Good afternoon, welcome to the planning and zoning work session at 5 or 6 p.m. this Wednesday.
Our first order of business is comments on the consent agenda from members of the public.
If there's anybody wishing to speak, not seeing anybody.
Our next item will be clarifications for the committee on the agenda, so any questions
on the consent agenda tonight?
I guess that is our agenda tonight, fairly short regular meeting.
Any questions?
Okay, I guess not.
That brings us to our work sessions.
The first one, I'm sorry I don't have the number, is it, I, sorry, PZ25-109 for the
live work overlay that you've been working on.
Good evening, Chair, members of the commission, Mia Hines, senior planner.
And this item, give me a second to get set up here.
This item, as stated in the caption, or the purpose of this evening's discussion is to
implement the live work overlay district action item of the southeastern area plan.
Specifically, I'm going to try to present what staff has been considering proposing
for this section of the overlay district with regard to the base zoning and land use permissions
and then conclude with some discussion to see if we've missed something, to see if the
body concurs with what staff is considering, and to make sure that we're balancing the
good planning with sort of what we heard from the community.
So towards that effort, what I have on this agenda for this presentation is a little recap
of the southeastern area plan.
For most of you, it might be a little introduction, just as a reminder though for others of the
overarching purpose of the discussion.
And then we will jump into some of the topics to make sure we all have the same sort of
background knowledge and understanding of what a live work unit is, as well as recapping
sort of what an overlay district is.
And then the meat of the presentation, I think, will be similar to what we see with zoning
cases where I'll talk through the summary of the subject area, as well as some of those
existing land use conditions and zoning conditions, what staff is considering, and then of course
we'll follow with that discussion with some specific questions.
So buckle up and let's get into it.
So as some of you may recall, the southeastern area plan was adopted last year, last July,
after about 18 months of analysis and local community engagement.
And the plan is a community-driven plan with six key goals listed there.
All goals come with a number of implementable action items, and in the near future staff
will bring forward a presentation sort of updating you on the progress of some of these
action items.
But for tonight's discussion, I want you all to keep in mind the sort of last three goals
that I have highlighted there, namely honoring the culture and heritage of southeastern by
reestablishing the historic business hub, investing in economic prosperity by removing
barriers for home-based businesses, and strengthening neighborhoods and housing affordability by
creating this, of course, live work overlay district that we're discussing this evening.
So what is a live work unit?
Well, per our DDC, it is defined here as a dwelling unit containing an integrated living
and working space in different areas of the unit.
In order to operate a live work dwelling unit per our code, we require the residential component
not exceed 50% of the total gross floor area, which means the non-residential component
must occupy 50% or more of the structure.
The residential component shall be located above or behind the non-residential portion.
Makes sense, sort of maintains that separation from the public realm versus the private realm.
Additionally, the residential dwelling unit must be a minimum of 400 square feet.
That's pretty standard as we see across living areas for the city of Denton.
And then finally, non-residential uses shall be owned and operated by a resident in a live
work dwelling unit, something that again could make sense, but what we'll see has been proven
to be a bit of a challenge to enforce.
So compared to what we typically see with live work land use permissions and requirements
of other communities, as well as just in general within the city, these standards aren't outlandish.
However, in practice and in terms of providing for the operations of this use to support
small business opportunities in this area and sort of activate that cohesive mix of
residential and non-residential land uses in the area, we have encountered some challenges,
like I said, that require some either significant investments from the non-residential operators
or make it just challenging for residential users to actually implement this.
So from the standpoint of protecting neighborhood residences, for example, just live work units
alone, the DDC doesn't specify which non-residential uses are appropriate for how to develop or
how to develop these uses when adjacent to residential uses.
So from the standpoint of alleviating barriers for small business owners, the use doesn't
allow for the opportunity to sort of utilize vacant structures for neighborhood scale commercial
non-residential businesses without also having that living component.
So given this information and then what we have with the overlay, how do we get to a
creative concept of live work that is that coexistence of the residential and non-residential
land uses to address some of these challenges within that same area?
A few months ago, Sean and Ashley, I believe, came before this body with an overlay or a
boot camp presentation of what an overlay district is.
I took this snippet just straight from their presentation.
So it may look familiar to some, but I think it explains perfectly what an overlay district
is.
Excuse me.
And essentially, it is an additional layer of regulations added to a base zoning district
intended to promote a specific public purpose.
I think one of the main districts that come to mind is that Denton Square district where
the underlying base zoning is that mixed use downtown zoning district that we have, that
MD zoning.
But there are some additional design standards that we place in order to have that similar
character across the square area.
Similarly, the question becomes with everything that we have with the Southeast Indian Area
Plan, how can we use this overlay tool and the concept of integrating residential and
commercial land uses to help the residents fulfill their vision of compatible neighborhood
scale commercial and opportunities within this area?
So the subject area itself, the Southeast Indian Area Plan calls out this area highlighted
in pink here as the overall overlay district area recommended.
Today's discussion will just be over East Prairie Street, that is Section A, or what
staff is considering as Section A of the overlay district.
And analyzing the existing zoning and land use development patterns and future land use
designations within this entire area, we ended up basically sort of subdividing this area
because of some similarities that these areas have.
So Section B, for example, is mostly undeveloped, that area shown there in orange, mostly vacant
undeveloped land with a future land use designation of moderate residential.
And Section C is mostly developed land with a future land use designation of low density
residential.
The item that we are discussing today, Section A, has a bit of a mix.
So it's mostly developed, has some undeveloped properties along the west.
But as far as the existing land use zoning, we'll get into here in a second, we see a
mix of R4 and R7, so mostly residential zoning, but there is a future land use designation
of neighborhood mixed use to the north of East Prairie there.
