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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-05-1999 Planning Commission MinutesThe Planning & Zoning Commission of the City of Fairhope met Monday, April 5, 1999 at 5:00 PM at the City Administration Building, 161 N. Section Street Present: Chairman Larry Green; members J.P. Nix, Bill Jones, Trisha LoPorto, Cecil Pitman, Dick Charles, Thad Ingram, Tim Kant, William Richmond. Betty Rivenbark Secretary, Christopher Baker, Zoning Enforcement Officer, Tut Wynne, City Attorney The minutes of the March 1, 1999 meeting were duly approved on motion by, Bill Jones seconded by Dick Charles, and unanimously carried. ZC99-05 Public hearing - Linda Walker - Zoning Change from R-A Residential Agricultural to R-2 Residential - 8830 Morphy Avenue Mr. Baker commented that Ms Walker is a lessee of the Fairhope Single Tax Colony and currently there is a manufactured home on the property. She wishes to remove this and build a new home on this site. He recommended approval. Ms. Walker spoke saying she wished to remove the trailer and build a new home on this piece of property. A motion was made by William Richmond, 2"d by Trisha LoPorto to recommend this zoning change to the City Council. Motion carried unanimously. ZC99-06 Public hearing - Proposed Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to require the posting of Public Notice Signs on property being considered for a zoning change. This was initiated by Mr. Baker and he explained that this was an effort to alleviate citizens not being aware of a proposed zoning change and get public input in the process. That we would provide signs, standard size and color and re -use them. Bill Jones commented that this is being done in neighboring communities and moved this proposed amendment be forwarded to the city council with recommendation of approval. Dick Charles 2"d and motion carried unanimously. SD99-05 Preliminary Plat Approval Greenbranch Estates - George Roberds-13 lots located on the east side of Danne Road. This had been carried over from March meeting as there were unanswered questions about perk test, right-of-way information and lot two common area. Mr. Baker commented that Mr. Roberds has made a good faith effort by bringing back revisions showing: a. Slight realignment of Thistle Road; b. Slightly altered lot lines that generally increase lot size; c. a deletion of a residential lot; d. decease of parcel A (required greenspace) from 4.1 acres to 4.05(still meets 10% requirement) . George Roberds said he would be glad to answer any questions. Christopher said that all building permits will be issued by the County but he meets city requirements and recommended approval. Trisha Lo Porto moved to approve as presented, William Richmond 2"d and motion carried unanimously. Planning & Zoning Commission April 5, 1999 - page two SD99-08 Preliminary Plat Approval -Rock Creek Phase 5 & 6-Rock Creek Partners,LLC Mr. Baker had commented that this contained approximately 100 residential lots and is currently outside the city but an annexation petition and zoning request has been presented. That the adjoining property is zoned R-1 PUD or in the County. That this application contained a Traditional Neighborhood Development(TND) on lots 510-539 which are typically smaller lots with build to lines and have an alley in the rear of the property. In proposing the TND concept he noted that lots 510-539 did not meet many of the city's requirements in that: a. block lengths are short by 200 ft.; b. Savannah Square is one way pavement width of 14 feet; c. Savannah Square has off street parking of 9' adjacent to street; d. That because of alley could be considered double frontage; e. turning radii for Savannah Square is tighter than city standards. He went on to address: 1. water and sewer, which will be tied into the city's system; 2. building setbacks, which are in accord with PUD application; 3. easements, all proposed lots in the development meet the city requirements; 4. street design, all street, except as noted TND streets, meet city requirements; 5. temporary hammerhead; suggested temporary hammerhead at end of Clubhouse Drive; visibility easements; they have indicated conformance with requirements although TND alleys will not meet requirements; 6.fire hydrants; will meet city's requirements; 7. access to adjoining property; He stated that Ms. Berglin owns the adjacent property, . just to the south of the Clubhouse Dr. and that he believes she now owns, through legal decree a 60' easement that begins at the southeast corner of Lot 131 Rock Creek Phase 1. That this easement has not been shown on the plat and that there are 3 points regarding this easement that must be considered: 1. The subdivision regulations require that access be granted to adjoining property. 2. The easement has not been shown on the plat as required; and as title records should indicate, as evidenced by documents Ms. Berglin has produced. 