>> Good afternoon and welcome to the City of Denton's planning and zoning commission
meeting for Wednesday, August 28th.
This is our work session.
With the quorum present, I'll call us to order at 5.05 p.m.
Let the record show that Commissioner Thaggard and Commissioner Villarreal are absent today.
First item on our work session is clarification of tonight's agenda.
First one being the minutes for August 14th.
Any questions about the minutes?
Okay.
Then we've got two individual consideration items.
The first being FP240025.
Mia, are you giving us any quick run down of that one, please?
Thank you.
>> Good evening.
Chair, members of the commission, Mia Hines, senior planner.
This is a final plat for 380 old north, located just north of 380 west of old north road.
They are not ready for approval at this time, so we are recommending denial.
However, we have no objection to the requested extension to September 25th, 2024.
Any questions?
>> Okay.
Questions for Mia?
Okay.
That will move us to FP240030.
>> Similarly, this is a plat actually in the city's ETJ, located at the northeast corner
of FM1173 and Mottch Branch Road.
Again, they are not ready for approval at this time, so we are recommending denial.
However, we have no objection to the requested extension to September 25th, 2024.
Any questions?
Okay.
Thanks, Mia.
4A and 4B, the applicant is requesting that be postponed indefinitely, so we will not
be taking action on either of those tonight.
So that will take us to 4CHL240002.
Karen is here and ready for a summary of that.
Hi.
>> Hi.
Thank you, chair and commission.
Let me pull up this, okay.
Sorry, okay.
So before I begin, just want to kind of give a background about historic landmark.
I know we have some new commissioners who have not seen a historic landmark designation
come through yet, so just want to give a brief background before I go over a summary.
So in terms of what is a historic landmark, in this instance, we're working specifically
with a building.
It is one that's officially recognized by the city for its outstanding architectural,
archaeological, cultural, social, economic, ethnic, or political, historical significance.
Right now in the city, we have 65 local historic landmark designations, and as y'all are well
aware, this is a zoning action, so it is a three-step process.
It first went to the Historic Landmark Commission for review, then it comes to the Planning
and Zoning Commission for review, and then lastly, the City Council for final approval.
So just quickly, some of the benefits of a historic landmark, there are property owner
benefits as well as community benefits.
I have a bunch of bullet points listed, but I'll kind of highlight that the popular ones,
property owner benefits, it does make them eligible for a local historic tax exemption.
It does provide that kind of invisible recognition with a plaque on the property.
Some of the community benefits, it does encourage better design because there are some design
standards that come with that.
It also protects from swift demolition, and then it does discourage kind of that sprawl
and it looks towards reuse of those historic structures.
So jumping into my summary, it is a historic landmark designation for 1526 Willowwood Street.
The zoning is R3.
It is located in the Deenia neighborhood.
It does meet our Denton 2040 Comprehensive Plan, our goal community character two, as
well as our 2019 Historic Preservation Plan, goal number one, policy 1.3.
So staff is recommending approval as it does comply with those two plans as well as our
Denton Development Code criteria.
And I can stand for any questions.
Thank you.
Any questions?
Oh, Commissioner Prud?
Thank you, Chair.
I really enjoyed the backup on this, thank you.
In general, as we see more of these coming through, which I think is a realization of
some of the goals from the Comprehensive Plan, I would like to better understand how we should
evaluate the priority of different applications.
You know, we've done a lot of surveys.
We have thousands of properties identified as eligible.
And somewhere between zero and thousands is the right number of the right mix of types
of properties or types of things we want to preserve, right?
So I just, I would feel better understanding more than a pass/fail checklist, which is
kind of how our Comprehensive, I'm sorry, how our Development Code is structured.
And so I understand that's why the goals and that sort of thing are structured that way.
But I would feel better knowing, oh, actually, you know, because of so-and-so somebody or,
well, this is a past council member and that was a particularly highly rated thing that
we wanted to preserve, that sort of thing, right?
So anyway, and I did want to point out that, you know, the reference to the live-work architecture
within this structure, I think, actually, you wouldn't be able to build this building
right now, even if it were zoned for a live-work area, because our code requires the commercial
portion to be more than 50% of the total square footage.
So it seems a little strange, but that's all.
Thank you.
Thanks, Commissioner McHurd.
I think I'm confused as to what you want.
Are you wanting to do something as far as the information we're getting?
No.
I think all the backup and information on individual properties is very helpful.
I feel like I'm not sure how to weight different applications as they come forward in the future.
So sorry, I'm not better at explaining that.
No, that's okay.
I'll just like have Cameron.
So do we have a glut of applications?
So this is our second application of the year.
For I think over five years, we had not received any applications.
So this is the most we've seen since I've been here since 2021.
And I'm hoping that we see more come in the future.
But in comparison to the eligible properties, which is in the thousands, it's over I think
close to 3,000 properties that are currently eligible, we're not seeing as big of an influx
of people interested in designation as we would hope from the preservation program.
So are you trying to find a way to get people?
Because it's not like the city can go and say, "Hey, let's designate your house."
No, I completely understand how it's a voluntary thing.
I mean, maybe there's more we can do in promotion of it.
I'm thinking more from a...because it's a voluntary thing, all I'm aware of is we have
this program and if somebody finds out about it and they come apply, then if it passes
the rubrics, then you're in.
If there's some way of saying, "Okay, well, this one on some grading scale of whatever
it is, is one that we really want," as opposed to, "Well, it's eligible, but it's not as
high priority," or something like that.
Does that make any sense?
I mean, it does.
I just don't know how they could use it in the sense that, again, you're not going to
go knock on a homeowner's door and say, "Hey, we think that this is a number one priority."
I was just saying...
Oh, sorry.
No, go ahead.
No, please.
I think to maybe better answer your question or inquiry is, when it comes to historic structures,
if we find something that's eligible, that means it's a high priority, whether it's not
a high priority to the community, it's a high priority to preserve that structure historically
due to its architectural significance, cultural significance.
It really is on going to the Historic Landmark Commission.
If they task me with reaching out to a property owner, I do that, or the property owner coming
to staff and requesting it, but we don't really grade high, medium, low in terms of historic
preservation anymore.
We used to.
In a lot of our surveys, our 1996 survey, for instance, does high, medium, low, but
the Texas Historical Commission and surveys moving forward, they've switched to, if it's
eligible, it's eligible, and it's just as a priority as what we used to rank.
I understand what you're saying.
I do think it's a little bit difficult for staff to pick and choose.
I think it would have to be more of a community feedback where we get that community feedback
saying, "What do you think is a priority?
Let's go for those first, and then we can work down our eligible list."
But currently, as we have it, anything that's eligible, that's a high priority.
Okay.
Thank you.
So basically, you're saying that.
I mean, it all weights out the same.
One's not.
If it makes the list, it would be something that-
Just as important as the next one.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Commissioner Cole.
Thank you, Chair.
So I was curious about the exemption.
I mean, what amount is that tax exemption for historic?
It is currently 50% of your city property tax, and it lasts for 10 years, and you can
reapply, but you have to spend a minimum of $10,000 to even be eligible to reapply.
So there does have to be some cost by the property owner.
Thank you.
Of course.
Anything else?
No?
Okay.
Let's go to our next one.
Okay.
HL240003.
Thank you, Chair and Commissioner Cameron Robertson, Historic Preservation Officer.