There's also a little bit of moderate residential as well as low density residential.
So because of these different characteristics, we decided that it might be best to analyze
these areas a bit differently because different land use permissions might be appropriate
for the various areas, depending on some of those underlying conditions.
Additionally, the context of East Prairie Street in general has changed over time.
I think as we look at the development of the area over time, we found that types of land
uses and the intensity of activity has varied, but we see a sort of similar development pattern
and mix of that coexistence of residential and non-residential uses along that same street.
In fact, as a part of the feedback that we received during the southeast end area plan,
residents recalled a business hub of small black-owned businesses and service provisions
within this area along East Prairie Street.
So part of the feedback is that they would like to see that area sort of reestablished
as that, again, that mix of commercial uses.
These images here give sort of a better idea of the existing context along East Prairie.
The image, I think, at the top or the both images at the top are or show that that sort
of industrial facility adjacent to this area.
The images at the bottom left show the single-family residences along East Prairie.
And then the image at the bottom right shows some existing non-residential building.
I believe this one specifically is a barbershop, a personal service establishment.
So you do see that, again, mix of commercial, vacant uses as well as single-family uses.
And then just adjacent to that, we have an industrial or two industrial facilities, one
north of East Prairie and then one west along on the other side of the train tracks.
So again, that mix exists there.
And the community wants to be able to take advantage of that and utilize it for additional
commercial opportunities.
So to make sure that we understand that we heard the vision correctly, staff stays in
the streets of Southeast Denton.
We truly believe that engagement has become the name of the game for the Southeast Denton
community.
In addition to the 18 months of community engagement we facilitated during the area
planning process, we have put a few additional surveys out and we hosted a block party to
get answers regarding some specific policy questions.
In January, we utilized a people-based economic development survey to understand what the community
needs as far as business assistance and financial management.
More directly related to the live work overlay, we launched a couple of surveys specifically
listing some of the land uses and asking community members to answer yes or no to the question
of is this use appropriate for this area or not?
I think the block party in March was well attended and is where we got the most feedback
and we heard a pretty decisive call for certain uses.
So what we heard and sort of using school grading systems, staff is focused on those
land uses that received a 70 percent vote or higher, yes, this is appropriate within
the Southeast Denton area.
So this means we're taking a hard look at some of the uses shown in green there on that
table to the left to see how we might allow some of these uses to be permitted within
this area and that is specifically or namely a passing score for sit-down restaurants,
small retail, personal service, daycare facilities, mobile food courts, business or trade schools,
professional offices, self-service laundry facilities, bank or financial institutions
and then medical office.
But we also had to know that maintaining the residential or we know that maintaining the
residential character is important for the Southeast Dent residents and we have to sort
of balance or curtail that information with those permissions with noting the typical
areas concerned that we hear from the community as well.
So in addition to those land uses that we heard, yes, the community is in support of
the land uses in green, we also know that some of the topics of concern that we've heard
from them are like parking, traffic, hours of operation, noise and lighting standards
and some of how that works for non-residential uses.
So what staff is actually proposing and considering for this is a base zoning or given all that
feedback and what we're proposing is a base zoning of R7 for this section of the live
work overlay.
We believe the base zoning would match in or align with the existing zoning in the area.
Again, I recopied the zoning map snippet there to show you that some of those properties
are R7 currently, some of them are R4 and then when you look at those non-residential
uses that the community called for and what the zoning district that those land uses are
currently permitted in, we find that half of those uses are either permitted in R7 or
allow for like SUP consideration in R7.
So changing the base zoning to R7 would of course permit those non-residential units
that the community called for.
Additionally, because R7 is still a residential zoning district, it ensures certain landscape
and land use and height compatibility buffers are still applicable to protect both the existing
residential uses within our subject area as well as those single-family residential uses
adjacent to our subject area.
So we have that R7 base zoning district and then why with changing the zoning from R7
why are we still including the overlay, some of the uses the community wants would be permitted
but why the overlay then?
I think changing the base zoning to R7, like I said, would permit those non-residential
uses but the overlay itself would be our creative link to allow additional land uses, flex on
some of those barriers that I mentioned earlier and then impose some additional development
standards to minimize adverse impacts on the residential uses that are around.
So I think the backup provided to you with today's packet included the standards that
we are considering for building size, hours of operation, noise, screening and parking
so I won't go into those in too much detail but just wanted to list them here to let you
know that those are some of the things that we are thinking about and see again if we've
missed anything in that.
So as for our discussion, I do have some specific questions for you but before we get into those
questions and Chair I'll open it up to I guess the best format that you'd like to work with
but before we get to those questions I do want to give you guys a sneak peek into what's
coming up.
Following this work session we will do some additional door knocking to the property owners
that live specifically within this area.
They were invited to our block party, our survey has launched online so they have had
access to provide us with feedback up until this point like everyone else but we kind
of want to tailor our approach specifically to ask questions to those property owners
about the rezoning of their property and additional development standards and things like that.
So we'll come back or we'll do that additional engagement.
We do plan to be at the Juneteenth Festival with some of this information as well as seeking
some feedback from the community and then as far as what will come before this body
there are some other overlay items that Julie will bring forward regarding the residential
and height overlay of Southeast Denton and then towards the effort of additional actions
that the Southeast Denton area plan called for we will host some workshops in the fall
also related to people-based economic development activity.
So back to our discussion though for tonight's topic.
Chair, I think we could go either one by one asking the questions and opening the floor
that way or I can have this slide up and sort of open the floor to anyone who wants to answer.
So you're looking for basically feedback on these four questions?
Okay, let's before we delve in super specifically on those four are there any just general questions
about information you've seen?
I know this is new to some members.
