Oct 19, 2020 Development Code Review Committee on 2020-10-19 11:00 AM

All right, welcome everyone. We do have a quorum present, so I call this meeting of the Denton Code Review Committee to order at 1110 on October 19, 2020. I'm going to go ahead and because there's one presentation for all these items, I'm going to open all the items so that we can kind of interconnect between them. Item A is introduction of the Development Code Review Committee and key staff members. Item B, receive a report, hold a discussion on the objective of the Development Code Review Committee. Item C, receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction regarding future Development Code Review Committee meeting schedule and item D, receive a report and hold an overview discussion of proposed code amendments. Ron, it's all yours. Thank you, Chair. I'm going to start the presentation and once I have it up, Scott will go ahead and start the introduction. So give me a second here. Okay, I'm turning it over back to Scott. Good morning. I'm Scott McDonnell. I'm the Director of Development Services. Glad to be here this morning. Today we're beginning the process to review amendments to the 2019 Denton Development Code. In the process of doing this, we're going to utilize the Development Code Review Committee, which is made up of three of our council members and three of our P&Z commissioners. John Ryan is the Chair, Keely Briggs, Vice Chair, Chris Watts, and Andrew Rozell from the Planning Zoning Commission, Margie Ellis, and I'd like to welcome Mr. Tim Smith. He is new to the committee. All of the previous members served when we went through the process of going from the 2002 to the 2019. Our goal in this is really just as we've used this for over a year now, we've got a good flavor for what's working, what's not. We've got some non-conformities. Ron will kind of take us through that. I'd also like to mention we have several staff members on the call, some of those being our Planning Director, Richard Canone. Ron, as you'll be introducing himself shortly, we have our City Engineer, Becky Davini, Ken Schmidt, and I don't know if you can see these faces, but certainly if you can, you can wave, and Ken Schmidt is our Development Facilitation Manager. All of these folks have been working through and using the code. Our City Attorney is also on the call, Erin Leal, Cynthia Kirchhoff. And then I'd like to introduce, we have two new staff members who are working on staff's behalf. Planning staff as well as legal staff need a little bit of augmentation as we go through this. We have worked through with Borges Law Firm, and we have Robin and Christian, which I'm going to allow them to introduce theirself to just help us with best practices as we review what we have, where we're going, and what some other municipalities are doing. And if you don't mind, I'd like to start with Robin. Hey, my name's Robin Miga. I've been a planner for about six years. Most of that time was spent on staff with the city. Most recently, I did join the Borges Law Firm, where I serve as a planner, and I've been doing this for about two years. I've worked with some of the fastest growing cities in Texas, so I have a lot of experience with trying to figure out how we're maneuvering through new UDCs and best practices. Christian? Good morning. My name's Christian Rosas. I'm one of the attorneys here at the Borges Law Firm. I've been practicing municipal law for about seven years. I work at the Office of the Attorney General, and also as an Assistant City Attorney with the City of Laredo. At the Borges Law Firm, we've helped a lot of municipalities like Battlestrop and Dripping Springs review and revamp their development code, so I'm excited to be part of the team. Thank you both. Thank you both for being here. While we've got the faces up, I think I may just run back through the introduction so people know names with faces. And I'd also like to mention Sarah Hensley, our Deputy City Manager, is also on the call and ultimately responsible for the work that we do in development services. So thank you, Sarah, for joining us. Again, the Chair is Mr. John Ryan, Berkele Briggs, Mayor Chris Watts, Andrew Rosell, Commissioner Marge Ellis, and Commissioner Tim Smith. Anyone else that'd like to say anything else? If not, I'll let Ron take over and run through, or I guess I have maybe one more slide, I'm sorry. I'm pulling it up for you, Scott. Thank you. Okay, so the objective of the Development Code Review Committee, DCRC, is that we're looking to get counsel in planning and zoning commission direction on what we need to take to the full bodies in order to amend the code. So we work through this, staff, professional staff bring forth recommendations, reviews other municipalities, looking at some of the legislative changes that have occurred, and we'll provide options as well as making recommendations for the committee to work through. Once the committee completes their work, they'll be making recommendation to again, planning and zoning commission and city council for their ultimate discussion and consideration approval. We're going to have these meetings just to continue to get that direction and to make sure our direction is as current as possible. Knowing that it's been a year of utilizing the code, our planning and zoning as well as councils had an opportunity to work through it. They've heard from the development community and our citizens and just an ideal time for us to make sure that we're updating and we're as current as we can be. So with that, I will turn this over to Mr. Ron Mangida. This is a fairly informal process. I want to make sure that any of the DCRC members, if they have questions or comments, can either raise their hand or feel free to speak up. I want to continue to try to keep this as fluid as possible. We have a lot of material to cover in a short period of