This one I'll jump into a little bit more quickly.
So to summarize, it is a historic landmark designation for 1900 Westridge Street.
It's also located in the Denia neighborhood and zoned R3.
It does meet our Denton 2040 Comprehensive Plan Goal CC2, as well as our 2019 Historic
Preservation Plan.
So staff is recommending approval as it does comply with both of those plans, as well as
our Denton Development Code criteria put forth.
Any questions?
Thanks.
I'm Ellen.
Lovely.
Mount Miller.
I'm excited to always see them, so great.
Thank you, Cameron.
Our final public hearing item for tonight is 4E DCA240010.
Leah is making her way up here.
Hi.
Hello.
Give me a moment to find it.
Give me a hand, I'm having a bit of trouble finding it, but we're just on our plan.
Oh, oops.
Thank you.
There we go.
You're right.
Understood.
Can I present in PDF?
Okay.
We'll do it like this.
Good evening.
Leah Atkinson, Housing Programs Coordinator.
Good to see you, Commission.
We are here to talk about the proposed affordability incentive amendment.
I'll just give a high level of review and answer any questions.
I won't go through the whole presentation.
These are the nine incentives as proposed.
We've seen them a few times.
Can we maybe expand that?
It probably will look better on screen.
I think it's to take away the boarder.
Can you do that?
I'm thinking it's the button next to the X, yeah.
Is it F11?
There we go.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Much better for a video view.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
These are the nine incentives as proposed.
You've seen them before.
It's a 20% deviation from minimum yard and setback requirements, maximum building coverage,
minimum lot width, depth and area, maximum building height, and minimum unit size, as
well as 10 point reduction from the landscaping area point system and a parking reduction
down to one spot per affordable dwelling unit.
In exchange, this is the updated table as directed by this commission last time we spoke.
This would be the affordability chart that residential developments would offer in exchange
for those incentives.
So if three or fewer incentives are utilized, it would begin at 20% of the units being affordable,
broken down over three different income categories.
The duration of that affordability would be 30 years, no matter the number of incentives
utilized, which was also the direction of this commission.
I think I'll go ahead and leave it there unless you all have any further questions or anything
else today.
Any questions?
I know we've gone over this before.
Okay.
Thanks so much.
We'll see you in public session.
Thank you.
Okay.
That ends our agenda.
So then we'll go right into our work session reports.
The first being 2A, PZ24174, Brice is here, oh, Julie is here.
I didn't have an agenda, so I was like, is that me?
I think Brice is first.
On the agenda, yeah.
I didn't know if you were being Brice or what was happening, but.
I was a little confused as well.
Julie really wants to present this, I know.
Good evening, commission.
Brice Van Arsdale, assistant planner.
This is DCA 240011.
Staff is requesting direction regarding changes to the Denton Development Code in relation
to domestic animal land uses.
Currently, most domestic animal land uses will fall under either kennel or personal
service general land use definitions.
However, as the market has developed, we often see many of these uses under the same building.
For instance, a doggy daycare will include daycare services, overnight boarding, as well
as grooming and training, all under the same roof.
With the two existing definitions, I'll call your attention first to kennel, which specifically
calls out overnight boarding, as well as personal service general, which you'll see highlighted
at the bottom, specifically calls out pet grooming shops.
As just mentioned, we often see these under the same roof, which leaves staff in a bit
of a murky area when trying to interpret this and apply the correct standards.
We are applying or proposing two separate definitions we added to the Denton Development
Code.
They both relate to the grooming, boarding, adoption, or daycare services of domestic
animals while excluding veterinary care in the sale of these animals.
The differentiation between the indoor and the outdoor will be made with the use specific
standards.
One note here with the commercial animal services, they are very similar to the zoning districts
in which a veterinary clinic is allowed.
The major difference being made is that the outdoor use is not permitted in the MN or
MD zoning districts.
With the use specific standards, there are quite a few words there, but there are two
key takeaways that I would like you guys to take away from this.
First, when there's a residential zoning district adjacent to or within the property that the
building is or the proposed business is being located in, we do require that there's a distance
minimum between any outdoor component and the adjacent property.
Additionally, this outdoor component will have a time restriction on it in which the
business owner cannot utilize that area after a specific time.
With the second use specific standard, the commercial animal service indoor will be limited
to no more than 50% of the building the proposed business be allocated for an outdoor element.
In the mixed use zoning districts, this 50% is further restricted to 25% that can be allocated
as an outdoor component for these businesses.
You'll notice that the definitions and the amendments for commercial stable as well as
personal service general are fairly minor in nature.
However, we are removing kennel from the Denton Development Code as this does, any proposed
kennel will now fall under the commercial animal services definitions.
Additionally, we did make two minor edits to the use specific standards for veterinary
clinics.
Generally, these apply to onsite livestock veterinary care.
Just as a point of clarity, it is rare that we see that.
More often than not, these veterinarians are going onsite to treat these animals, but as
the city continues to grow, we wanted to provide that protection for these businesses.
Both of the proposed definitions will fall under the one space per 500 square foot per
gross floor area parking requirement.
This is consistent with the established veterinarian clinic.
The staff is requesting direction regarding these amendments, and I am here to listen
for any feedback, questions, or comments.
I know I have a few things.
Absolutely.
Can you go back to the ... I think it's the first slide.
This is going to ... This is me ... No, keep going.
The wording on this makes my brain hurt.
Is there a way ... I'm assuming what you're trying to say is primary located indoors or
primary located outdoors for these commercial animal services.
Can we switch that wording so that it is an establishment or business related to grooming,
boarding adopted, domestic animals, blah, blah, blah, which is primary located indoors,
excluding veterinary clinics?
Sure.
Can we switch?
Because it is hard the way that it reads right now what you're trying to say about what's
located indoors, and it sounds like veterinary clinics.
Absolutely.
That's just my English coming out, English training.
I'm working on the red line here.
We're allowing this commercial animal use in MN and MD, where before with kennels we
didn't have it like that.
Just wondering how staff came to that decision.
Yeah, absolutely.
With the MN and MD, specifically the indoor, we do allow something like a veterinary clinic
or a personal service, for instance, you'll see is the bottom line.
Anything that's like a grooming or a daycare service, those will also fall under that definition,
so we do want to allow for that.
However, with the use specific standards, I believe it's B2B2, you'll see we do require
a specific use permit in these zoning districts, as well as further restrict that outdoor component.
Okay, and did you just decide that, I mean, they should be allowed here?
Yeah.
Yeah, totally.
Just because?
No, totally fair.
So we really based that on the personal service, which is where the pet grooming shops currently
fall under.
That helps me.
That's what I was trying to follow where you were following on that table.
That's exactly the answer I needed for that question, thank you.
Then the whole commercial stable thing, is that not a commercial animal service, I guess?
So we do leave that as its own definition still, since it's more, it's less about the
domestic animals, which are specified within the definition of commercial animal services.
We did change that definition slightly just to meet livestock, which is now defined under
the code of ordinances.
Okay, okay.
Yeah, I was just trying to understand why it was not that.
That helps me, thank you.
Here we've got the enclosed building requirement, that's item three, what was that, B23, I think.
The very bottom there?
Yeah.
And I don't know if this is even possible.
Can we say it has to be air conditioned, or is that not a thing we're allowed to do?
I'd probably go to Hillary for that one.