Welcome by the way to our new members Mary Ann McDuff and Commissioner, sorry Sherry
McDade.
So any general questions?
The history?
The Commissioner put it on. Mia to get the recommendation list that's presented how many
people were surveyed?
Quite a few I don't have those numbers exactly but I can get that back up to you.
I think yeah I can I'll have to get that number specifically to you.
We had how many attend the we had quite a few people attend the the block party I think
about 150 attended the block party and majority of those people did participate in the in
the survey.
Okay thank you.
Commissioner Dyer?
Kind of to piggyback um like what percentage of the community is that that is voiced their
feedback attended these informational meetings like are we seeing the majority of the community
is giving good response is it less than half?
It is less than half if I can answer that for sure.
I think we've we've had a challenge with the southeast end area plan and and getting feedback
from that community we've tried quite a few different things to reach out or some are
non-traditional planning meetings where we we actually try to go to the community like
I mentioned that we'll be at the Juneteenth Festival in Juneteenth being at those events
and popping up and things like that.
So I think we we tend to see a good mix of people um but I personally would like to have
much more involvement from from the southeast end area.
Residents and business owners there will they will some of them be really surprised when
they find out that this is changing or I mean are most people for this so that they can
get the services that they want?
Yeah the land or the from the people that we heard again these are the the percentage
of people who said yes these are the the land uses that they feel are appropriate for this
area so I don't I think that that what we're proposing is sort of in line with with what
we've heard.
Commissioner McDade.
Specifically with the property owners do you have an idea of how many property owners there
are and the feedback from specifically the property owners?
Not within the survey or from the survey results we will be able to get that and have that
more defined I'm hoping with the door knocking that we do coming up where again we're tailoring
specific questions for the property owners are hoping to speak to them on a one-on-one
basis and I do know within this section of the area there's 13 32 parcels half of which
are currently homeowners residences and then the other half are either undeveloped or commercial
sort of businesses or vacant property.
So and within this section of the overlay it'll be 17 residences about 32 different
parcels just within this section.
Commissioner McDuff.
Thank you so glad to be here great job just wondering how you've involved Councilwoman
Vicki Byrd.
She's been very involved throughout the process the course adoption of the area plan process
I think she was letting the community drive it for the most part and sort of stood as
the you know sounding board for us and things of that nature but yeah she's been very involved
in that in that process.
And also my second question is just as a suggestion I find it sometimes useful to go to MLK Center
and talk to all ages folks but also the American Legion Center.
Yes we have a complete list of like sort of all of the stops that we did on the area plan
tour and a few of most of those are we went to the MLK we set up at some of the after
school programs and attended some of their programs to talk to the people who attended
those programs and we found that those two places specifically were that and Fredmore
High School were the good locations for us.
Thank you.
I've just got a couple general questions before we go through these specific direction items
if you don't mind heard you mentioned parking in the context of an overlay and a live work
slash this this type of area I'm not sure if that captures or defines for me what the
concerns are right is it we're concerned about unmanaged street parking where people are
are parking in front of driveways is it we're concerned that they won't provide enough off
street parking that they're that will go one or two blocks away and use street parking
there is it that hey if you provide as much parking as the code requires and we want a
restaurant there we can only have two restaurants and that the rest of the land will have to
be turned into a parking with those parking minimums.
It's a very large just saying parking to me doesn't give me a vision for what we're going
for.
Can you help.
Yeah.
Drive that.
Yeah.
And to be fair a lot of the feedback that we heard is a mix of those it's the you know
I'm concerned about if we had additional businesses over here where are they going to park it's
I am potentially wanting to start a business but the lots over there are small I'm not
going to be able to meet the minimum parking so I think that would be one of the questions
that will specifically ask the property owners to kind of see have a better understanding
of what their what their thoughts are on on that but what we are proposing is is somewhere
between trying to allow for smaller lots to develop those info lots to develop without
parking being the hindering for that but also trying to make sure that some of those more
intense uses provide adequate parking so that people are parking in front of people's houses
and stuff like that because the street character of this area is still pretty much residential
and they just we want to be able to allow those sort of mixes to coexist.
Okay.
Thank you.
And then I guess a question in general with these different uses for instance we're calling
it a live work overlay but my what the DDC allows in R7 is that with an SUP you can have
small retail with no residential component on a lot for instance and so I'm trying to
understand in the the vision of the future overlay with R7 base allowances with those
be allowed with or without or only with or only without a residential component does
that make sense?
In this section the concept is to allow these non-residential land uses to sort of stand
alone without that residential component and that is specifically for this section of East
Prairie because of some of the challenges that we see with integrating them into same
structure as well as like I said the existing conditions and development pattern that we
see in that area it's more of a barrier I think to actually be able to implement the
live work use on that street if you have to have that residential component if that makes
sense.
Yeah it does.
If you could flip back to slide five just so I don't misspeak, it was like the second
or third one, next one, there you go.
So I saw the bullet here about building code and DDC requiring a lot of investment for
older structures, understand that.
