From
Chris Hartmann
Title
Unified Development Code updates to comply with recently-passed state legislation regarding regulation of building materials and approval process for site plans and plats.
Presenter
David P. Jones, AICP, Chief City Planner
Recommended Action
Approve
Analysis
In July, staff updated the Committee regarding legislative bills that would impact development. At that meeting, staff mentioned that several amendments to the Unified Development Code would be brought forward in September.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
HB 3167
Requires "municipal authority responsible for approving plats" (the Planning Commission) to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove a plan or plat within 30 days of filing. If the governing body (City Council) is also required to approve the plan or plat, they must do so within 30 days of Planning Commission action.
If a plan or plat is approved with conditions or disapproved, each condition or reason for disapproval must be provided in writing to the applicant. No deadline can be imposed for resubmittal, and the approving authority must approve or disapprove the resubmittal no later than the 15th day after the resubmittal is given to the approval authority. If the approval authority does not approve or disapprove within 15 days, the resubmittal is considered approved.
Impacts:
There are several potential impacts to existing city processes. Like most cities, Grand Prairie reviews plans and plats at the staff level through its Development Review Committee prior to submitting the application to Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council for final approval. P&Z and Council rely heavily on staff's assessment and base their decisions regarding plans and plats on the assurance that they have been thoroughly reviewed by staff. Typically, the DRC process consists of a minimum of two meetings over a roughly 4 week period (see attached calendar). By imposing a 30 day deadline for Planning and Zoning Commission action, HB 3167 inhibits the ability of DRC to thoroughly review site plans and plats prior to their being sent to P&Z and Council.
The 15 day deadline on review of resubmittals has even greater potential impacts. Since no deadline can be imposed for an applicant to resubmit an application after it has been conditionally approved or denied, any applicant could resubmit more than 15 days out from a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting date and be automatically approved before the meeting occurs.
HB 2439
This bill acheived a higher profile prior to passage than HB 3167, as it restricts the ability of cities to require or restrict building materials and "aesthetic methods" if the material or method is approved in a national model code. Like many Texas cities, Grand Prairie requires the use of certain materials on the facades of all new residential and commercial construction, and also remodels and expansions under certain circumstances. In the corridor overlay zones, there are further material and aesthetic requirements that this ordinance impedes. Within the past 18 months, the city has updated or adopted comprehesive standards for the corridor overlays, residential development, and industrial development, all of which are threatened by this new legislation.
Impacts:
Although the bill makes it impossible to directly require or prohibit certain materials, staff believes that the city can acheive compliance with the law and also maintain a semblace of current standards by amending ordinances to encourage or discourage the use of certain materials rather than requiring or prohibiting their use, and provide credit towards certain requirements such as landscaping or parking when enhanced materials are provided. Within existing overlays and for industrial and apartment development, the city may also be able to incentivize the application of current standards by adapting the current menu-based approach to development requirements. Under this scenario, a developer must pick from a list of items including enhanced architecture or materials, along with landscaping, building orientation, and parking.
PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE UDC:
Article 1 - General Procedures
- Tweak UDC purpose statement to align regulatory purposes with state law.
- Add completeness check to determine when shot clock starts.
- Remove notification and public hearing requirements for Site Plans and Plats other than those associated with a Specific Use Permit. This is necessary due to changes in the law that prohibit tabling a Site Plan or Plat case. A citizen could still submit a card to speak on any posted agenda item.
- Include language stating that Planning Commission and Council denial of a Site Plan or Plat must be accompanied by specific reasons for denial.
- Remove language regarding Airport Board.
Article 6 - Density and Dimensional Standards
- Change masonry requirements to "Recommended Design".
- Increase landscaping requirements for single-family residential construction, but give credit towards landscaping requirements if recommended materials are used (masory, architectural metal, engineered woods).
- Define preferred use of metal on commercial and industrial buildings as painted, minimum 26 gauge with tight peaks if corrugated, and with concealed fasteners.
- Allow decrease in landscaping requirements for industrial buildings under 50,000 square feet, or allowance for dock doors to face a street, if preferred materials are used.
- Remove minimum masonry requirements from dimensional charts.
- Other revisions include allowing single-family residences to be constructed in MF zoning if lot is platted and under an acre (such as in the Dalworth area) and certain changes in the CA zoning dimensional tables to align Article 6 with the Downtown Masterplan (including an FAR limit rather than density limit for multi-family and removing restriction on one bedroom units).
Article 12 - Platting
- Include requirement that an applicant hold a Pre-Application Conference with staff prior to submitting an application for a plat.
- Add completeness check to determine when shot clock starts.
- Expand on language allowing the Director to forward any plat to the Planning and Zoning Commission within 30 days of filing.
- Extend expiration date of preliminary plats from 12 to 18 months and final plats from 12 to 24 months.
- Expand on requirements for plat submittal to align with state language.
- Include requirements for lot and block number format and sequence.
- Modify or remove plat vacation language, and remove language requiring a public hearing and allowing for a protest petition to be submitted for certain residential plats, to align with changes in state law.
- Modify language governing final submittal of plats for filing.
- Require street marker fees with release of engineering permits rather than at filing of final plat.
- Miscellaneous changes regarding sidewalk width, street grades, and engineering plan submittal requirements.
Article 16 - Site Plans
- Revise purpose statement to state that the city encourages quality and innovative site planning techniques through flexible but high quality standards of architectural design.
- Expand requirement for Site Plan approval to include townhomes, industrial uses outside of Great Southwest Industrial Park, institutional and religious uses that will generate more than 50 trips at peak hour, uses within 200 feet of a FEMA floodplain (modifies current "adjacent to" language), any use requiring subdivision of land, and any use that requires a Traffic Impact Analysis.
- Removal of Administrative Site Plan Approval language.
- Include language expiring Site Plan approval after 5 years if no progress has been made on the project.
Appendix F - Corridor Overlay Standards
- Move from base architectural and building materials requirement to point system in which each development amasses credit through use of a certain number of items in four categories, Building Design, Site Layout and Design, Useable Open Space, and Sustainability. Applicants can choose to provide items from Building Design category or items from other categories, but all required credits or "points" must come from at least two of the four categories.
Appendix W - Residential Development Standards
- Increase landscaping requirements for residential, but allow credit to be claimed for using recommended building materials (similar to Article 6).
- Modify variance language for single-family and townhomes to allow for reduction in lot widths, setbacks, and garage orientation if recommended materials are used.
- Modify amenities requirements for multi-family to require that more amenities be provided if recommended materials are not used.
Appendix X - Industrial Development Standards
- Change tree preservation approach from incentive for tree preservation to requirement for tree preservation.
- Move building materials and windows requirements to menu items and grant relief from current landscaping or open space features requirements if preferred architectural methods or building materials are used.