like a 5-foot setback, but it isn’t. Mr. Schomburg stated staff would clarify as they review the graphics.

Commissioner Ahmed asked if the legend was in accordance with a graphics scale. Mr. Schomburg stated the legend is scaled on the drawing to measure at what it shows; this is done for both the plat and the exhibits.

Following a full and complete discussion, Chairman Yeung, seconded by Commissioner Shaw, made the motion to approve Telfair Section 25 Preliminary Plat with the conditions and corrections as noted. The motion carried unanimously.

REPORTS

PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION LIAISON REPORTS

Commissioner Jajoo, Planning and Zoning Commission Liaison, commented on the City Council meeting held March 16, 2009, stating the Public Hearing for Savoy Plaza Tract A had approximately the same number of speakers as the Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing and discussion was passionate on both sides. Commissioner Jajoo stated he spoke on behalf of the Commission, explaining it was a unanimous vote in favor of the PD; City Council did not reach a super-majority vote of approval and the recommendation was voted down.

CITY STAFF REPORT

Ms. Sabine Somers-Kuenzel, Planning Director, commented on information sent to the Commissioners through email and hard copy regarding information provided to the City Council last year on issues and the work program; Commissioner Ahmed requested the information and staff forwarded it to all Commissioners. Multi-family policy discussions will also be included on an agenda in the near future.

Commissioner Shaw asked when the Commission could expect to see Imperial in a work session. Ms. Somers-Kuenzel stated the next step is a workshop with City Council to discuss policy issues that need to be addressed before the Planning and Zoning process for the PD and General Plan; there is a related Thoroughfare Plan Amendment application staff is reviewing. A tentative schedule for the Planning and Zoning Commission will be forthcoming.

ADJOURN

There, being no further business to come before the Commission, Commissioner Stephens, seconded by Commissioner Jajoo moved that the meeting adjourn. The motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned, time at 7:10 o'clock P.M.

_____________________

Bridget Yeung, Chairman

(SEAL)