This is pretty standard language.
Okay.
There are several different definitions that have this use specific standard, and it is
standard language for what we have already on the DDC.
Yeah, I mean, it's just, I can't imagine somebody having that without, but also, I also know
that people are not always the most humane with animals.
Absolutely.
Happy looking into it.
Yeah, thank you.
Yes, ma'am.
Okay, so there's that, I'm just going through my notes, make sure I asked you all of them.
Let me answer that, oh, this last one I have, actually, I'm sorry, I have two more.
The 150 feet of an adjacent property residential, so that's B1A?
Yes, ma'am.
That seems close to me, was that here before, or?
Yeah, so it was not previously established, but it is something that we looked at some
other municipalities, what their standards were.
We also spoke with Animal Services, and unfortunately, their opinion was it really doesn't matter
how far it is, dogs are allowed, but 150 feet does allow for odors, anything like mess or
anything like that to stay on the initial property, on the subject property rather than
being spread, and it helps with the noise a little bit, but not like we'd like to see
in a larger property.
Yeah, it just still seems very close to me, 150 feet's not that far from a residential
house.
My last one has, going back to the definition, in the backup, it mentioned cat cafes as being
maybe something, somebody has come forth, and I can believe that they're in so many
cities now, but how does this definition help with that?
Absolutely.
I don't see that.
We just had the same conversation.
Okay.
Yeah, so we do think that that would fall under the boarding instance of this definition.
It would also depend on the primary use of the business based on the square footage,
whether it be a restaurant or that sort of thing, and this may be an accessory use to
that restaurant.
So you're going to interpret it as boarding?
If the animals are staying overnight, yes ma'am.
It would also, if they're doing, some of these are adoption in an effort to have people spend
time with these animals, that sort of thing, so that would be another way that we capture
that.
Okay.
I'm going to let someone else talk now, thank you for answering my questions, if anyone
has questions.
I'm going to let you finish your prayer.
Just a few short ones.
First, can you go back to the why slide that you had?
Yeah, so I'm trying to read into these bullets to understand, have we had a difficulty categorizing
applications?
Absolutely.
Okay.
So there's been a lot of doggie daycares, for instance, at Camp Bow while I was applied
recently, and I believe we're taking that as a personal service general use.
However, it doesn't totally meet that, as we do have overnight boarding with that, as
well as the training and some other land uses underneath that umbrella.
So it does leave staff in a little bit of a gray area in which one to interpret.
Okay.
Just because kennel wasn't the automatic bucket if there was overnight boarding necessarily?
Unfortunately not.
Okay.
So that strikes me as the core nugget of the challenge that we're trying to solve, correct
me if I'm wrong.
No, absolutely.
So kennel itself is more or less an antiquated business use where we don't just see boarding
anymore.
More often than not, we now see the grooming, the training, the daycare, all these into
the same building.
Okay.
Just two other questions, I think, to the same slide that Commissioner Ellis requested.
No, sorry.
That one, yes.
On the enclosed building requirement, this is B sub item three that would apply to outdoor.
And then we're saying that all the boarding has to be indoors?
Yeah.
So any boarding that is interior to, well, I'm sorry.
Yeah.
So any boarding must be indoors.
We won't allow an outdoor kennel to be proposed.
Okay.
I just know many of them are outside of the city limits, but there are several animal
boarding facilities that have a desirable amenity where an animal may have a private
indoor area as well as an outdoor area that they can go.
And by reading this, it sounds like that would not be allowed, that they would have to restrict
them to the animal staying indoors.
So I believe we would still allow that, but I think a lot of these places do have more
or less like a doggie door that the dog's able to go in and out of that can be shut
after a certain time, which would also apply to the noise.
Okay.
So it's really just, the intention then is to ensure that the boarding of animals overnight
is contained indoors as opposed to...
That as well as a bit of the AC thought as well, where we don't want to just have dogs
sitting in full sun.
There's an indoor area available and they're not left outdoors at night.
Absolutely.
Okay.
So I don't see that in the language.
I don't know if it needs to be clarified to describe that, but that's what I see.
And then the indoor services, right, that's kind of would be the new bucket for animal
personal services.
There's many grooming facilities that don't board the animals overnight, but they do have
some crates or kennels that they keep the animals in and they might keep them there
and phase them just for efficiency reasons over a period of a number of hours.
I imagine that they do need to go to the bathroom.
Absolutely.
And I'm concerned that the hard SUP requirement for any outdoor activity would not allow a
pet grooming shop essentially in the MN and MD districts.
Does that make sense?
It does.
And I don't know if that's really the intention to restrict that.
So that's one concern I see.
Sure.
I'm looking into that for the public hearing.
I think possibly your issue about the enclosed might be taken care of with B1B where it talks
about outdoor can't be used after 9 p.m.
Because most of those runs, I mean, a typical kennel is going to close that dog door overnight.
They're not going to let the dogs run free at night with no supervision and their staff
doesn't work overnight.
Okay.
Do you have anything you're good on your questions?
No, I'm good.
And maybe it's just that I'm not also looking at the definition of animal boarding or something
that I don't grasp what that sub item three is grasping or covering, if you will.
Got it.
Okay.
Thank you.
Got it.
Understood.
Anything else?
No.
Thanks for this.
Yeah.
It's interesting that we had, you know, the dog stuff under personal services because all
of that seemed to be like human services and dog grooming, you know.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It's probably a good thing that we're –
We tagged it on.
Yeah.
It was funny.
Okay.
Thanks, Bryce.
We'll see you.
Awesome.
Thank you.
Let's see.
Now it's Julie's show for 2B PZ24173 Received Report.
Hold the discussion regarding implementation of the 20/40 Comprehensive Plan.
I apologize for jumping the gun.
I got really excited about talking about the comp plan.
All right, I'm Julie Wyatt, and I am presenting the annual report for the Denton 20/40 Comprehensive
Plan to you tonight.
Just as a refresher, the Denton 20/40 Comprehensive Plan was adopted in March of 2022.
Within the plan – and it contains – there are eight chapters, also known as elements
within the plan.
Within those eight chapters are 548 recommended actions to implement the plan.
In order to make that a more manageable amount, we synthesized those 548 into 253 key actions.
The key actions are a combination of a variety of recommended actions.
They are organized in four timeframes.
The short, which is three years from plan adoption, mid-term, three to five years, long-term,
beyond that five years, and then ongoing, and those are those actions that are continued
and addressed on that continuing basis.
This is that framework to guide our decision making for our goals, as well as our allotment
of resources, as well as that task list for us to follow.
I mentioned there's the eight chapters.
There are key actions associated with each chapter.
Some of those key actions may cross chapters, but generally they're associated with a
specific chapter.
We have accomplished, or have ongoing, 95 of the 253 key actions within the Comprehensive
Plan over the last year, and of the 58 short-term actions, 13 of those were completed, and that's
22%.
It's been a busy year.
In the past, we've just talked about a list.
We thought we'd do it a little differently this year, and just talk about some highlights.
What we're going to go through is just not everything that we accomplished, not all 95
actions, but we're just going to talk about some things that we thought you might be interested
in knowing a little bit more about, and just some of those highlights.
We're going to start first with our area planning efforts.
I won't go into a lot of detail.
I know you've talked about these things a lot, but we've had two area plans.
One has been accomplished.
