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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-10-1973 Regular Meeting1 � f FAIRHOPE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING, SEPTEMBER 10, 1973 THE Fairhope Planning and Zoning Commission met in regular session at the City Administration Building, 387 Fairhope Avenue, Monday, September 10, 1973 at 5:00 P.M. with all members present. Minutes of the previous regular and special meetings were approved. Public hearing on rezoning from R-1 to R-3, Lots 10 & 11, located at 211 So. Section Street. Mr. Mike Ford, representing the property owner, presented his request for rezoning in order to build duplex apartments. Property owners from the area were heard and on vote, five were opposed and two in favor of rezoning. Mr. Claude Arnold requested permission to change lot numbers only on plat given final approval at previous meeting. Permission granted. Mr. Carlton Niemeyer requested permission to go directly to the City Council for rezoning Dyas property located 4t the intersection of Highway #104 and Highway #98, foregoing public hearing by the Planning Commission since the City Council is required to hold public hearing. Commission recommended that new plat be presented and the Commission would decide whether to make recommendation to City Council at their regular October meeting, hold special meeting or advertise for public hearing. Mr. Field moved, seconded by Mr. Pitman that the Commission recomm- end to the City Council the rezoning of Lots 10 & 11, located at 211 South Section Street, from R-1 to R-3 subject to chain link fence and 5 ft, green belt between rezoned lots and adjacent R-1 ownership. Motion carried. Mr. John Parker, Chairman, relinquished the Chairmanship to Dr. Pierce Frederick in order to present and get the Commissions thoughts on resubdivision of Fairhope Single Tax Corporation property on Belangee Street on the following: 1. A 70 ft. Cul-de-sac instead of the required 100_ft. 2. Retaining planter area in Cul-de-sac. 3. Waiving requirements of Lots 9 & 10 as to sewer requirements. 4. Drainage to Bayou Charbon. Commission discussed Eastern Shore Shopping Center and agreed that a letter be written to Mitchell Corporation stating that it was the Commission's clear intent that Mitchell Corporation, in being issued a building permit: 1. A letter of agreement to the City and the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation that it would immediately release a 40 ft. strip of land on the East edge of Greeno Road existing right-of-way for the entire shopping center frontage from Fairhope Avenue South, 2. That the Shopping Center not have more than two ingress - egress points along the, entire shopping center frontage on Greeno Rd. 3. That a copy of this letter be sent to State Highway Mobile Division Office, and directly contact proper official of that Depart- ment to enlist his support of the City's position. 4. That a landscaping plan be submitted for plantings on site. the ingress and egress points on Greeno Road limited to two and 3) his intent regarding the 4o ft. Right-of-way. Mr. McWilliams called the Mayor and reported he was not prepared to meet yet and would be present at the November meeting. Mr. Wilson responded to the question of controlling points of access on State Highways saying they could not prohibit or limit the number of access points and this control would have to be exer- cised by the Municipality. He did state in his letter, attached as a part of these minutes, that additional Right-of-way at the Shopping Center was definitely needed to meet the needs of Greeno Road imp- rovement based on State, standards of Right-of-way width. IV. Chairman Parker reported that after four weeks of questionnaire solicitation in which over 900 copies had been distributed, 168 had been completed and returned. Commission members were encouraged to return to the organizations they had worked and seek better re- sponse. V. motion by Mr. Pitman seconded by Mr. Gibson that Mr. John Parker, Chairman; Mr. Harford Field, Vioe-Chairman and Dr. Pierce Frederick, Secretary be nominated for another year in office. There being no other nominations, the motion was carried. HOUSING Builders assault, the no -growth laws "It's spreading like a virus," says George C. Martin, president of the Na- tional Assn. of Home Builders. "I call it the 'new isolationism.'" What Martin is attacking is the antigrowth mood that has led at least 50 jurisdictions — ranging from states to towns —to adopt measures to limit development. So far, builders have made only piecemeal assaults on these regu- lations. But now the NAHB, armed with a $200,000 war chest, has plans to fight selected cases in the courts. Duane L. Searles, recently appointed as NAHB's special counsel on growth and environ- ment, is polling builders on where they are being hurt most, and Martin says NAtIB will mount its offensive before the end of the year. Members of the homebuilders' staff have already visited several locutions where restrictive zoning, moratoriums on sewer or water connections, build. ing bans, and dedication ordinances — which compel builders to give up part of their land —are hampering new de- velopment. One of them is Boca Raton, Fla., which last November became the first U. S. city to limit its ultimate size by law by putting a ceiling on the number of dwelling units allowed. Before the change, the zoning would have per- mitted about 150,000 residents. Now, the ceiling is 105,000 in 40,000 dwelling units. Norman Wymbs, a councilman who led the fight for the limit, says he did so because "a high percentage of our residents fled from Fort Lauder- rr