Do we know where the language for the 2019 DDC for the live work definition came from
requiring less than 50 percent of a residential component because and I'll tell you just so
you know where I'm going with that is when I read the building code definitions under
IRC that created a special carve out and a way of making a building that's under the
residential code but has some commercial component to it still being able to be financed and
lended to and insured through traditional means right is the inverse of that and so
I've just always been confused why we chose that instead of the other right because if
anything it would seem like this would be more intensive because you could build a 3,000
square foot store with a 400 square foot apartment on back 50 percent right yeah yeah just so
if you have any information on that or history or anything I'm looking to our person who
was here we have that in our code I do not believe so I don't specifically recall anything
on that we can certainly research it and see if we can find out for you but of all the
topics that were heavily discussed during adoption of the code I don't recall that being
one of them maybe a carryover from 2000 it is it is a similar definition from the the
2002 code yeah oh okay I didn't realize it was carried over I thought that was a new
thing that was added because it was adopted into the building code so that's that's good
to know yeah okay okay now if you can thank you for doing that for my my behavior so now
any other questions before we go through these four specific things Commissioner Padron yeah
of the members of the community that you surveyed did any of them indicate that they wanted
to bring these businesses like themselves like they're interested in developing these
businesses or they were more interested in having these businesses established in the
area yeah so a lot of what we've actually learned with and analyzing the live work use
is that or is from a business that is trying a restaurant that is trying to locate within
the area they want to be able to sort of exist as that standalone restaurant I think the
community is called for it they have significant or mass significant support for it and we
found that they want to go into a building that's not currently being used as a as a
resident so it's more of a challenge to actually be able to do that and then I think this particular
building they have to do some significant like fire suppression investment and stuff
in their building that would just it would make that a challenge for them but we want
to see those vacant buildings be used and we know that there is someone that wants to
use them so I think like I said a lot of what we've learned through trying to implement
this have actually come from a user that that is ready to go on that one yeah commissioner
riggs yeah I will say that I think this is great so I think definitely okay thank you
yeah okay so I guess we can go through the the four specific questions here so the first
one is do we concur with them looking at this northern prairie street section the the overlay
section a in the backup first is there any concerns with that or or yes and happy to
have any comments I'm not seeing any so I think we're all happy with that somebody speaks
up second one is as far as the rezoning I believe the main rezoning would be the eastern
lots that front prairie street maybe r4 now and they would be moving to r7 is that correct
correct yeah okay most of those are r7 there is an r4 and then there is a corner of of
mn here that would be zoner seven okay any yeah commissioner dire well that negatively
affect any of the current homes or businesses I mean I mean are they grandfathered into
where they're at now but if something were to sell or a new business wants to come in
that's when the new zoning would take effect is that how we're seeing this so the zoning
would take it so it would follow a similar process we'd adopt a zoning this body would
recommend and then council would would approve the overlay district the zoning would take
into go into effect at that point the existing developments would be grandfathered in I will
say that with most of them being r4 I could go back to see what which ones would be considered
non-conforming but because r7 is actually a little bit more permissible than r4 and
requires smaller setbacks smaller dimensions and stuff like that I don't anticipate that
being the actual issue for so it's not going to be a negative for current homeowners or
current business owners there the only I think the only property that would potentially be
losing some land use permissions would be that mn property to the to the west but that
is the currently an undeveloped property yeah I guess my question was going to center on
that western parcel I don't want to put words in staff's mouth because I understand we'll
be coming back for the sub area B I also don't know what the map provisions going to look
for from a or look like from a floodplain perspective I think most of the properties
south of here have been in the floodplain that's main reason why they've been undeveloped
but we've poured 20 million dollars into PEC 4 since then so maybe that changes a lot so
my question I guess is with our existing requirement that uses take access through a property that's
also zoned for that same use and the fact that the parcel south of that most western
parcel is a fairly large for this area and then parcel would there be concerns that it
would kind of lock that into unused land instead of somebody who would want a you know something
that would fit you know it's not too far from rubber gloves etc yeah I think so there wouldn't
be a concern from says point of view because the future lay use designation in that area
is moderate residential so if there is anything of either an increased sort of residential
or moderate residential density proposal that should be permitted through our seven additionally
I think they would have let's see they should have access further south of here I need to
pull that from from this part into this parcel yeah I think there's technically separate
parcels now this top one versus this one yeah are these behind the those rectangular parcels
that front oh these star for yeah yes versus the mn trapezoid behind it right yes if I
remember my geometry right my mom's gonna hate me I think you are correct yeah the future
land use designation for the area is moderate residential and then we do as a part of our
door knocking of course need to have that that conversation with I believe it's the
same property owner that owns that mn property as well as those properties that are all for
a budding skinner so deeper conversations will need to be had about the potential the
future developments for that area understood yeah and I think the city actually owns a
couple of those lots as well the ones further south their floodplain okay floodplain lots
yeah just because I don't remember all the wonderful words on your question slide okay
so so thoughts or questions on giving direction to move forward with going between or moving
from a base zoning of r4 on about half of those properties up to r7 so it's consistent
I guess we just have a an afternoon of people nodding so yeah and and I I think that's that's
perfectly okay just let's stay sensitive as we have those door knocking conversations
to see what because it because it kind of is you know it's it's a freight rail corridor
but it's also within that now I'm not remembering the name of it there's a special district
arts and creative stuff district that incorporates part of this area nobody's helping me out
I'm sorry it was applied for probably right at the beginning of COVID something like that
a Denton downtown Denton district I don't know it I'll look into it it was it was mostly
a thing that we applied for in order to be able to get grant funding but it specifically
focused funding opportunities toward specific artistic and and those sorts of endeavors