The Southeast Denton Area Plan was adopted.
Design Downtown Denton is going through that public hearing process.
As you know, this is going to guide our zoning decisions and community investment for both
of these areas over the next 20 years.
This is related to Chapter 2, Chapter 4, and Chapter 7, so it really crosses a lot of chapters.
It's a lot of that comprehensive plan, and quite a few key actions that you can see on
the bottom of your screen.
Staff has also worked on maintaining a vibrant and historic downtown square.
I don't know how many of you know about the Downtown Reinvestment Grant, but we do have
the Downtown Reinvestment Grant within the City of Denton, and that can include funds
for exterior facade rehabilitation, fire suppression on the square, asbestos abatement, accessibility
improvements, it can go to impact fee reimbursement.
It is a 50% match with a cap of $50,000, and the exterior work needs to comply with the
Denton Square District, and that is the zoning overlay within our downtown area, and that's
further supports the historic preservation efforts within the City of Denton and on the
square.
If you weren't aware of the Downtown Reinvestment Grant, you've probably seen it in action,
because McNeils was one of those buildings that did use that grant, and you could see
McNeils here, you could see its evolution at the top.
Here it is, here it was for, I don't know when that facade was put on, but it was recently
removed, and now you can see that that street frontage looks more like it did many decades
ago.
So it's a really successful program, it's something that Karen works a lot on as our
historic preservation officer.
She coordinates with the property owners to make sure that they stay in compliance with
the regulations.
Also, our main street coordinator works tirelessly with this grant to make sure that we keep
the buildings in compliance and make sure that we have all the necessary information
from the property owners.
Also the downtown ambassadors, if you've been downtown, you've seen the people with the
red shirts, they have removed 655 items of graffiti between February and July of this
year.
That is a lot, so they have been working hard.
This is related to not only land use but also our fiscal and economic vitality, our community
character and design, and a whole lot of key actions shown at the bottom of your screen.
Our Denton Enterprise Airport has also been busy.
They have, they're primarily related to our fiscal and economic vitality as well as our
mobility because think planes are another mobility option.
Two things I wanted to highlight that they've been working on are our aviation exploring
program.
I learned about this from them.
It's a really neat program.
It is for our community's youth ages 14 to 20.
If they are interested in the aviation industry, it allows them activities that they can participate
in flight simulations, airport tours, guest speakers, networking with people from the
aviation industry, and a lot of other workshops that give them some hands-on experience.
It also emphasizes leadership.
They want to build leaders within our community.
As of today, 20 participants have enrolled.
You can see the picture on your screen.
According to Ryan at the airport, they had a standing room only at their informational
meetings this summer, so it's been really popular.
I do have a link there if you're interested.
Our airport's done a lot of work in the last year reaching out not only to Denton ISD,
to our younger folks, but also coordinating with TWU in their aviation program.
They've done a lot of outreach.
They've also kicked off their master plan.
Just like in planning, we do comprehensive planning and area plans, the airport also
has a plan.
That kicked off in spring of this year.
It is going to include cargo and freight operations.
They are updated regularly.
The last one was done in 2015, so it's time for them to update their airport master plan.
They're going to do things like review existing conditions, industry forecasts, and understand
that, what capacity building they need to do in order to implement the plan.
Another thing that Cameron works on, Cameron has all of the fun projects, is Denton Revealed,
and that's our preservation month.
This is related to land use, our economic and fiscal vitality, as well as community
character and urban design.
This is the month of May, every year.
This year, they celebrated their third annual, so they've been building on it for the last
three years.
They had a really successful year.
They had 277 participants that went on a variety of tours.
There was a mid-century modern master's architecture.
They always seem to have a cemetery tour.
This year, they were at the Cooper Creek Cemetery.
They also Clear Creek Walking Tour.
They had an Imagine the Possibilities Tour that was in coordination with our Main Street
program.
I don't know if you were aware of it, but it really was inviting industry professionals
to look at opportunities that they could take advantage of within our downtown square and
the real estate opportunities there, and also a historic bar tour.
This really is to promote not only economic development, but to instill some pride and
encourage that economic tourism, so really trying to get people excited about historic
preservation so we can designate more properties within the city of Denton.
This also is consistent with a lot of key actions shown at the bottom of your screen.
Danny's group has worked a lot with our Housing and Neighborhoods chapter, that element seven.
One thing I wanted to point out is a cross-care collaborative.
This works with Denton County Behavioral Health Leadership Team, as well as the Denton County
Housing and Homelessness Leadership Team.
It is to serve those folks that have entered the justice system, and they're also experiencing
homelessness due to mental health or substance use needs.
The intent of this is to make sure that there aren't duplication of efforts, that we're
all working together and doing our little piece of what's needed to be done to reduce
the recidivism rate for people in crisis.
It's a good program, and they've worked on it this year.
Parks and our Sustainability Group has also worked on element five, and that's our parks,
conservation, and environment, as well as infrastructure and utilities.
Sustainability Group added a new position, and that's our conservation program coordinator,
and I believe there are two of them within the city, and they have a lot on their plate.
They need to coordinate our water and energy conservation efforts, that water audit program
for irrigation systems.
They do a lot of public outreach and teaching for the sprinkler spruce-up, as well as water
conservation, and they also assist with promoting that twice-weekly watering schedule to make
sure that we conserve our water within the city of Denton.
And then parks has done a lot of improvements.
They've improved a lot of our existing parks, like our Carl Young Spray Ground.
There's a new facility there, as well as some new shade, new equipment and landscaping on
a variety of parks.
I've got a picture of Fred Moore Park here that shows the new pergola there at the American
Legion Hall.
They've also installed public art, and if you've been on this square recently, you've
seen all of the boxes now have artwork on them, and so I've got an example here.
They look really great, and Parks has been working on that, as well as a mural program.
Here is a bridge that had an artist paint that mural on that bridge, so adding that
public art to our public spaces.
We have a transportation group within Development Services who's worked on several items this
year, mainly related to mobility.
That is our Chapter 6.
We have kicked off a city-wide parking study.
We have a consultant, and that kicked off earlier this year.
They're reviewing things like our current regulations, enforcement challenges, our transit
availability, parking supply, nationwide best practices, all of those items that the community
has indicated we need to study.
And also, they are working on mobility plan updates.
You saw one earlier this year for adding that new roadway classification, the major collector,
but also adding the connection, that East Windsor connection.
You're going to see some more mobility plan updates in the upcoming months, so get ready,
because they are working on them.
And we also have some new facilities that help serve our fiscal and economic vitality,
as well as community health, safety and services, our police department.
That is complete on Hickory.
If you haven't driven by, you should go take a look.
It's a very pretty building.
And then we have a new fire station at the airport, and the planning department got to
tour it.
It's a really neat fire station, and it is equipped with an ARF, I believe is how they
say it, and that is an airport rescue and firefighting truck.
And it is able to respond to emergencies at the airport.
So it's a really great asset for the community, and they're really proud of it.
And then infrastructure and utilities.
This maybe isn't the most exciting, but it is something that we in the planning department
and development services, as well as departments across the city, work with every day.
And that is our Denton Design Criteria Manual.
This was a really big project that our engineering folks and other folks within the city undertook.
And this is related to our mobility, as well as our infrastructure and utilities.
In the past, if you were aware, we had criteria manuals, and we had one for transportation,
and one for storm water, and one for waste water, and one for solid waste.