dale and Miami, but they discovered that the town they first saw and bought in wouldn't be the same in 20 years, so they revolted." Two suits. Even though it would have taken 15 years at the normal rate of building to reach the limit, the ordi- nance is under attack. Arvida Corp., a Florida land development company that voluntarily incorporated a large section of its acreage into the city, is suing in federal court because it must now adhere to the limits of 5.2 units to Going to court to overturn restrictive building laws. A $200,000 war chest the acre instead of eight to the acre, as it wanted. The NAHB has contributed $10,000 to another suit, brought by two local builders with the support of the Florida Atlantic Builders Assn. They are chal- lenging the ordinance on the ground, among others, that land use should not be determined by a public referendum. Searles says that the growth limit "ap- pears to have been imposed without any type of forethought." Another city under the NAHB's scru- tiny is Fairborn, Ohio, whose combina- tion of mandatory dedication and a de- velopment fee is anathema to local builders. Jacque Sheley, executive di- rector of the Home Builders Assn. of Metropolitan Dayton, Inc., says his group has raised "between $10,000 and $15,000" to fight the measures in court. Where slow growth is really hurting Boca Raton, Fla. Last Nov. 7, a residents' referendum imposed an absolute legal limit of 40,000 dwellings in the city, which means population, now 40,000, cannot ultimately exceed 105,000. Fairborn, Ohio A parkland dedication ordinance passed on June 1 requires developers to donate part of their land, or equivalent cash, for public use. A second ordinance compels them to provide a proportion of its value for park development. Petaluma, Calif. Under a controlled growth plan implemented In August, 1972, only 2,500 new dwellings may be built by 1977, at the rate of 500 a year. No builder may put up more than 100 a year. Montgomery County, Md. An adequate public facilities ordinance passed two months ago forbids development unless the builder can prove that adequate fire, police, sewer, and other services are available. San Jose, Calif. Since last April, no changes to residential zoning are allowed In overcrowded school districts unless the builder signs a'binding agreement to provide a ' "satisfactory, temporary alternative to school construction." Under Fairborn's new rules, which took effect on June 1, a builder who wants to develop must submit his plans to the authorities, who then take part of his land for parks and open spaces. The amount, based on densfty, varies between 8.4% and 19.6% of a builder's land. If the city council agrees, the builder may hand over the cash value of the land instead. After that, the city levies a park development fee, which amounts to about one-third of the value of the donated land. Four build-/ ers and the Dayton HBA have filed suit against the ordinances in the,Greene County Court of Common Pleas, which will be heard in early October. John Martin, one of the lawyers handling the case, complains that the 22-page single-spaced ordinance "defies under- - standing." A people surplus. Another key regu- lation that Searles has studied first- hand is one in. Petaluma, Calif., which has instituted a unique five-year plan for orderly growth. The plan limits new residential units, including mobile homes, to 500 a year, for a total of 2,500 by 1977. A. 17-member selection board reviews plans on the basis of attractive appearance and site design, and on how much the builder provides in the way of community services. No one builder may put up more than 100 units a year. Builders are unhappy with the plan, and four plaintiffs, including two in- dustry associations, have filed suit to have it overturned on constitutional '*�. Tt �.. Ak OAR NAHB's Searles: "Growth limits appear to have been imposed without forethought." 44 BUSINESS WEEK: September 8, 1973 HOUSING t.- September 5, 1973 This announcement appears as a matter of record only. $40,250,000 Extendicare Properties, Inc. Guaranteed by Extendicare, Inc. 87/a % Senior Notes due 1978-1995 A loan agreement relating to this private placement has been arranged with institutional Investors. Salomon Brothers Members New York Stock Exchange, Inc. / One Now York Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10004 f The fruit of the human body is the mind. If it's left to he uncultivated, its contributions wither. Its mechanism falters. And some- thing, somewhere dies. And that should frighten you. Because college -trained minds and results of college and university sponsored research have helped make your company what it is today And they are your biggest hope for growth tomorrow. But what if the money runs out? The bright young college kids you've been counting on will become scarce. More expensive. And if you think your company can afford to take up the training slack, think about this While half the college trained minds that are employed go into business, business contributes only about 15`b of the voluntary support given to colleges. That's a pretty good return on investment. So protect it. Invest in progress and the future. Give to the college of your choice. Advertising contributed for the public good.