time and have all the hopes to get it done. So thank you and Ron, take over, sir. Thank you, Scott. As Scott mentioned, we do have a lot to cover in a short amount of time and we really want to get started. We're excited to get started. But before we do, we wanted to have this organizational meeting with the DCRC to get input as far as when our meetings are to be scheduled. As you all know, as part of this effort, our meetings will be virtual. It will be recorded and it's actually being displayed on our website as we speak. Folks will be able to, if they wanted to come back and watch the DCRC meetings similar to any other published or recorded meeting, they can. They'll have the availability to do that. So again, these meetings will be virtual and recorded moving forward until decided otherwise. So the first question to the DCRC, and I'm going to ask Chair Ryan to help with this, is weekly meetings. I know that in the past we've had weekly meetings and I think it's beneficial if we start with weekly meetings and that may change. But how does everyone feel about weekly meetings? Again, because we want to cover a lot of stuff, we feel that we need weekly meetings. So I'm going to turn it back to Chair Ryan and kind of get a consensus on weekly meetings. Any comments? Council Member Briggs? I'm fine with the weekly meetings. Anyone else? I guess, Ron, one of the questions I have is since we've gone to this virtual where the city's only doing one meeting per week that's being recorded or one meeting per day, which means our schedules are kind of all over the place for those of us that are on multiple committees. I can't really say I'm always good on Wednesday, but I've got at least one day each week that I can do it. Is there a way to kind of work around the other committee meetings and have the different days? Certainly. I think once we establish that a weekly meeting is something that the DCRC is willing to do, we can start to look at the calendar. So the next question that I have on the slide is what day of the week we would like for this meeting to occur. Let me go back to my screen. Ron, and to Council Member Ryan's point, so we do have some restrictions on the when, and so it can't conflict with what DTV needs to be able to do. So I think if we can at least get the feedback and the input from the committee on preferences, we'll go back between the City Secretary's office and DTV and line out what's available. And then we may send out a survey monkey or a zoomerang and nail that down to make sure whatever we can get that would be static. So it's consistent as to when we're going to have it, it won't conflict with what DTV needs. And I would say generally speaking, Wednesdays or Fridays are fine, are the best days for me unless there is another city meeting going on at the same time or on that same day. Which day did you say, John? Wednesdays or Fridays? Well, when would these start? I mean, just like whatever this week and then if we schedule it to be next week and then so forth, so on. Try to do it consistently. Chris, if we can just find it a time that would work for most everyone that we could do this and then again, trying to be as static as possible for DTV and not bounce around. So just looking for what our best options might be. What yeah, Fridays at least, I mean, obviously I'm limited in my scope of so I don't know how much y'all want to add me into that. But my next two Fridays are pretty much taken. So yeah, I got to get a new draft in 27. Hey Rosa, Rosa, yes, you're unmuted. I am so sorry. I was supposed to be muted. My apologies. No worries. Yeah, so I and then my Thursdays, I mean, I've got big board meeting on the the 20. What is that? 22nd. But the Thursday after so I don't know if I'm gonna be much help. And because I said I don't mean I don't but November 3rd is coming up so it only be I don't want to impact when y'all meet based upon my schedule because it's so so are Wednesdays okay for you, Chris or Wednesdays bad? Well, we'll kind of drill into that I guess if if Wednesday gets you to a day versus a Friday, john had mentioned Wednesday and Friday being a preference so I don't know if yeah Wednesdays Wednesdays are okay in the afternoon. Yeah, I say afternoon, lunch or after. Yeah. Yeah. And also saying Wednesdays as I'm going back through my calendar a little bit more that's when mobility is meeting on on one of the Wednesdays and on the other one. So as I look through it, I'm actually okay on on Mondays as long as we're not going past about three o'clock. Councilmember Briggs. Yeah, I was gonna make the comment about mobility as well one of those days and then the economic development Partnership Board is also on a Wednesday. I think it's the second Wednesday of the month the mobility seems to be the last Wednesday of the month. I'm in the same boat as the mayor I may or may not have very many meetings with this group but for the next few weeks. I'm okay on Wednesdays and Fridays and Mondays we have generally that's when our Committee on the environment meets but that's only one time for the month. Scott, I'd like to mention every other Monday or at least two Mondays a month PV also meets on Mondays. Okay. Thank you, Becky. Any other comments or input. The chair, what I think we can do from what I've heard is look at the meeting room schedule, obviously, as well as DTV and look at Wednesdays afternoon and Fridays as far as availability and then we'll go from there but again, looking possibly Wednesdays as a static meeting and or Friday as a static meeting. I'll have Charlie Charlie Rosendahl send out a survey monkey to all six of you and we'll line out in coordination with the city secretary's office DTV and then kind of the basis of that. I think the other part would be length of time or is is the committee comfortable with a two hour meeting like we were doing to the past and over lunch is that an