And what they did is they combined it all into one easy to use criteria manual.
So it is a companion to the Denton Development Code.
It outlines those engineering standards and guidelines for not only development, but also
for any construction that we work on within the city of Denton.
It also, I believe Sean worked on some DME updates to our DME standards, because make
sure that all of our street lights comply with our dark skies requirements.
So looking forward, we are still working on the Invisio Dashboard.
We are working on the architecture to make sure that those reports, when they are generated,
really do give you good information about what actions have happened.
Also to make sure that we're linking those actions to other council priorities, like
our strategic plan.
And we anticipate that we're going to be finished.
We're almost there.
I think we're really close.
As well as we're putting together a road show, as I mentioned, the comprehensive plan was
adopted in 2022.
And we want to continue to educate the various city departments about the comprehensive plan,
what those planning efforts were, what the key actions and timelines are, and give us
some advice on how to use the comprehensive plan.
So we're going to have a series of meeting with a variety of departments in order to
have one-on-one conversations about how we can help, how we can educate all of our partners
on the comprehensive plan and collaborate.
So with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have.
>> That's great, Julie.
Thank you very much.
Questions?
Did I just say I love the road show idea?
Awesome.
>> I know.
>> A really great idea.
Because, yeah, yeah, to keep the communication going and make sure, yeah, we're continuing
to meet these goals is really great.
I know with the short-term items you said 22% have been done, how are -- do you have
an idea of how the other short-term items are coming along?
>> You know, I don't -- a lot of -- you know, what I struggled with on presenting this information
is those key actions, as I said, there are grouping of a lot of specific other actions.
So, you know, we're continuing to make sure that we tease out all of those and break apart
those key actions where we need to to make sure that we can complete all of those individual
items that are the 578 within the code.
So I don't have specifics on those other ones.
But once again, with the road show, we're going to continue to talk to other departments,
see how their priorities, their goals are aligning, see how we can help them move more
of those items across the finish line.
>> Yeah, that's great.
Wonderful.
Commissioner Pruitt.
>> Thank you, Chair.
Thank you for allowing us to step back for a minute, you know, instead of being mired
in plats and see what all great work you've done.
I think we're all aware of the small area planning, but there were several other details
that I learned in this, so thank you for that.
I look forward to the Invisio -- is that how you say it?
>> I think it's -- I see a lot of nods, so yes.
It looks like it.
>> I look forward to that.
I don't know whether this is planned to be included in that or not.
One of the reasons that I think I had looked forward to these yearly updates -- and I'm
not sure what Commissioner Smith's thoughts were -- was to get an idea of the by-right
development activity that has happened in the city, as well as the applications that
we see.
>> Okay.
>> Because as we are looking at land use applications, it's very helpful to know whether current
market solutions within the existing zoning are achieving our goals for housing production
or that sort of thing, or whether they are restricted and that sort of thing.
Does that make sense?
>> Absolutely, yes.
>> So if that's planned in Invisio, I don't think we need anything extra.
If there's some reason it won't, because that's more focused on goals and actions, I look
forward to seeing that information somewhere.
Thank you.
>> Anybody else?
>> Really awesome, Julie.
>> Thank you.
>> Great presentation.
So much wonderful information that you gave us.
And obviously shows how busy all of you all have been, which is really great.
So wonderful update to get.
>> Thank you.
All right.
Bye.
>> Thanks.
Okay.
That is the last thing on our work session.
So we'll go ahead and adjourn at 553 and reconvene in council chambers at 630.
>> Good evening and welcome to the City of Denton's Planning and Zoning Commission meeting
for Wednesday, August 28th, 2024.
With the quorum present, I'll call us to order at 630 p.m.
Let the record show that Commissioners Thaggard and Villarreal are absent today.
First item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. and Texas flags.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic
for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all.
One state, one country, Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible.
>> First item of action for us is the approval of our minutes for August 14th.
I'll go ahead and move approval of that.
Commissioner Pedrone?
>> I second.
>> Okay.
We've got a first and a second to approve the minutes from August 14th.
Any discussion?
Okay.
Let's go ahead and vote, please.
That motion carries 4-0.
That brings us to our items for individual consideration, the first one being 3A FP 240025.
Mia is here for presentation.
Hi.
>> Good evening, Chair, members of the Commission, Mia Hines, Senior Planner.
This item is a final plaque for a property just over 18 acres located at the northwest
corner of East University Drive and Old North Road.
At this time, they are not meeting all of our criteria for approval, so staff is recommending
the denial.
However, we have no objection to the requested extension, which could be granted to a date
certain of September 25th, 2024.
At this time, I'll take any questions you have.
>> Thank you, Mia.
If you have any questions, thank you so much.
Commissioner Britt?
>> I'll move approval to the applicant -- of the applicant requested extension to a date
certain of September 25th, 2024.
>> Okay.
Commissioner Cole?
>> Second.
>> Okay.
We've got a first and a second to grant the extension request to a date certain of September
25th, 2024.
Any discussion?
Okay.
Let's vote, please.
That motion carries 4-0.
That'll take us to 3-B, FP240030.
Mia here again for presentation.
>> Good evening again, Chair, members of the commission.
This item is a final plat in the -- located in City's ETJ for a property that's approximately
for 5.6 acres.
Specifically, it's located at the northeast corner of FM 1173 and Motch Branch Road and
does come with some right-of-way dedication to the county for the realignment of Motch
Branch Road also.
At this time, the plat itself is not ready -- does not meet all of our criteria for approval,
so we are recommending denial.
However, we have no objection to the requested extension to September 25th, 2024.
That'll take any questions.
>> Thank you, Mia.
Questions?
Thank you.
Commissioner Pruitt?
>> I move approval of the applicant requested extension to September 25th, 2024.
>> Thank you.
Commissioner Pedron.
>> I second.
>> Okay.
We've got a first and a second to grant the extension request to a date certain of September
25th, 2024.
Any discussion?
Okay.
Let's vote, please.
That motion will carry 4-0.
That will take us to our public hearings this evening.
Items 4A, AESA 230002 and 4B, S220010 have been postponed by the applicant, so we will
not be taking action on either of those items today.
Should they come forward, that will be re-noticed to the public.
Next item is 4C, HL240002.
Cameron's here for presentation.
I'll go ahead and open the public hearing.
>> Thank you, Chair and Commission.
Cameron Robertson, Historic Preservation Officer.
There we go.
So, as stated, this is for a historic landmark designation of 1526 Willowwood Street.
It is located on the north side of Willowwood Street between Kendolph Drive and McCormick
Street.
The date is circa 1978.
I did want to state when it comes to a historic landmark designation, the property does not
have to be 50 years or older.
That is only in relation to a historic district and a conservation district.
So a little bit of the building's history, it was originally constructed for Mr. James
J. and Judith H. Feldman.
It is in that contemporary style.
The architects were based out of Houston, Texas, otherwise known as Anderson and Wilson.
The contractor was Neil J. Adams and it has had five owners since 1978.
So the request is for that historic landmark designation.
It's located within the Denia neighborhood on that R3 zoning.
It is a single-family residence on approximately 1.7 acres.
So just going to run you through some of the existing conditions of the structure itself.
This is that front south facade, as well as that rear north facade, as well as the east
facade and the west facade.
This is a survey of the property.