` ®Council for financial Aid to Education, Inc 6 East 45th St.. New York, N.Y. 1lHll7 grounds. Says Walter Williams, vice- president of Atlantic & Pacific Build- ing Corp., of Petaluma: "If this city can limit growth to 500 a year, so can [nearby] Novato, Milwaukee, and De- troit, and all the rest. And we wind up with a surplus of people and no place to live. The fact is that Petaluma is pro- ducing more future citizens than 500 houses a year will handle." Searles also says he is interested in a number of cases in his own backyard — the fast-growing suburbs around Washington, D. C. The most highly publicized of these is Fairfax County, Va., which has a number of sewer mo- ratoriums in effect because existing systems cannot handle new inflows. Williams: "If this city can limit growth, so can Detroit, Milwaukee, and all the rest" Audrey Moore, a county supervisor who has actively pushed for limited growth, says about 35 builders have filed suits against the county over zoning deci- sions and sewer bans. But she says the county lags well behind neighboring Montgomery County, Maryland, in its plans. Nevertheless, the Northern Vir- ginia Builders Assn. has raised $56,000 for .a speaking campaign and to hire consultants to check the county's fig- ures on what growth is doing to the area. They are also running a series of anti -no -growth ads, one of which says "No -growth means unhappiness for a lot of people." Case planning. In Montgomery County, the planning board administers a pub- lic facilities ordinance, which compels'a builder to prove that there are proper police and fire facilities, roads, water, sewers, and other amenities, before he builds. Mrs. Idamae Garrott, a county councillor, says the ordinance is not un- der attack, but a new measure could at- tract builders' lawsuits. The county is about to introduce 5-acre zoning to cover some 40% of the county, to pre- serve open space. In the next few weeks, Searles will pinpoint which of these cases and oth- ers he thinks the NAHB should tackle. Formal recommendations will he made at the NAHB's annual meeting in New Orleans on Sept. 20. Despite their new fighting fund, however, both Martin and Searles stress that the home - builders would rather talk with 5io- growth-minded officials than sue them. With that in mind, Searles recently made a field trip to Napa, Calif., where a plan to limit growth is in the works. "We wanted to get in on the ground floor, so they would consult us," he says. "We're really not too concerned if a community wants to impose environ- mental regulations. What we want to be sure of is that they also allow hous- ing." ■ 46 BUSINESS WEEK: September 8, 1^71 I . HOUSING i Editorials Stop the scuffling U. S. trade negotiators who should be busy preparing for the "Nixon round" of bargaining instead are wasting their energies in a quiet but savage little bu- reaucratic scuflie. Before the trade talks open in Tokyo this month, President Nixon should put a stop to the infighting that is.distracting the U. S. team. The trouble began when Peter Flanigan, director of the White House Council on International Economic Policy, let it be known that the Administration in- tended to merge the Office of the Special Representa- tive for Trade Negotiations (STR) into his CiEP. This bid encountered strong resistance ' from William Eberle, the special representative. The dispute de- layed Administration decisions on the trade bill for months. It now threatens to undermine the U. S. posi- tion in the trade talks. Eberle and his three top assist- ants say they will resign en masse if the merger goes through. Treasury Secretary Shultz is trying to work out a compromise, but the odds are against it. From the standpoint of organizational neatness, there is a good deal to be said for Flan,igan's proposal. But there is an even stronger case to be made for pre- serving the STR's present degree of independence. Congress created the STR in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to lift U. S. trade policy above the conflicting special interest pressures of the government depart- ments, especially the State Dept., which was sus- pected of being ready to sacrifice U. S. commercial in- terests to the foreign policy of the moment. In the long years of Kennedy Round negotiations, the STR earned a reputation for objectivity and, fairness., That reputation will be invaluable in securing the support of Congress and the respect of our trading partners in the far more difficult negotiations that lie ahead. Instead of letting the feud sputter on, President - Nixon should now tell Flanigan and Eberle that the merger plan has been abandoned. With long experi- ence and a highly qualified staff, the STR is the right agency to handle the touchy negotiations that are coming up. How to save the railroads Half a century of obsessive highway -building and 86 years of shortsighted regulation have brought the U. S. railroad system to the verge of collapse. The im- mediate crisis is in the Northeast. But the same forces that brought the Penn Central, the New Haven, and various other roads to bankruptcy are at work in the South and West as well (page 54). The U. S. cannot afford to let its railroads go down the drain. Even on the most conservative estimates, the volume of traffic in the next 30 years will be far more than any combination of highways, waterways, and air carriers can haul. One way or another, the na- tion must keep its rail network alive to serve the needs of the future. The federal government already is subsidizing pas- senger operations. And most commuter service is op- erated or heavily subsidized by government ..agencies of the regions they serve. But that is not enough. The roads need help in carrying the costs of the thousands of miles of low -density branch lines operated at a loss. And they need more freedom in setting rates to earn an adequate return. The starting point for a program to save the rail- roads must be a good system of cost accounting. This would enable the carriers to identify losing branches and categories of freight. Today, they often