Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_ZBA_11.20.2007Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 1 of 3 City of Georgetown Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes November 20, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. City Council Chambers 101 E. 7th Street, Georgetown, Texas 78626 Members present: William Moore, Chair; Steve Lampinstein, Dale Ross, and Patrick Lawson Absent: Earl Watson Staff present: Bobby Ray, Planning Director; Elizabeth Cook, Principal Planner; Valerie Kreger, Planner III; Cathy Sisk, Planning Specialist; and Karen Frost, Recording Secretary. This is a regular meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the City of Georgetown. The Board, appointed by the Mayor and the City Council, acts on requests for variances, interpretations and special exceptions under the Georgetown Zoning Ordinance. Order of Hearing Process:  Staff makes a presentation of the project to the Board;  The applicant is provided an opportunity to present their project to the Board;  The Board asks questions of both Staff and the applicant;  *The Public Hearing is open, and both proponents and opponents are allowed to speak;  The Public Hearing is closed and the Board deliberates on the merits of the case; and,  The Board generates findings to support their decision, a motion is made and seconded, and a vote is taken on the motion presented.  Variance approvals require an affirmative vote of 4 members of the Board. * Those who speak please identify yourselves for the meeting record. Regular Session - To begin no earlier than 6:00 p.m. Chair Moore called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. and described the order of hearing process. (The Board may, at any time, recess the Regular Session to convene an Executive Session at the request of the Chair, a Board Member, the Director or legal counsel for any purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551.) 1. Action from Executive Session. There was not an Executive Session held. 2. Consideration and possible action on the Minutes of the regular Board of Adjustment meeting of July 17, 2007. Motion by Ross to approve the minutes with the spelling correction of Lampinstein’s name. Second by Lampinstein. Approved 4 – 0. 3. VAR-2007-008 – Consideration of the expansion of a nonconforming use, as described in Section 14.03.020.C. of the Unified Development Code to allow the expansion of an office use for a 2.38-acre tract in the David Wright Survey, located at 4236 Williams Dr. (CB) Carla Benton presented the staff report and background. At the time of annexation in 2005, this property was being utilized as a restaurant and office. During that time it was Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 2 of 3 determined that the restaurant use was exceeding the capacity of the existing on-site septic system. Subsequently the restaurant has relocated. In order to continue the existing office use and maintain the legal nonconforming status of the property, the applicant is requesting the office use for the entire structure. This would allow them to maintain legal nonconforming use, which does not exceed the capacity of the on-site septic system and which is consistent with the other 2 businesses on the same lot. Staff recommends this expansion. The applicant was available to answer questions. There were none. Motion by Laminstein to approve the expansion of the office use in this building as prescribed in the Unified Development Code, Section 14.03.020.C, based on the findings of fact as determined in the staff report. Second by Lawson. Approved 4 – 0. 4. VAR-2007-010 – Consideration of the expansion of a nonconforming structure, as described in Section 14.04.020.A., B. and C. and Table 6.03.020 of the Unified Development Code to allow the expansion of a current recreation use in excess of 50 percent and to allow the structure to be located in alignment with the existing structure, which would allow non-compliance with lot standards for structure location for 9.0 acres in the Nicholas Porter Survey, locally known as the Georgetown Recreation Center, located at 1003 North Austin Avenue. (CB) Carla Benton presented the staff report. The City of Georgetown is the owner of approximately 200 acres of unplatted parkland known as San Gabriel Park. This 9.0 acre area is proposed for development as the Georgetown Recreation Center expansion and is located in both, C-1, Local Commercial and RS, Residential Single Family zoning districts. A rezoning request has also been submitted and is currently in process to the Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council. IN order to expedite the review process, the Parks and Recreation Department has submitted this request for consideration of the expansion of a nonconforming structure to allow them to proceed with the building and construction process prior to the completion of the rezoning of the park. The Commission did not ask any questions. Motion by Lawson to approve the requested expansion and variance from the Unified Development Code Sections 14.04.020.A., B. and C. and Table 6.03.020, based on the findings of fact listed in the staff report. Second by Ross. Approved 4 – 0. 5. VAR-2007-009 – Consideration of the expansion of a nonconforming use, as described in Section 14.03.020.C. of the Unified Development Code, to allow the expansion of a telecommunications tower in the Dicotec Subdivision, Lot 2, located at 4407 Williams Dr. (VK) Valerie Kreger presented the staff report. The T-Mobile telecommunications tower is located on a 1.59-acre retail site (The Barn) at 4407 Williams Drive, just east of Shell Road. The site was annexed into the City limits in 2005 and given the standard default zoning classification of Agriculture. In 2006, the property was rezoned to C-1, Local Commercial to accommodate the retail development. However, this did not take into account the existing steel monopole tower that was also located on the site, making the cell tower a legal nonconforming use. The 96-foot tall tower is located at the rear of the property adjacent to residential homes in the Serenada West subdivision. The applicant is requesting ZBA approval in order to expand the existing non-conforming Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 3 of 3 telecommunications use. They are planning to upgrade the existing tower to allow for improved network services (data, video and internet) for wireless phones. To achieve this they will need to add a new cabinet onto the existing 10’x15’ steel platform and add three new antennas to the monopole tower (see Exhibits C & D). The new cabinet will be approximately 59.1 inches tall, 17.6 inches wide and 30.7 inches deep and located at the northwest corner of the existing platform (see Exhibit E). The additional antennas will be located on the top portion of the existing structure. Existing security fencing encloses the entire tower area. There are no required findings on which to grant or deny this request. Per Section 10.03.020.C of the Unified Development Code, expansion of a nonconforming use may only be expanded if it receives the approval of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The applicant, David Morris, representing T-Mobile was present for questions and stated that they had decided to err on the side of caution and come forward with this application, preparing for more cell phone usage with the development of the iphone in 2009. Motion by Ross to approve the expansion of a nonconforming use, as described in Section 14.03.020.C of the Unified Development Code, to allow the expansion of a cell tower in the Dicotec Subdivision, Lot 2, located at 4407 Williams Dr. Second by Lawson. Approved 4 – 0. 6. Comments from Staff. Karen Frost introduced Cathy Sisk. Cathy joined the Planning Department in October and will be attending the Board Meetings in the future as the Recording Secretary. 7. Comments from Board Members. No comments. Chair Moore thanked everyone for coming. Meeting adjourned at 6:17 p.m. __________________________________ _______________________________ Approved, Will Moore, Chair Attest, Earl Watson, Secretary