Staff's analysis was based off section 2.9.4(b) of the Denton Development Code.
In terms of the structure itself, it does meet the following criteria 1, 5, and 11,
which I'm going to go into more detail now.
So approval criteria 1.
So during the late 20th century, that live-work style was really starting to take off and
Houston was kind of the leader of that movement in Texas, really beginning in the 1950s.
Anderson Wilson architects were considered the true pioneers of that movement and are
featured prominently throughout the Houston area.
In 1526 Willowood Street, the Feldmans did hire Anderson Wilson to come up from Houston
and construct their home, really looking to embellish on that live-work style.
As part of this home, they had a artist studio or two artist studios constructed, one which
was specifically configured for a photographer's darkroom and the other a pottery studio.
Approval criteria 5.
So as I stated previously, it's that contemporary style.
To many people in Denton, this is kind of known as the birdhouse due to that front enclosed
atrium.
It does borrow some of that structural design from the international style which came forward
in the 1920s, but it is an asymmetrical structure with unordinated stucco surfaces and it's
really light on those kind of textures and it's very open.
Really for these kind of structures, the focus was in that interior and how the interior
functioned and how it also kind of integrated into the outdoor views and use.
As I say previously, they saw a design of this in Southern Living Magazine.
The owners of Feldman saw it in 1972, Southern Living Magazine, and they were infatuated
with it and so they hired Anderson Wilson architects to come up and expand on that residential
design and that courtyard which is a huge feature to the home is 20 foot, 25 foot high
by 60 foot wide and originally as part of the plans, it was supposed to have a swimming
pool so that's why it's a little bit elevated, but currently it is a garden.
They never ended up putting the pool in, but it is a garden and it does have box turtles
of which 33 were originally in there and now there are two remaining.
In approval criteria 11, there are a lot of personnel who have lived in the home and that
have great importance to the City of Denton and our larger Denton County community.
The first is the Feldman family.
They are the original owners and the builders.
They contributed greatly to the Jewish community in Denton as well as Denton County.
They were some of the founding members of congregation Kol Ami which is now located
in, why am I blinking?
It's located outside the City of Denton, but it had its roots in the University of North
Texas campus.
Dr. Gilda Garcia, she was the fourth owner of this property.
She contributed greatly to the University of North Texas.
She served as both the chief diversity officer as well as the vice president of the university
and then the current owners who are the fifth property owners, Jennifer Lane and Dr. James
Carr, they not only contributed greatly to University of North Texas, but also nationally
and internationally.
Jennifer Lane works for the University of North Texas College of Music.
They're also both recorded musicians and singers and teachers.
So staff's analysis consisted of looking at the 2019 historic preservation plan and the
Denton 2040 comprehensive plan of which it meets goal number one, policy 1.3, as well
as goal, community, character, dash two.
Historic outreach was done.
There was a newspaper website and property signed postings, mailed notices of 200 feet
to 19 residents and then 500 courtesy notices mailed out.
There were no responses in opposition, favor or neutral.
So staff is recommending approval of the request for the historic landmark designation of the
property at 1526 Willowwood as it does meet our Denton development code criteria for historic
landmark designation, as well as our Denton 2040 comprehensive plan and our 2019 historic
preservation plan.
The Historic Landmark Commission did recommend approval 50 and the next step is to go to
public hearing at city council on September 17th.
And I can stand for any questions and we also have the applicants as well if you have any
questions for them.
Thank you very much, Cameron.
Questions for Cameron?
Okay.
I don't have any cards in front of me, but is there anyone wishing to speak on this item?
Hi there, if you'll state your name, your time will begin.
Yes, my name is Charles Lee.
I'm against this.
This is not an indictment on property owners, personally themselves.
This is more of an indictment on the system itself because what it is, these politicians,
they're running up the tax bill so high that people can't afford their taxes and they're
looking for any loophole they can get to try to get out of taxes because you fail to state
that there is a tax benefit for the property owners and I really don't believe this is
any kind of historical significance.
People are just trying to find the best way to get out of paying property taxes and this
whole type of system is ripe for corruption because what it is, the people want to know
and the people that are well connected politically, they're going to apply for this type of benefit
so they can know how they can reduce their taxes and all this is going to do is shift
tax to tax burden to people who don't know this or who don't get this benefit and that's
going to raise their taxes up and it's going to create more of a division in our society
than it already is and like I said on repeat again, this is not a personal indictment on
the property owners.
I understand what they're trying to do, but what I'm doing is more of an indictment on
the system and just for that reason, what it is, politicians need to stop spending so
much of the community's money so the property taxes don't get so high, so we don't have
to resort to this type of system and this type of corruption.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else wishing to speak on this item?
Sure.
I'm here for any questions too, but I'll just mention that that is definitely not a motivation.
We already have the freeze being over 65.
Go ahead and say your name, Jennifer.
Jennifer Lane, 1526 Willowood Street.
What the gentleman just said is not a motivation because we already have the freeze at 65.
It won't affect our property taxes.
What it will do is protect the property and if there are any questions about that, I'm
happy to answer them.
Thank you.
Any questions for our property owner?
It will not lower our property taxes, just so you know.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else wishing to speak on this item?
Okay.
I am going to go ahead and close the public hearing and open the floor for discussion
or motion.
Commissioner Cole?
I move to approve.
Okay.
Commissioner Paduram?
I second.
Okay.
We've got a first and a second for approval discussion.
I just want to say, I am very happy that we have this in town.
This is an extremely special and beautiful property.
If you have not seen it, I have been lucky enough to see it.
It is with great pleasure to support the request before us.
Any other discussion?
Let's go ahead and vote, please.
That motion carries 4-0.
Next item of public hearing is 4-D, HL240003.
I will go ahead and open that public hearing, and here is Cameron for presentation.
Thank you, Chair.
Jumping right in, the address is 1900 Westridge Street.
It's north side of Westridge Street, just east of Highland Park Road.
The construction date is 1970.
Some of the building's history, it was originally constructed for Horace R. and Yulene W. Brock.
The architectural style, similar to the first one, was contemporary style.
The architects are Mount Miller Architects.
The contractor is Burt Moore, and it's had three owners since 1970.
Today's request is for the historic landmark designation.
Similar to the previous designation request, it is located in the Denia neighborhood, also
zoned R3.
It is a single-family residence on approximately 0.6 acres.
This is the front south facade of the structure, as well as that east facade.
Then we have the rear north and west facades of the structure.
This is the survey for the property.
Staff's analysis, similar to the first, did look at section 2.9.4(b), of which 1900 Westridge
Street meets the following criteria 4 and criteria 11, which I'll jump into now.
Approval criteria 4, the property was designed by Mount Miller Architects, which is pretty
much a very well-known architect group here in Denton, which stands for Tom P. Miller
and Isabelle Mount.
They served on many boards and civic organizations here in Denton, and they helped really honestly
design that built fabric of Denton.
Over 45 years, they were responsible for designing and remodeling close to 300 residents, public
and commercial buildings in Denton and in nearby towns.
Some of the former or current Mount Miller examples that you all know today is that former
Denton Firehouse Station number 4, which is near Kings Row, and then 531 North Elm Street
where Simona Massage or Therapist is located, but it was constructed by Burt Moore also.
You may have heard the name.