and so because of that I'm just trying to imagine what we might want the that corridor
with the freight rail to to become right I'll look into that a little bit more okay and
then I've noted the the MN property looking second I guess number three do we concur with
the proposed operational restrictions so you mentioned those a little bit I think they
were in the AIS yes so it was primarily some hours of operation right yeah and and some
noise level things those were the two that looked most different from what we typically
what we typically see yeah is that a Ferris summary yes yes and those are specifically
again some of the concerns that we typically hear with sort of non-residential being adjacent
to residential are those those items so we're trying to make sure that we are addressing
those for that sort of peaceful coexistence if that makes sense any thoughts or concerns
about those I think just to make sure everybody understands the the hours of operation for
the non-residential uses were proposed Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday
to Sunday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. so okay Commissioner McDade what are the hours for the park the
Fredmore Park down there is it 10 o'clock is the time closing 10 o'clock yes that sounds
that sounds about right okay yes Commissioner McDowell I called you by your first name sorry
chair I'm still learning that the thing that I remember most about working with this neighborhood
of southeast it is the noise concerns so I'm glad to see those specified but we're talking
about businesses and the trying and all other activities so I'm glad to see this delineated
yeah we approach that wanting to be fair understanding that there are some industrial loud and louder
industrial uses as well as a train use in that area but trying to sort of minimize all
of that in general for the sake of the residences and you know music studios and rubber gloves
all of that too I understand so thank you for bringing that up sure any other thoughts
from this one otherwise I'm assuming that we're all in favor okay sounds good and then
last do we believe there are any items that have not been addressed consistent with the
southeast and an area plan recommendations as it relates to the the new live work overlay
district any thoughts hopes dreams Commissioner McDuff yes thank you for calling on me again
I just and this may not be relevant here but the health and safety piece too can you address
that and this might affect the safety issues from a like lighting or what do you what do
you mean yes regarding lighting is a good one to start any other specific topics that
come to mind regarding health and safety well that's my main one I think and not to dwell
on this but safety issues a police president presence perhaps if we're in there later on
in the till 10 o'clock anything else Commissioner McDate the neighborhood association they're
setting up is it still setting up southeast in there are they still active we actually
took our live work survey to them first back in there I believe it was there February yes
their February meeting so we try to meet or attend their regular meetings pretty regularly
and just give any updates and seek any feedback if we're looking for stuff like that yes they're
very involved okay so I think continuing neighborhood meetings and getting their feedback even if
all this passes and approve that there be continue to be meetings with the neighborhood
to see how things are going yes ma'am Commissioner Dyer so when you go to these meetings do you
bring in other people from the city such as your economic development person people with
like you know fair housing organizations like the chamber of commerce so that way because
I noticed on one of the things you initially talked about was having the residents be the
owners of these businesses that that was a component to all of this so making sure that
the community is able to truly live and work and own and you know be a part of that community
where we're helping those become the business owners and become the homeowners especially
if they're you know first time business owners or first time homeowners that they're finding
out the resources that they can tap into to make those things happen are you guys doing
that at these meetings so we partially so that that people based economic development
survey that I mentioned we ran that through the southeastern neighborhood association as
well as had an activity for that at the block party that sort of provided us with some feedback
that we're actually launching with our community services department the workshops that we
have plan in the fall that'll that'll that's a part of that and then Stoke we also offer
we also have a implementation or action goal that would provide some financial assistance
for people who are small business owners to be able to utilize the space that Stoke is
a co-working space with with actually in the bounds of the southeast area plan that we're
trying to sort of encourage southeast end residents and small business owners to utilize
that space for their small businesses and support for that and I have Keisha our assistant
planning director to provide a little bit more information on that yeah so what hi I'm
Keisha seriano assistant planning director so we also last fall did some workshops in
the community it was geared towards southeast I don't think we had many come but it was
for small business one-on-one Stoke has financial assistance to provide opportunities for people
to come and get space there and also mentoring and coaching so we just finished the flyer
for that and we'll be getting that out in community we've already had some conversations
we have an integral form on online and so that'll be opportunity that is what you just
asked that is one of our concerns we've been trying to work on with community services
and economic development to make sure on the community during the planning process they
want these things to happen and we want to make sure we're providing opportunities for
them to be able to partake in these economic efforts that we're trying to put together
the people-based economics in the fall it was really really high on small business financial
this financial management we found out that is a key component even learning how to manage
your finances so even getting back to the basics so part of those classes in the fall
will even be that just financial management in addition to homebuyer education as well
thank you also I don't want to take all the credit for it but our community service or
our code enforcement team and some of our police officers they do just independently
of planning attend the southeast end neighborhood meetings every once in a while to provide
updates and make sure that that they're connected to that community as well just a couple points
I have on this last one of other items either in this area or the future two areas just
as we look forward the I kind of mentioned that you know if there's a draft clomer or
some sort of floodplain activity that's going on I think that would help inform especially
area B and C the as you're drafting the conditional requirements the plus plus let's think through
sort of what the street frontage is intended to be the thing I'm thinking in particular
is that in the MN district we require parking to be in the rear of a property I don't believe
we actually require that in our seven if it's a commercial use and and I don't think these
neighbors really want an old house to get torn down and the front 150 feet of the lot
to be a parking lot and and yeah just in general I think I would appreciate some more information
maybe looking into that live work definition you mentioned that there had been difficulties
using that classification in applications I think if we aligned the zoning code with
the building code with the lending documents maybe it'd be easier to do you know maybe
it doesn't affect this particular outlined area but there are some parcels nearby here