issue the 12 o'clock window is that a problem for anyone. It can be for me if it's on a Wednesday. Okay. Yeah, that's fine. Margie can't hear you. Okay, sorry. Can you hear me now? Yeah, okay. I assume the quorum is made up of the three council people as in the past. Is that correct? That is correct. Okay. Anyone else? Alright, I guess we'll just watch for that survey monkey to come out and take it from there. And then I heard that two hours is fine and over lunch is a possibility. Just again, depending on what day but a two hour timeframe, we may not use all two hours, but it gives us a little bit more time if we need to pass that first hour if we needed to address a certain important topic. Okay. Okay. I think that we've basically got what we need as far as the day of the week. The start time, it depends on the schedule, but we'll definitely see if we can establish a standing meeting if possible and time as well. Looking at a minimum or at least two hours, no more than two hours. So agendas obviously need to be posted 72 hours prior as similar to the other boards and commissions or committees. Presentations will be made by staff and of course discussion with the DCRC. We'll also have minutes as part of these meetings so that those will be available if we need to refer back to them. The idea is to have a presentation that's consistent so when we bring forward our proposed or recommended code amendments, some of you have seen this presentation before, just identify what the current rule is or what we have to buy from or buy and at least list the issues that we have that are causing the code amendment, what we have currently in the DDC and then the options that we have available and then staff's recommendation as we bring forward these code amendments, as well as additional slides will be presented during these presentations to help illustrate again what we are trying to get input from, from the DCRC. So that will be part of the presentation similar to what you guys have seen with past code amendments. I know that there were some folks that may have missed this presentation, but I just wanted to go through this and just more of a refresher and/or some information for you all regarding the DDC amendments. So why are we doing it today now? Obviously, there are non-conformities that were created with the 2019 DDC and we want to continue to address those non-conformities. We want to align with new regulations or requirements that were passed by state law, specifically House Bill 3167. So some of these code amendments will reflect that. We continue to provide improvements in our development review process and we want to make sure that those improvements are codified in our DDC so that when we are referencing our requirements or standards in our process, it is codified for not just the development community but the general public as well. And we continue to look and hear from folks that have feedback and input regarding DDC, the general public, development community, PNZ, and city council. So we want to make sure that we address those issues with a required code amendment if that is the resolution. We have identified a list of four categories of code amendments. The first one is priority changes. The second one is substantive changes. These are ones that we are looking for the DCRC to provide feedback and direction to staff. We also have a set of code amendments that are referred to as the criteria manual transfers. These are specifically texts and language and standards that are currently in the criteria manual that we feel should be in the DDC. And then the last item, not a high priority but something that we need to address are non-substantive changes, just corrections, references that need to be included or were incorrectly referenced, and also any additional language that would provide clarity as to make it clear to understand. I'm going to go and share us a working document that we have and that we will be forwarding to the DCRC. It is our list of code amendments, and as you can see, the references or the document itself, you have it. You'll see that it's color coded, similar to what you've seen in the PowerPoint slide. Anything black is non-substantive. Anything that is in purple are criteria manual transfers. Anything that is green is what we've identified as substantive changes. And then anything red are our high priority. And you can see as I scroll here that as we look- Just talk about number one. Explain number one. Number one, for example, is just one of those non-substantive changes. The reference that we have in the DDC is wastewater, and it's separated. The right reference to this is one word versus two words. So that is just a cleanup or a correction that we have identified. And again, this is one of many. I think the majority of these code amendments are similar in this nature, that they're just corrections. The same with number two. I'm sorry, Ron. Also explain that each of those sections, each of those are numbered out, and we'll get to what section it is when we get to those, but also we have the rationale, so please. Correct, correct. So this is obviously, it's numbered, and it's throughout the DDC, so it's not just one section. It's throughout the DDC. This correction would apply. The same with this number two. We have a change in the term site plan to zoning compliance plan, and that is the term that we're currently using as part of our development review process, so we want to make sure that what we're telling folks is consistent and is included in the DDC. Number three is more of a substantive change, because we're changing the requirement for pre-applications currently, or as part of the 2019, it's required to have a pre-application. However, we are changing that to a recommendation rather than a requirement, so that is something that we will need from the DCRC as far as direction, and again, we have