He was known for Dencrete, which he manufactured his own concrete masonry units, and there
are a bunch of different homes in Denton that also utilized his Dencrete for their construction.
Looking at approval criteria 11, Horace and Yulene Brock, the original owners, also similar
... Probably you've heard their name before.
They also had an important role in proving that social, economic, ethnic, and historical
heritage in the city of Denton and in Texas.
They also served on many boards and commissions, including non-profit organizations.
Yulene had a tenure with the city of Denton as a mayor, and she also helped found the
Denton Christian Women's Interracial Fellowship, and then Horace had a long career with the
University of North Texas.
He served as the UNT Department Chair, the Dean of College and Business Administration,
as well as the Director of Chief Executive's Roundtable.
Staff's analysis did look at the 2019 Historic Preservation Plan and the Denton 2040 Comprehensive
Plan, of which it is consistent.
In addition, public outreach was done for newspaper website signage, property signage,
as well as mail notices, we did receive two responses in favor of the designation, one
within the 200 foot and one within that 500 foot buffer.
Staff is recommending approval of the request for the designation located at 1900 West Ridge
Street, as it does meet the Denton 2040 Comprehensive Plan and that 2019 Historic Preservation Plan,
as well as our section 2.9.4(b) of the Denton Development Code.
The landmark commission also recommended approval 50, and the next public hearing is at City
Council on September 17th, and I can stand for any questions, and the applicant is here
as well if you have any questions.
Thank you.
Questions for Cameron?
Okay.
Thank you.
This is a public hearing.
I don't have any cards in front of me, but if you'd like to speak on this item, please
come up.
Hi.
How are you doing?
Yes, my name is Charles Lagan.
I just want to say, yeah, I'm against this proposal, too, for the same reasons I said
before, and I'm going to say it again, that was a flat out lie.
There is a tax benefit for this.
I heard it in the work session, you get 50%, it's attached onto the property, will necessarily
increase the value of the property, too, just because of that tax exemption, that will necessarily
go to the current owner, and if they sell the property, they'll receive that benefit.
So anybody who said that there's no benefit to the owner for this is a flat out lie.
And plus, if they will this to somebody in their family, they'll receive that benefit,
too, because it's attached to the property.
And in fact, there's no historical significance here, because so what, so the guy was a mayor
that owned the property, so what does that mean?
So every mayor in the town's property, whoever that lived there, is going to see a tax exemption
now.
Every council member, any other person, this just sounds like a bunch of aristocratic living
liberals that want to give themselves special benefits on the expense of everybody else
in the community.
To say anything different is just a flat out lie, and it really is.
It's absolutely ridiculous at this point.
This should be denied.
This is the type of corruption that's ruining this nation, and it needs to go away immediately.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else wishing to speak on this item?
I do not have any cards in front of me, but you are welcome to speak on this item if you
would like.
Okay.
I'll go ahead and close the public hearing and open the floor for a motion or discussion.
I will go ahead and move approval of this request, Commissioner Cole.
Second.
Okay.
We've got a first and a second for approval.
Any discussion?
I'll just say great presentation on both accounts, Cameron, showing us this historical significance,
why these properties should be protected.
To me, every Mount Miller in our town should be protected.
Just tremendous significant historical story for our city, for sure.
Any other discussion?
Okay.
Let's go ahead and vote, please.
That motion carries 4-0.
That will take us to our final public hearing this evening, and that is 4EDCA240010.
I will go ahead and open the public hearing.
Leigh Ann is here for presentation.
Good evening, Commission.
Leigh Atkinson, Housing Programs Coordinator with the Community Services Team, here today
to talk about the proposed amendment to the Debt and Development Code 212, Affordability
Incentives.
In summary, as stated, this is a proposal to update the Debt and Development Code to
include 212 affordability incentive procedures.
This amendment would introduce nine different development incentives, each of which offers
slight deviation from the standard DDC requirements.
Any residential development would have the option to utilize one or more of these incentives
in exchange for including affordability within the development.
Staff Rules of the Day is presented in alignment with a few different planning documents.
First and foremost, the Affordable Housing Strategic Toolkit, of which this is Activity
3B.
Additionally, it's aligned with City Council's priority to foster economic opportunity and
affordability, as well as Policy 3.2 in the Economic Development Strategic Plan and Policy
7.2 from the 2040 plan.
These are the nine incentives.
It would include a 20% deviation from minimum yard and setback requirements, maximum building
coverage, minimum allot width, depth and area, maximum building height, and minimum unit
size, as well as a 10-point reduction from the landscaping area point system, and a parking
reduction down to one spot per affordable dwelling unit.
In exchange, that residential development would be committed to setting aside some of
their homes for low-income households at rates affordable to that household.
That would start at three incentives or fewer were utilized.
That would kick in 20% of the units being held as affordable, broken down over three
different income categories, extremely low-income, very low-income, and low to moderate income.
The more incentives are used, that affordability scales up to a maximum of 65% of the homes
dedicated to affordability.
No matter how many incentives are used, the commitment would be to 30 years of affordability
in those homes.
To access these incentives, during the normal development process, a developer would submit
a request for affordability incentives.
Both development services and community services would review and approve or deny that request
based on the written standards.
That development would then go through the typical development review process with these
incentives being considered.
Prior to building permits being issued, both the developer and the city will sign an affordability
incentives program agreement committing both the city and the developer to those terms,
providing for standards in regards to monitoring, as well as providing for actions the city
may take if the terms are not honored.
It'll be the responsibility of the community services department to monitor that development
and ensure it's actually being leased or sold at affordable rates for the full 30 years.
This is an example of a real development in Denton.
This is the Sherman Crossing multifamily development, like every development of its type, it was
beholden to the landscaping area point system.
They chose to meet those requirements by selecting two different elements, each from section
A, B, and C respectively.
If they were to utilize the landscaping incentive, they could have removed their obligation to
do just two of those six elements.
For example, that could have been the parking island every 10 spaces or the size requirement
for the trees that were planted at time of planting.
This would have saved the development significant funds potentially.
In exchange, they would need to dedicate 20% of their homes as affordable, leasing to low
income households at rates affordable to them.
For this development, there were 294 total units, so 59 of those units would need to
be affordable.
The incentive package also applies to single family developments.
This is the Stella Hills development, scaled down to look at just one block specifically.
In this scenario, a lot width reduction could be used as an incentive.
The zoning underlaying here requires a 50 foot minimum lot width.
If they took a 10 foot reduction, those lots could be a minimum of 40 feet wide each.
We can see first illustrated here, those existing lots with those lot lines, as they are highlighted
in yellow, the potential 10 foot reductions, and that's 16 lots in total.
Then beside, a sort of revisioning of what that lot could look like in a 40 foot wide
lot scenario, where they could fit 20 lots on that same block.
This could significantly increase the number of homes that could be included in that overall
development if applied across the board.
In this scenario, 20% of those homes would need to be affordable.
This development, as it was finished, was 316 homes.
In this scenario, 63 homes would need to be sold to low income households at prices that
were affordable to them.
Staff did conduct public engagement regarding this amendment.
There was a town hall as well as an online feedback form open to both developers and
to residents.
The primary feedback that staff received from both residents and developers was an interest
in seeing stronger incentives that would increase developer buy in.
This is why, at the work session last time, the commission directed to start that process
at three incentives, prior to going increased affordability, as well as to standardize to
30 years of affordability across the board.