haul goods at an out-of-pocket loss without knowing it. Freight rates should be freed to find reasonable lev- els —meaning the point above out-of-pocket costs that generates the largest possible contribution to .over- head and profit. If branch lines continue to lose money even on a rational rate structure, some government agency —federal, state, or local —will have to cover the losses. Otherwise, the branches should be abandoned: This is essentially the solution Canada has adopted in dealing with similar problems. Ii'inally, the number of railroad companies should be reduced by merger where there is an opportunity for significant cost savings. The result would be. a slimmed -down railroad system, charging uncomfort-' ably high rates on some freight and requiring a sub- stantial input of public subsidies. But it would be a system that could survive. Builders vs. the suburbs The building industiy's nationwide campaign to fight local restrictions on housing development is a curious mixture of high ideals and pure avarice. If the build- ers can knock down arbitrary restrictions designed to reserve blue sky and green trees for the exclusive use of a wealthy elite, they will be doing a public service. But if, in doing so, they spread the blight of ticky- tacky housing to still wider areas,. they will be adding more eyesores to the already badly scarred suburban landscape. In the long run,.the builders will get considerably further if they recognize that opposition to new de- velopment is not necessarily evidence of snobbery. It can be an understandable response to the invasion of the bulldozers that have laid waste to thousands of communities. Exasperated citizens cannot be blamed for wanting to stop the kind of fast -buck building that has jammed housing onto unsuitable sites, over- loaded'the roads and sewers, and thrown up high-rise apartments that shut off light and air from neighbors. At least some of the builders concede that this sort of development cannot continue. They are moving toward "planned unit development" with clustering of houses and generous landscaping. Large-scale "new towns" are winning praise for their sensitive ap- proach to environmental problems. They are also get- ting zoning concessions from public officials. If the builders think in these terms —rather than in terms of dramatic codrt fights —they may get what they want on a basis that is good for the suburbs and acceptable to the bulldozer -shy citizens. 90 1 BUSINESS WEEK: September S. 1973 ti ,i 1 TomorroW [Newsgram-continued] episode is over.. Critics will demand fe'Wer officers and rear -echelon troops. ' I Antimilitary sentiment in Congress is growing. Even some of the strongest defense advocates among lawmakers concede there's room for savings this year. White House and Pentagon will resist all these moves. Signs are they will mount one of the most intensive lobbying campaigns Washington has seen in .years. Administration officials argue that U.S. needs new missile subs and strong, combat -ready units to bargain effectively with the Russians. Object is to get agreements on limiting strategic weapons, cutting back forces in Europe. That theme will be pressed by Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State. Outlook: Generals and admirals won't get all the money they want. But budget cuts won't be as deep as multibillion -dollar slashes urged by some. Energy shortage will force Washington to make changes in regulations designed to meet other national needs. Pressure is building up fast. Mandatory allocation of at least some types of fuel seems likely. Goal: Make certain that heating oil is evenly distributed across U.S. this winter. There's also talk of easing air -pollution standards --permitting power companies and industries to burn heavy oil with high sulphur content. Service - station operators will be allowed to pass on some increases in gasoline costs. That means waiving price -control regulations. book for a headlong rush by federal, State and local governments toward land -use controls. This topic will spark hot debate in months to come. Basic idea is that the public --not owners --should have power to decide how 1 property will be utilized. That includes what will be built on it, how many ,k) people it can accommodate, whether industry will be permitted --everything. Environmental groups call land -use controls essential to preventing U.S. Ofrom -being -,ruined by•unplanned growth --an ugly hodgepodge of overcrowded cities • where pollution and lack of recreation sites make life miserable. Opponents say government regulation of privately owned land would trample individual rights, cripple economic growth. The fight promises to be fierce. Why Mr. Nixon and Congress are so worried about the housing situation: ' Rising numbers of Americans are being denied new homes by lack of mortgage money, high down -payment demands, skyrocketing prices. Study by Economic Unit of "U.S. News & World Report" shows that in last five years -- Cost of average new home climbed from $25,800 to $35,400--u2 37 per cent. Down payments rose 24 per cent --Prom average of $6,800 to $8,400. t Home expenses --including mortgage, taxes, utilities, maintenance and insurance --shot up from average $226 to $333 a month --a 47 per cent increase. If same trend continues: By five Years from now --average home price would go to Jig,500, down payment to 11 500• monthly expenses to ILOA. White House and Capitol Hill disagree on the remed There's consensus, though, that Government will move to help more Americans buy homes. (No .part of this or any other peat may be repioduced without mitten permission) U. S. NEWS Q WORLD REPORT, Oct. 1, 1473