that are r7 already that might be able to to take advantage of that as we have our discussions
with the community too so any other thoughts commissioner mckay is this r7 overlay working
somewhere else in the city already working this would actually be the first time that
we've done something similar or similar to this wouldn't be the first overlay but this
would be the first sort of I think overlay with the the effort of trying to have that
mix of the live work component and I think there are I think r7 does exist as a base
zoning and some of the other overlays but this would be the first of a live work type
of overlay I'm sorry one more is it anything similar to the fry street area similar as
far as it has design standards it has development additional development standards that would
be fitting but overlays are supposed to be sort of unique to the area and the special
goals and vision for that that area so we are sort of using the the format of an overlay
that we've used across the city and has worked across the city for this area but I think
the components specifically for this one will be will be somewhat unique that something
that we haven't seen within the city before thank you I just want to reiterate Commissioner
McDade from previous question of just that continued community engagement which I know
that you mentioned at the very beginning and then also the first point says only as a first
step as well so I do appreciate the continued engagement with the community I do think that
sometimes it takes multiple efforts before you can build a relationship and build trust
so I appreciate that and then additionally what Commissioner Dyer said as well about
you know developing of the community as the individuals and not just the infrastructure
that's there so I'm really appreciative of that but I'm gonna ask you if you can go to
your slide that listed out the goals I know you said it very early there can you walk
me through what the definition is for the city for the honor the culture and heritage
what that looks like so that goal has a few different action items including I think one
is creating a sort of cultural district that one's probably going to take I think the most
hands-on feedback and work from the community it'll take a lot of sort of personal stories
and things of that have happened within that area but speaking to how that or how our the
information that we're gathering for the live work overlay sort of feeds into that goal
is specifically related to that historic business hub along East Prairie Street that the community
remembers and would like to see reestablished there so it's not trying to draw that the
specific action that we have just listed under one goal which is goal six actually helps
us achieve several of these goals within the southeastern overlay thank you so commissioner
Dyer I want to piggyback on that so when you talk about you know that's a great question
about how what that actually looks like for the culture and heritage I know there's different
like commissions and committees within the city and I believe there's one historical
one correct yes would they be involved in something like this was with working with
the residents of this area to make sure that that's that's happening I think to a degree
we are lucky to have our historic landmark or historic preservation officer here if she
wants to add but I think to a degree if they to a degree I won't make it I won't put you
on the spot but to a degree yes they they could and should be involved in that process
a little bit as far as providing some some feedback from a historic point of view to
me it almost sounds like in achieving all those six goals and everything as you've walked
through all this there's going to be a very like group effort from lots of different departments
within the city different commissions and organizing you know and community organizations
to kind of come together and help you know lift this area up and you know do all you
know do this overlay and get these businesses and residential areas in there absolutely
yeah and if you're bored the southeast area plan matrix includes under each action and
has a list of sort of outs either outside or internal organizations and boards that
we would be working with to help us implement each of those actions and I think some of
those is that that speak to the cultural heritage part is they're pretty comprehensive it's
not just definitely not just just planning absolutely only other thing I thought about
was and thank you for bringing us back to this goal slide I think it's it's really
crucial that we keep focused on the main thing when we talk about the culture and the heritage
of this area and and the older historical photos and the things that you talk about
it sounds like that the main thrust is to provide opportunities for businesses that
are just getting started to kind of start having a physical place and grow from there
is that a fair yeah okay absolutely I don't know the legality or specifics of how this
would work but I will offer one suggestion that maybe if that's the goal that overlay
could either set like maximum lot sizes or building scales or something because one future
that I think would not necessarily honor that culture and heritage as we go through this
effort to do the rezoning and apply the overlay and then one investor buys up all the lots
and and creates one basically neighborhood strip mall right and I think that fine-grained
kind of oh this is the barbershop this is the etc. is more what what the community is
after so that's a good point all right thank you very much we're excited I think and we
did the next step slide and yes that concludes my presentation thank you all thank you that
will bring us to our second work session of the evening which is PZ 25 - 1 1 3 the discussion
regarding plotting and and 100% of our agenda tonight is on plotting so this is very applicable
good evening Aaron Stanley assistant planner so as we go through these boot camp presentations
and for the newer commission members we we often do these boot camp presentations just
to highlight certain topics that could be relevant to the board so this one tonight
will be over plotting before we get started I'll go over a quick agenda so first we will
cover some background what is a plot parts of a plot why they even matter then we will
get into the types of plots that we see in Denton some relevant state law and plot review
considerations so the first question here is what is a plot a plot is a map that's prepared
by a surveyor in Texas that identifies the boundary of a specific tract of land it looks
very similar to a survey and it's created with a survey but it has some important differences
the plot is a formal instrument of dedication of public land rights and restrictions and
upon approval by the city and execution by the owner so once the owner has signed it
it is filed with the county clerk for public record so this is the official document versus
the survey is just something that a private person would have it's not necessarily a formal
public record document why are plots important so plot state back to earliest earliest civilizations
in the US the law of the indies in 1573 was direction from the Spanish King on how to
essentially colonize the lands abroad so that laid out a lot of regulations on how you would
divide up the land and give out the land and it's evolved over time you see in this Texas
land grants from 1834 sort of an evolution of plots and drawing up land land documents
and it's evolved to what we see today it plots give an accurate description of boundaries
and ownership with a graphic illustration they show vital features on the property such
as natural landmarks the boundaries any easements that are public or private they show land
rights dedicated for public use such as a park or a utility easement a drainage easement
access easements and they also provide a written description of meets and bounds based on natural