If this is approved over time, staff will continually evaluate the effectiveness of
the program, as well as evaluate whether there are additional opportunities to add further
incentives to the package.
As of today, there are three options.
The first is to recommend approval, in which case this item would proceed to public hearing
with City Council with a projected date of October 15th.
The second option is to recommend denial, and the third is to postpone the item.
That's all for me.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I believe we've got a question.
Commissioner Pruitt?
Thank you, Chair.
I want to go quick so that everybody in the room and online is aware.
Would this program involve the city making monetary payments to anyone, or is it purely
just relaxing the requirements that we normally put in, which make housing more expensive,
in order to make sure that we can get some units that are income restricted?
That's correct.
This would only be about requirements in the DDC.
There would be no monetary payments associated with this program.
Thank you.
Thank you, Commissioner Pruitt.
Anything else for Lyle?
Thank you very much.
This is a public hearing.
I do not have any cards in front of me at this time, but if there's anyone wishing to
speak, please do so.
Mr. Lee?
Yes, my name is Charles Lee, and I just want to say this is a very bad plan.
This is just nothing but socialism.
What we're trying to do is just increasing the burden on certain people, and trying to
give more people more of a free ride.
All it does is create more division in the community.
You're going to have a lot of people compete off, because they're going to have to pay
more for their houses, and other people are going to pay less, and then certain people
are going to have to pay more property taxes, because their houses are going up, and other
people are going to have to pay less, and then you have the certain upper class elite.
They come up with all these tax sleep loopholes, so they can get out from under, and they don't
have to pay anything.
But if they don't care, as long as they divide the community up, and they remain in power,
that's all they really care about, so they can keep control over the population, and
keep the people divided.
This is a very bad plan, and this is all this does, is just continue that same type of thinking,
and this is not good at all.
I'm against it, and I hope, wish people would actually come to realize what's really going
on here, and go back to actual American principles, and not all this international socialism stuff
they're trying to push.
Have a nice day.
Commissioner Perrett.
Charles, a question for you.
We've got a question for you this week.
Thank you for coming out and sharing your point of view.
Being that you're not in favor of this, would you be in favor of the opposite, which would
be increasing the requirements that we have on new housing, so that we make it more expensive
to build homes?
No, I'm saying that we need to really stop ... The more you spend on a government, nothing
is free.
People have to work for this money, and people have to pay for government.
We have to pay for everything, and people have to work for this money.
This is not monopoly money we're dealing with.
Middle class people, they're the people that pay the majority of the taxes in this country.
It's not the rich.
It's not the poor.
It's middle class working families.
Every time you spend this money, with these ideas we're going to give to this, and give
to that, and do this and that, you're putting a burden on people that don't receive anything
or any kind of benefit.
The middle class is shrinking in this country, and this is a real recipe for revolution.
We need to go back to conservative principles, where everything is baseline brass tax, where
we all live within our means.
Thank you.
This is a public hearing.
Someone else wishing to meet?
Yep.
If you'll state your name, your time will begin.
Hi.
My name is Amanda Conway.
I'm a resident of Denton, Texas.
I personally would love this plan.
I've been part of the input sessions, a renter.
Like many of those that were at some of the meetings, I'm not a developer, like a large-scale
developer or even a person who just buys up homes in my neighborhood.
I'm a renter, and I have a good landlord.
I plan to remain a renter, because that fits my personal situation.
I hope for other people to have that opportunity.
I personally would qualify for these low-income units, and I know that I'm college-educated,
that I work full-time, that I have a child, that I'm law-abiding, and I want an opportunity
to have a home that I can afford, that I can feel safe in.
I want my neighbors to also have that opportunity as well.
I think this plan's great.
Thank you.
I appreciate sharing your thoughts.
Anyone else wishing to speak on this item?
Hi.
Hello.
Yeah, I just wanted to speak- Will you state your name for us?
Christine Bray.
Thanks, Christine.
Thank you.
I just wanted to speak in support of this.
I got to attend the community involvement meeting.
I'm grateful that staff took our feedback.
I think if I could summarize the feedback from the meeting very briefly, it would be,
this is good.
Can we get a lot more of it?
It was encouraging to see that they took the suggestion of adding the number of incentives
that were available to you at each given affordability increment.
My only encouragement would be that we should evaluate this, see how many affordable units
it's actually creating, to see if this is actually getting response, to see if people
want to take this up.
If we're not happy with the amount of affordable units that this is producing, consider increasing
them in a year or two.
Thank you.
This is a public hearing.
Is there anyone else wishing to speak on this item?
Okay, seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing and open the floor for discussion
or motion.
Commissioner Pruitt.
Thank you, Chair.
Yeah, I'll be happy to move approval of this item.
I think we had a lot of good discussion in our work sessions about it.
I'm thankful for all the community involvement.
My hope is that this would be wildly successful, and I trust with our staff that if it is not
creating what we need to, that we would learn from the applications that come in, as well
as be active and acting on our own accord to go out and find what other restrictions
increase the cost of homes that would not pose an undue burden on our residents to make
sure that residents of Denton, from all ilks, can afford to put a roof over their heads.
Commissioner Cole.
I second.
Okay, we've got a first and a second for approval.
Is there any further discussion?
Okay.
I'll just say thank you for putting this together, for the time you've taken, community involvement
you've gotten coming before us a couple of times, so we could have good discussion.
It would be a great thing to have in our toolkit and be interested to see what it does to bring
that opportunity, needed opportunity, to our city.
I would hope that maybe with whatever timeframe makes sense that you would come before this
board and city council and give us an update and see how this tool is operating.
It would be great.
Okay.
Seeing no further discussion, let's go ahead and vote on the board, please.
That motion carries 4-0.
That will take us to our planning and zoning matrix, and I will turn it to Haley for that.
Good evening.
I did want to let you all know that we've updated the matrix that was in your packet
with the two items we discussed last meeting, so we are coordinating with parks to hopefully
get that master plan update to you all this fall.
With regard to city council updates, at the meeting on the 20th, we did have a few items
that were approved that had previously been before you all.
The charter school code amendments were approved, as well as the comprehensive plan amendment
and rezoning for the Dentex project that was located on the south side of All Red Road.
With that, we're happy to add anything else to the matrix that you all may wish to have
on there.
Anything to add to the matrix?
I don't know if this should be a matrix item or informational for us, but the item that
got postponed today is a multifamily SUP, so curious, I know we've brought it up before
of wondering how many multifamily projects we have in process and approved pending construction.
If we could maybe get an update on that, I think it would be helpful as we move forward
with that case, if it comes before us in any future, it would be great to get that update.
Certainly we can definitely find a way to get you all that data.
Is there a time frame for the past year or two years, what would you be most interested
in?
Well, really in process.
Things that are on the ground and functioning already, that's not really what I'm going
for.
It seems we've had a lot of requests over the last, I don't know, certainly year, maybe
two, of multifamily projects, whether an SUP or not, so I guess that's what I'm wanting
a number for.
I think that would be helpful for us as we continue to discuss these.
Okay, certainly.
Yeah, it may not be something we need to bring back as a work session, but we can shoot you
all a report or something of that nature to get you that data.
That would be lovely.
Thank you.
Anything else for the matrix?
Any concluding items?
Okay, with that I'll go ahead and adjourn us at 7.08 p.m.
Thank you very much.