3. Ms. Berglin owns the easements as indicated in the documents provided, which are filed with the Judge of Probate - as owner of property being platted she must be a party to the plat and must sign the plat; 8. Drainage: the developer and the engineer have both certified that drainage meets the requirement s of the city, 9. Greenspace: the developer has provided approximately 14% of the area for greenspace. His recommendation was approval subject to: 1. Hammerhead construction at the end of Clubhouse Drive; 2. Visibility Easement requirements being met for all portions of the development; 3. Turning radii be designed to the approval of the Fire Chief, and 4. The easement be shown to the Berglin property in accordance with the legal decree and Ms. Berglin signing the plat. Robin Gregory of David Volkert & Associates came forward to address this application and showed drawings he had of the TND that they were proposing. Discussion followed on this with the Commission members questioning Planning & Zoning Commission Page 3 - April 5, 1999 the concept. In the course of this Bill Jones questioned the 60 ft. right of way Berglin easement that was not shown on the plat to lot 443. Trae Corte spoke saying he was not aware of this 60 ft easement the Berglins had. This brought up the discussion when the Berglins had come before the Commission some months back with a sketch plan but only had a 30 ft. access into Rock Creek and a committee was formed and studied their plans with the decision being that the 30 ft. did not meet the city's requirements so could not be used as egress/ingress. It was brought out that this is property further north and totally different easement from what discussed previously. The question was asked whether they could get conditional approval and work this out within the next 30 days. Tut Wynne pointed out that all signatures needed to be on the plat before it approved. Christopher pointed out that this plat could be withdrawn and submitted later while they worked this out and the public hearing on zoning could go forward. Trae said that they had done a title search and this easement had not shown up. Allen Chason asked to be heard on Mrs. Berglin's behalf and said that this had been before them before regarding this easement problem so they should not be surprised. He made reference to the letter that was sent to Mr. Corte by Mr. Baker 30 days ago which included a copy of Mrs. Berglin's easement. He mentioned her coming before commission previously and discussing the sketch plan and the 30 ft. easement and the decision at that time but that this is property further to the north and she is entitled to access her property with this development. That there are 3 cul de sacs that lack a few feet of touching on her property. That there has been a concerted effort to deny the Berglins access to their property and think the plat should be denied. That the Berglins would be happy to discuss this easement with them. Trisha LoPorto said she was on the committee that had considered the Berglins request previously and asked Ms. Berglin if she remembered if this was one of the parcels they had discussed and Ms. Berglin replied she did not remember. Tut Wynne said this is new property, to the north and east of what discussed before. Trae Corte said this was all new to him and wished to withdraw the plat at this time, but proceed with the conditional annexation, zoning. No action was needed for the withdrawal. It was pointed out to Mr. Corte that he will have to go through the normal process in resubmitting. He said he understood. ZC99-03 Public Hearing request to establish R-1 PUD Zoning on property to be considered for 49pexation(located to the east of the existing Rock Creek)cQn�oiq " 9pie 97 acres. Christopher went over his comments noting that greenspace was provided in a combination of natural, landscaped, active (sporting fields)and pass ive(unorganized events). He mentioned the additional phase of Rock Creek will add 200 home sites and the fact that there is only 1 ingress/egress on Highway 98 is a big concern, especially for emergency vehicle access. Stating that another access would be prudent. He suggested Beaver Dam Road to U.S. 98 or an extension from South Drive. He said that on Beaver Dam Road homes are currently built on one side only and the street Planning & Zoning Commission Page 4 - April 5, 1999 network provides more choice in avenues to get to Hwy 98. In South Drive, it would be closer to 98 but is now a cul-de-sac. There might be a problem in funneling traffic to a singular location, that an access to 98 would not open the grid network. That although neither option is optimum , the least intrusive to the neighborhoods involved while providing the most open grid system is the access from Beaver Dam Road. Trey said either access is fine, that the Beaver Dam Road access was deeded to the city some time back but never opened as it turned out the residents got upset over the idea of more traffic in their neighborhood. Dick Charles said he had a serious concern about the water for the new area that water pressure in the summertime is horrible. Mayor Nix commented that the city is now in the process of putting in a larger line and this should not be a problem when this new line finished. Mr. Green called for comments from the audience and Susan McKowski addressed the commission saying that some planned green areas needed to be included as there is no where for the kids to go to just play ball, set aside in new phases a natural park and that the homeowners could maintain it. The TND development was discussed again as part of phase 5and it was pointed out that it contained some greenspace but nothing that would specifically be classified as park for children. Larry Green recommended that the developer sit down and discuss this with the homeowners, Trae said he would address these items. He explained that the TND would be completely separate from the Rock Creek homeowners association, would have same rules. The on street parking was discussed and the mayor said they had passed an ordinance prohibiting on street parking. Chris said as a point of clarification that the on street parking not the same, this TND is specifically designed adjacent to street but not on street, a single space per residence with 4 additional in the rear. He had noted in his comments issues created as a result of TND design citing: street width, alleys, landscaping, commercial aspects, lot size and building orientation, the TND circulation pattern, lighting standards, deed restrictions, architectural regulations, community standards. (detailed comment contained in commission comments regarding