the reasons associated with each of these. I'm gonna scroll down so we can see ones that are per the section. So here's an example where you have the reference section where we're amending section 1.3.4. What is being changed? Again, based on the color, this is a substantive change, so we require or we want to hear from the DCRC to move forward, and again, as you've seen, there's a reason to why these code amendments are requested or recommended. Sometimes it's just a cleanup and part of the reasons why we're doing code amendments. Sometimes there's some specific reasons why it needs to be changed. So again, I won't go through this whole list. It's about 85 pages. There's a number of amendments that are listed here and categorized. What we plan on doing is sending this to you all in the near future with a big draft on it because it's still a draft, and it will give you an idea of some of the items that we would like to bring forward, and again, it'll be organized as we move forward by those categories that we've just summarized a little bit in, which I will be sharing with you in a few seconds here. So does anybody have any questions with regards to this document? Again, it is our working document, but we really wanted to share it with you all so that you have an idea in advance of what staff is thinking. Obviously, it will be a draft. All of this will be draft until we hear and get obviously the direction and ultimately the consideration from the full council. Ron, if I might piggyback on that. So this document, you'll be sent in its entirety, so don't be scared because it's like 85 pages. The 85 pages, the vast majority are just corrections. Another part to that is so this document, when it first goes out, will kind of be that parent document. We'll keep that as a strike through and comment, so we'll know exactly what has changed throughout the entirety. But if we get to a section that we agree on how that's to move forward, we'll do a save as each week and send the updated document. So as we work through this and we get 10 meetings into this and we want to know what happened on a previous item that we'll be able to look at it and see it, but you'll have at least the most current decision that was made by this committee before it goes to council and ultimately in ordinance form. So it's a working document and just gives you a good roadmap of this, the significant changes and what we're going to be doing. So I'm going to go ahead and continue with the presentation. I think we've got a couple more slides here. Just diving in a little bit more on these categories. The priority change topics, some of these I know that the council had discussed in a prior work session. We also want to take it to the Planning and Zoning Commission. So batch one is what we're thinking of as far as items on the next DCRC meeting to get some input and feedback, which will ultimately bring forward to the Planning and Zoning Commission and city council. After batch one, we'll dive into batch two. And then again, those will be items that staff will be requesting direction from the DCRC, again, ultimately to the PNZ and then city council. Substantive changes, there is a number of code amendments that are related to these types of code amendments. The first three that you see here are ones that the DCRC has already discussed. So I don't anticipate a lot of discussion. I know that there was a lot of already directions made and recommendations. We just want to summarize that as we move forward with those code amendments. And then go into the next set of code amendments as it relates to these categories or these listed topics that you see here from subchapter two, which is the administrative and procedures section, our subchapter, and then getting into more of the standards and the requirements that you see here when it comes to the uses, landscaping, parking, and other site design requirements. So again, a lot of these are substantive changes that we just really need the DCRC to give us direction so that we can bring forward to the Planning, Zoning Commission and city council. These are the criteria manual transfer topics. As you all know, we are working and Becky's group has been working on identifying sections of the criteria manual for stormwater, water and wastewater and looking at where those language and those requirements are better suited and better included in the DDC. And so that is what these code amendments will be. It's essentially just introducing those languages from the criteria manuals into the DDC. We have similar topics or similar languages and texts from the transportation criteria manual, the solid waste criteria manual, and also the electric service standards. Wanted to include number six and number seven in this discussion just to provide you with an overall comprehensive look at what we're trying to do with our documents that we use in reviewing plans and design. We also have specifications and standard details that are being currently being reviewed. And my understanding is that this is going to be being will be brought forward to the full council for consideration in the near future. But it is a document that we also look at when reviewing our plans and design that are submitted to the city. Lastly, number seven is a development handbook where there is a lot of our processes that are not necessarily in the DDC per se, but are helpful for our general public, our development community, and this is something that we're working as well. So ultimately our goal is to have all of these included in either to the DDC or part of the criteria manual where it's a little bit more concise, less duplicative, and it's easier for everyone to understand. The last here is just the non-sensitivity changes, and we saw some examples of that earlier. Again, just typos and correcting references that are obviously were not correct. This is the schedule