landmarks or man-made placed stakes monuments iron rods so that you have that exact boundary
of the property so this is an example of a plot and we'll go through some of the parts
we have a vicinity map that shows where in the city it is plot notes that would highlight
maintenance where you water and sewer would be would come from different notes their approval
block that the city would sign we have a map legend and then be in the middle we have the
plot illustration that shows the outline of the property boundaries any lot lines there
could be one just just one lot or there could be several right-of-way dedication easements
labeling all the lots and blocks and dimensioning all of the property lines we have our legal
meets and bounds description so the written version of what you see and the certification
and dedication statement that the surveyor and the owners would sign and we have our
title block with subdivision name size of the tract abstract survey and jurisdiction
so why would someone plat there's a few reasons so to subdivide the land identify and define
lot boundaries dedicate public land rights you could adjust or abandon a public easement
building line or lot line if it's an existing plot create illegal lot of record to file
obtain a building permit so many types of development would just require that it is
plotted so you may need to plot for that purpose or to sell transfer or lease property and
just to ensure compliance with the debt and development code and all other regulations
that you have a developable lot often it's a combination of all of these so it's not
just a single reason so what else requires plats so there is a state regulation that
a plot is required from the owner who divides the tract of land in two or more parts two
or more pieces to lay out a subdivision create lots or to get dedicate any property for public
use the state code the Texas local government code also states that a municipality may adopt
their own rules governing plots and subdivisions which the debt and development code does for
public safety and welfare so in the debt and development code we do call out that prior
to subdivision re subdivision or development of land within the city of Denton limits or
the E.T.J. one which you see here E.T.J. one is in blue plotting is required there are
limited exceptions to when plots are required if you subdivide a parcel that results in
an area greater than five acres and it's not intended to be developed maybe just to be
sold off or you're just waiting for the future that does not have to be plotted any lot of
record that was established prior to January 1st of 1960 is also exempt so if you're building
on on a property that already had those lot lines before 1960 you don't have to go through
the formal planning minor additions or expansions construction of accessory fence extra accessory
structures or fences would be exempt separate instrument dedications of easements or right
of way cemeteries division of land by order of the court change of ownership through inheritance
or probate of an estate single family construction in the E.T.J. and agricultural uses are also
exempt so to get into some types of plots that we see preliminary plots are optional
within city limits and prohibited in the E.T.J. because they're optional we don't see as many
of them this is submitted for the purpose of preliminary review it's not filed with
the Denton county it is still approved by this body but it is sort of it it's preliminary
so it it has a lot of the same things that a final plot would have but it's not they're
not quite there we more so see them for sites that are large have multiple phases and to
ensure that they have adequate access infrastructure that the water is going to get to the right
places at the right time if it is a phase development over many years a lot of that
criteria is the same that we see for final plots but it is more preliminary the final
plot is the one that this body sees the most often so that delineates the exact boundaries
of the property and the very detailed plot once it is approved by this body then it is
forwarded on to be filed at the Denton county clerk's office and that criteria is basically
that it conforms with if there is a preliminary plot that it would meet those substantially
meet all requirements of the DDC if they do not meet something they would need that variance
and apply it complies with all technical standards and specifications adopted by the city next
we have final replat so of replat would be for a property that is already plotted but
maybe they are combining some of the parts some of the lots or further subdividing the
property replats must meet the same standards as a final plot however because you're changing
some things redrawing lot lines which could often realign utilities realign access there's
some special considerations such as making sure that it doesn't affect any recorded easement
without the approval of that easement holder or limit the city's ability to provide adequate
access or sufficient utilities doesn't cut off any easements and that also is reviewed
by staff and then forwarded to this body for approval or denial and filed with the county
clerk's office we also see a residential replat type so this is a special type of replat if
there are state standards that do designate this as well so if a property was zoned or
deed restricted to residential development of no more than two residential units per
lot in the preceding five years they can still be replatted but it has a few more steps so
both the development code and state law require that if a variance is needed for the replat
then a public hearing is also required so prior to the plot coming for this body we
would have to notice for a public hearing and have that public hearing before approval
after whether it whether they have a variance or not after approval of any residential replat
the city must provide written notice to the surrounding property owners otherwise it's
the same as a replat same approval criteria and they would be also forwarded on to be
recorded with the county we do have some administratively approved plot types a minor
plot creates four or fewer lots if it fronts existing streets and no extension of utilities
is required then that can be administratively approved we also have amending plots so if
it's just there are state standards setting out what criteria this would meet but if they're
just adjusting a lot line that doesn't affect anything else on the plot correcting an error
those can be also administratively approved and then we have conveyance plots that would
just be if your sole purpose is to sell the property you're not looking to dedicate extra
things or develop get utilities really then you can have a conveyance plot these are staff
approved but if we are recommending that denial that is the case that it would come before
this body and then we have a couple of other types of plots that are very rarely used these
are treated a bit more like a site plan we don't see them often but when no other preliminary
plot or final plot is required but the project does have still a need to show sort of a layout
of what is on their property commonly seen with gas wells if it's larger than the whole
lot necessarily then they will have a development plot these are not formally recorded with
denton county so if you're going through one of the things that does require a plot you
still will need a finer final plot or a minor plot but this is just kept on hand for staff
to review so approval criteria the state does set out some approval criteria we have very
limited jurisdiction on denying plots if a plot conforms to the general plan for the
municipality for all streets if they dedicated the proper amount of right of way and they
met all of the the zoning district dimensional standards and any other rules that the city
has has adopted the city has no discretion and must approve approve the plot if any of
this for this criteria is not met then that is the case that we could deny.