each). He had asked for a hammerhead at the end of Club house Drive, the Berglin access being approved, and said this request is in conformance with the comprehensive plan. He recommended approval subject to indication of access to Berglin prgppqy on the Site plan; and access to Highway 98 via Beaver Dam Road. A Jim Love, William J. Clark and Hal Brown spoke all expressing concerns about traffic and new planned development. Larry Green said new access might alleviate problem now but what about future development to the east, we all thought phase 5 & 6 a long way off and now it is before us, need to consider the big picture. Tim Kant moved to recommend zoning to City Council subject to Mr. Baker's recommendations. Mr. Corte was asked if he understood recommendations, which he said he did. Dick Charles seconded and motion carried unanimously. Planning & Zoning Commission Page 5 - April 5, 1999 SD99-09 Preliminary Plat approval of Porchplace subdivision 8 lots, Jim Geram located on east side of Jubilee Trail Mr. Baker had commented that this is 4.34 acres that shows lot sizes akin to R-1 Residential zoning and all contained at least 15,000 square feet, although this is currently outside the city limits, an annexation petition has been filed and he had sought R-2 zoning which had gone to the City Council with a recommendation for denial. That the applicant is proposing to plat the property as an experimental subdivision and has gone to great lengths to preserve existing trees and tree stands. He is proposing an alternative street design, it will be one way paved around the loop and the road will be 12 feet wide. He pointed out one area of property that was a visibility hazard. That the developer had indicated they are in Flood Zone C. The subdivision will be served by city water and sewer. The post developed runoff from the site will be less than the predeveloped runoff and greenspace requirement does not apply but he is providing .28 acres for this. He recommended approval subject to visibility easement at the western tip of lot 6 being corrected. There followed discussion on this and it was ascertained that Jubilee Trail will be paved North to Dyer Road. Tim mentioned the drainage problems that are out in that area, the engineer assured him there would be an adequate holding pond, some neighbors expressed concerns and it was ex plained how when new development planned they have to have no more runoff than what there before. Jim Geram spoke saying he knows his neighbors and their concerns and does not plan to make things worse for them. After all comments made Cecil Pitman moved to approve subject to Chris' recommendations, Dick Charles 2"d and motion carried with Trisha LoPorto abstaining. AD99-10 Spring Lake Subdivision -Request for easement vacation by Charles Breland Chris said he had a request for this vacation of easement by Mr. Breland and he told him to check with all the utilities to see if there were in fact utilities there and would this vacation create a problem. Mr. Breland reported back no utilities or problems. That on lots 9, 26, 27 and 44(corner lots) there is 2 15' easement requirements. And this has inhibited the builder in his plans to build. That he is proposing to vacate 5 feet of easement leaving 10 feet. The city attorney was consulted and did not have a problem with this. He recommended approval. Dick Charles moved to accept vacation of utility easement, Cecil Pitman 2"d and motion carried unanimously. SD99-11 Prelimianary Plat Approval Fairfield Place Unit 4, 40 Iots,Developer Paul Monroe located north of Cty Rd 44 and west of County Rd 13 This is a 15 acre tract with 40 residential lots generally 11,000-13,000 sq ft. This is outside the city and not zoned. Christopher had addressed several issues in his comments: Planning & Zoning Commission Page 6 - April 5, 1999 Block Length: That block containing lots 84-101 is 1460' long and city regulations are currently 1200'. The engineer said that storm drainage ditch bordering this addition is cause of length of street. Lot Square Footage: subdivision regulations indicate 75' X 10,500' and the developer meets the square footage requirement but does not meet the width requirement on a small number of lots at the street. The engineer has indicated that the width does conform to the requirement at the building line. Building setbacks: There is no zoning, therefore no setbacks indicated. The engineer indicated that the setbacks are as of yet not decided on but will be included in the covenants for the development. Easements: The developer is providing 10' easements adjacent to the streets. The regulations require 15'. Dead End Streets: Temporary turnarounds had been requested but it had been indicated by the developer that they did not wish to install them. Platting of Lots: Lots 84 & 124 were platted with a previous addition and it was recommended that a note be put on the new plat. The engineer has indicated that it will be shown as A & B. This is not in conformance with the comprehensive plan as it is shown to be Residential Agricultural but Christopher had recommended approval. Discussion followed with comment that there was already unit existing. with Mayor Nix questioning Colony Drive and conflict it could have with Colony Drive on new colony subdivision across Hwy 44. It was recommended they look into another name for the street. A motion was made by Mayor Nix seconded by Bill Jones to approve preliminary plat. Motion carried unanimously. SD99-12 Draft of Proposed Revisions to the Greenspace Requirements Christopher included in the information for tonights meeting a draft of the greenspace requirements in the subdivision regulations. No action was needed for tonight. But he asked everyone to look over and give input. There being no further business meeting was duly adjourned.