that we are planning on having. Obviously, we are pretty tight in trying to get them done, but we want to at least try to get them as much done as possible that is. There may be some that will have to fall to the next year, but as we continue through this effort, we want to make sure that you all know the schedule, and if we need to provide updates, we can certainly do that. But we want to tackle the priority changes first, get into the substantive changes, and then hitting the criteria manual transfers as well, and throughout all this, the non-substantive changes will be discussed throughout our meetings that we have with the DCRC. That concludes my presentation, and again, just wanted to thank you all for participating in this effort, and as we start to schedule the meetings that we have already discussed, we will make sure that you have the information well in advance, and we will be presented to you in a clear format so that, again, we can get your input in direction. >> Councilmember Briggs. >> I have a few questions, Ron, going back to the presentation. On page 10, I mean page 9, I think it had HLC and ZBA listed as composition changes, and I'm wondering, did that or did those suggestions come from those boards, or did it come from -- where are those changes coming from? >> Sure. Let me pull that up so we can see that real quick. >> There were legislative changes that are prompting some of this. >> Okay. >> So for the ZBA specifically, there was a House bill that was passed. We want to make sure that the procedure section was included in the DDC as a result. As far as the composition, when we tried to amend the DDC back in 2019, there were things that we were going to include into the code of ordinances where some of these boards and commissions composition are located. However, we felt that it should be further clarified, specifically with the HLC as part of the DDC as well. So it's more or less a cleanup, nothing new specifically that we're trying to introduce. It's more or less making sure that it's covered in the DDC. We'll obviously make sure, and we have meetings scheduled with the ZBA and HLC next month in November, and we will be sharing with them some of what we're proposing to add into the DDC as it reflects their board and their commission. >> Okay. Thank you. Chair, I have one more question. On page 10, about the criteria manuals, and just help me remember, because I thought that we had specific direct you to those manuals because they're updated more regularly, and so I'm wondering why we're going back and integrating those into the text of the code unless I'm misunderstanding something. >> No, you're spot on. We had some concerns that were expressed through legal that some of these provisions need to be in the code, and that's why we're going to talk through those with the committee. >> Okay. So they'll just be pulled out of that and into the code, and then -- >> Correct. We won't necessarily lose anything. It's just where's the appropriate document for those components to be. So some of that will be in the criteria manual, and others of it will be within the code. >> My understanding is that those criteria manuals will continue to be reviewed annually, and if there is a need for an ordinance to amend it, that will also be done again as needed. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I might also suggest, Ron, on the slides, because we are being televised, that people may have questions, if -- whether it's your email address or planning@cityofdenton.com, that every one of the slides has a line on there that, if you have questions, email this, and then we can monitor that as well. So not necessarily as live, but certainly if we have individuals that are viewing this, that they're able to easily get to whoever they need to. >> We'll make sure that happens. >> Councilmember Riggs? >> I just have one last question. I know that in the introductions, we learned about a new law firm, and that's helping us. The last time we did this, we had, I think, was it Ms. McDonald from a different law firm? Was that -- is she going to be involved in this update or no? >> No. I believe we're just going to be using Borquez, and I don't know if Erin wants to speak to any of that or not, but currently, that's who we're utilizing. >> Okay. >> I can answer that, Councilmember Briggs. A lot of the work, as was explained to me, were primarily related to actually planning issues, not necessarily legal issues. Robin Meagher is an actual planner that happens to work in a law firm, so that's why we went to the Borquez law firm, and a lot of the legal issues, you know, we can -- if they do arise, we can handle those internally as well. >> Okay. Thank you for that. >> Anyone else? Additional questions? Ron, did you have anything else, or is that -- >> That's all we have. As far as input needed, I think we got as far as the meetings regarding when, how long, and start time and weekly meetings. So we'll start to push that as soon as we can get some calendars in place and send you all some surveys so that we can get going on these code amendments. >> I'd like to just personally, again, thank all of you. Certainly, it was quite daunting. We hope this is going to be much more simpler. We hope that the format that we're going to provide to you will create that ease, at least that you have, you know, the changes before you and the intent of what that is, and certainly give you opportunity to review the material in advance. Happy to build the agenda around the committee and, you know, how we move forward. Want to make this as fluid and simple as possible and just expedite as much as we can to get it done and get it done right. But thank you. >> Thank you, Scott. We do have concluding items on here. Anybody have any concluding items? All right. Then we will adjourn at 1148. Thank you, everyone. >> Thank you, everyone. Thank you.