To go over a few recent bills that would be relevant to this body so the shot clock is
very commonly referenced when we talk about plots in twenty nineteen this was passed so
prior to twenty nineteen we still had a thirty day rule and we still had to provide comments
to applicants within thirty days of receiving a plot but after september first of twenty
nineteen we have to act on a plot within thirty days so this means approve or deny or get
an extension have them withdraw something formal so subsequent changes included transitioning
to a very strict submittal schedule with dates to make sure that once they submitted there
is a PNC date within thirty days to make sure we don't go beyond this eliminated concurrent
submittals for plot related applications reduced the review time just to make sure that we
can get a plot on the agenda or prepare all the agenda materials and have time to send
out comments and get it ready and provide code citations so that if we are recommending
denial do we have specific reasons in the code that we can site and with the first shot
clock bill in twenty nineteen applicants could request a one time extension up to thirty
days after that few years later in september of twenty twenty three we had house bill thirty
six ninety nine so this changed a few things from the original shot clock bill the thirty
day approval window started on the day a complete submittal was made to the city city can also
not condition plot approval on completion of any study or similar requirement multiple
thirty day extensions could also be requested and that the governing body or municipal planning
commission may delegate staff the ability to approve approve with conditions or deny
a plot and this last one is not something the city and has adopted so we still bring
to planning and zoning commission those final plots if we're recommending denial but that
is something that could be used in the future and so subsequent changes to house bill thirty
six ninety nine included that we can't request those studies for tree preservation plans
downstream assessments traffic impact analysis yes a field assessments with the plot so what
that means is we still review all those things they would most likely just come earlier in
the process which is better we would review them with the site plan so with that zoning
compliance plan or specific use permit before they get to the plot level plot stage and
you now see multiple thirty day extensions requested for many plots what some of these
look like so whenever we bring plots before this body and our staff reports you often
see some comments for things like minimize adverse environmental impacts this approval
criteria would not always be applicable to plots now since we can't request those studies
with the plot and those are still reviewed but not with the plot you see also comments
for second extension third will note those in our presentations and our backup materials
and then just to summarize so the plot review considerations we have all of those criteria
for approval for each plot types most of the time when we're bringing plots before this
body we are recommending approval if we can when there are deficiencies the most common
ones we see are not providing sufficient information based on the checklist which is adopted that
Denton development code gives authority to adopt the check checklist so these are things
like just not providing enough information not labeling enough not providing those easement
citations dedicating sufficient right of way or providing sufficient plot notes so who
will maintain this easement who will maintain this open space lot or it does not meet the
minimum requirements for subdivisions in the Denton development code so meeting those minimum
lot dimensions flag lot maximum length those would be some of the reasons for recommending
denial and then this presentation will be shared so these are some helpful links that
you could utilize and that staff utilizes when we review plots and that is my presentation
so I will stand for any questions the rousing subject of plotting anybody have any questions
I have one just so that we're all aware it's my understanding that at least one form of
the plot I'm not sure whether it's a just a final plot or whether it can also apply
to a preliminary plot vests development rights by whatever code is enforced upon the acceptance
of the plot for a certain period of time is that correct and if so is which which version
of a plot does that Haley seems like she wants to answer so I'll take that one over hands
so state statute it's chapter 245 of the local government code if you get bored and want
to give it a quick read establishes that vesting is established for a project at the point
where they've applied for their first application in a series of applications that is required
for completion so most often in the city of Denton that's going to be the zoning compliance
plan or the preliminary plot but you have it state statutes complicated but there there's
a whole list of things that projects are allowed to vest and within the code such as zoning
standards tree and landscape requirements things of that nature but that starts at the
time they've applied for that first application in the series that it would take to get from
like the concept or the napkin drawing to a building permit okay thank you I don't see
any questions but thank you this is very thorough very important that we you know review the
items on our agenda because there there are ever once in a while once in a blue moon somebody
finds a typo or something so whenever you see something like that please just give give
staff an email and they're usually very good at working with the applicant to get those
things resolved even before the meeting without having to delay it any so all right thank
you I think that's the the last item on our work session today so we will go in recess
before our our regular session at 630 we'll be back in council chambers thank you good
evening at 6 36 p.m. on May 28th 2025 we will reconvene for our regular meeting with of
the planning and zoning Commission the city of Denton Texas our first order of business
is pledge allegiance to the US and Texas flag
our next item is item 2 a BZ 25008 consider approval of the April 23rd planning and zoning
meeting minutes do I have a motion Commissioner Padrone move to approve any second yes a second
from Commissioner Riggs and I'll just call out and we'll go down the line to vote so
Commissioner McDuff Commissioner Riggs approved Commissioner McDade I will be yes approved
Commissioner Padrone approved and Commissioner Dyer approved thank you so that that passes
five zero with one abstention that brings us to our consent agenda item 3 a FP 25 0016
for a final plot for the landmark or amenity center it is recommended approval any questions
or a motion Commissioner Riggs I'll make a motion to approve any second I will second
thank you Commissioner Dyer and we'll go down the line as well Commissioner McDuff approved
Commissioner Riggs approved Commissioner McDade approved Commissioner Padrone approved Commissioner
Dyer approved and I will be an aye as well that item passes six zero that brings us to
our planning and zoning Commission project matrix any updates from staff yes you should
notice some of the longer standing items on your matrix we have assigned tentative dates
for when we'll bring work sessions forward on a handful of those later this summer early
fall with respect to action that council has taken on items that came before this board
we did have two meetings in May so a handful of items sought or saw final action at council
the rezoning at Teasley in Hunters Creek for the fire station was approved by council similarly
the rezoning of our art R7 on Parker's page for the property that was trying to address
some non-conformities was also approved as well as finally our commercial animal services
code amendments that came before this body a couple of times did get approved by council
as well and those are the only updates I have thank you any anything to add to the matrix
or questions commissioner Dyer do we have an update on the 195 project yes that will
be going to council next week for consideration do they still have to have a super majority
to pass that correct on two accounts because of this body's recommendation as well as the
percent opposition from the neighboring properties okay any other requests for the matrix or
anything seeing none that brings us to concluding items any concluding items thank you chair
I would just like to welcome our summer legal intern Sam Markram he's been an awesome contribution
to the department already and so I just wanted to shout him out and say thank you and welcome
thank you we'll do our best to make you have a good experience and and with that welcome
I'd also like to welcome Commissioner McDade and Commissioner McDuff thank you for joining
us I think we're eager to to be mostly fully staffed again so that we can make some progress
little by little and then eventually you see see a lot of changes and for the positive
so one thing I have is there is a runoff election in district three because of the nobody achieved
over 50 percent of the votes in the first May election day so that election day is June
seventh and early voting continues is ongoing now through next Tuesday so please participate
if you're in district three and if you're seeing this you're probably engaged enough
to know if you are any other concluding items seeing none we will adjourn this meeting at
six forty one p.m. thank you