Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_UDCAC_03.09.2022City of Georgetown, Texas Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Unified Development Code Advisory Committee Meeting Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 3:30 P.M. City Hall, 808 Martin Luther King Jr St, Georgetown, Texas 78626 Committee Member(s) in Attendance: P.J. Stevens; Philip Wanke; Jordan Maddox; Josh Baran and Scott Allen Committee Member(s) Absent: Brian Robinson, and Jen Henderson Staff Present: Travis Baird, Assistant Planning Director; Ethan Harwell, Senior Planner and Stephanie McNickle, Planning Specialist. Meeting called to order at 3:33 P.M. Public Wishing to Address the Board On a subject that is posted on this agenda: Please fill out a speaker registration form which can be found at the Board meeting. Clearly print your name, the letter of the item on which you wish to speak, and present it to the Staff Liaison, preferably prior to the start of the meeting. You will be called forward to speak when the Board considers that item. On a subject not posted on the agenda: Persons may add an item to a future Board agenda by filing a written request with the Staff Liaison no later than one week prior to the Board meeting. The - request must include the speaker's name and the specific topic to be addressed with sufficient information to inform the board and the public. For Board Liaison contact information, please logon to http•//govemment.georgetown.or /g category/boards-commissions/. A. On a subject not posted on the agenda: Persons may add an item to a future Board agenda by filing a written request with the Staff Liaison no later than one week prior to the Board meeting. The request must include the speaker's name and the specific topic to be addressed with sufficient information to inform the board and the public. For Board Liaison contact information, please logon to http://government.georgetown.org/category/boards-commissions/. At the time of posting, no persons had signed up to speak on items not on the agenda. Legislative Regular Agenda B. Nomination and selection of Vice -chair and Secretary for the 2022/23 UDC Advisory Committee -- Travis Baird, Assistant Planning Director, Current Planning Motion by Committee Member Maddox to nominate Committee Member Baran to serve as 2022- 2023 Vice -chair. Second by Committee Member Wanke. Approved. (5-0) Motion by Committee Chair Stevens to nominate Committee Member Wanke to serve as 2022-2023 Secretary. Second by Committee Member Maddox. Approved. (5-0) C. Consideration and possible action to approve the minutes of the November 10, 2021 regular meeting of the Unified Development Code Advisory Committee — Stephanie McNickle, Planning UDC Advisory Committee March 9, 2022 Specialist Motion by Committee Member Wanke to approve the December 8, 2021 minutes. Second by Committee Member Maddox. Approved. D. Discussion on 2022 Annual Review, including review and potential updates to UDC Chapter 7 regarding Non -Residential Building Requirements— Sofia Nelson, P1aruling Director, Travis Baird, Asst. Planning Director; Ethan Harwell, Senior Planner Staff reviewed concerns with the industrial developments and with large building developments. It was stated the city codes is not really set up to deal with it. Staff stated when reviewing the code and when they were last updated, it just wasn't something that was relevant in our market, nor was it relevant in the wider market the way we're seeing it today. Therefore, the purpose of what we're going to do today is we're going to discuss those issues that are related to building design. We're going to share with you all some of the potential solutions that that we've come across as we've been working through these over the last couple of years. Staff reviewed over the history and stated the current trend has shifted for industrial developments and with large building developments. Staff stated The City of Georgetown has seen significant growth and change during 2021. This has led to lessons learned, and there are opportunities for improvement of the UDC with the 2022 Annual Update. In the December meeting, these opportunities were discussed and The UDC Advisory Committee elected to review certain requirements for building design within Chapter 7 of the UDC. Staff stated the city is seeing a lot of developments that are coming in now where it's 200,000 - 300,000 plus feet undercover. Staff stated 43,000 feet, roughly is an acre. Therefore, multiple acres of land under one roof creates a different reality for construction and that is what staff is currently reviewing. Staff stated there are multiple elements that are reviewed in these larger buildings, but are finding the bigger building, the application shows a flat roof as opposed to having some sort of sloping. Staff and Committee discussed the industrial areas withing the city and surrounding areas including major roads and highways. Staff stated the City of Georgetown is capturing traffic and interest from people and companies who are looking to move products into the area and then from here disperse it through smaller vehicular movement throughout that area. No review and significant changes have been made to Chapter 7 in several years. In that time the market has realized a significant shift with demand for industrial type developments, particularly logistical uses, increasing drastically. These types of developments often have trouble complying with building design standards within the UDC given their use, placement in the area, and typical construction methods. This has led to a significant increase in requests for administrative exceptions and increased difficulty in the development process experienced by both City Staff and applicants. UDC Advisory Committee March 9, 2022 Staff has identified 3 components of building design with create the greatest opportunity. 1. Roof Styles 2. Building Articulations 3. Architectural Features Staff stated that within these components there exist several subsets, such as vertical and horizontal articulation, roof pitch, etc. for which the targets of the current UDC have not particularly accounted for the types of construction prevalent among contemporary industrial developments. Staff provided a copy of Building Design Standards from area cities including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Buda, Kyle and San Marcus. Discussion regarding issues related to Building Designs and potential solutions. Discussion between Staff and Committee regarding Roof Treatments (Parapets) and Roof Treatments (Screening), Entryways and Entrance Treatments, Building Articulation and Architectural Features Applicability, Horizontal Articulation (Footprint), Vertical Articulation (Elevation) and Architectural Features. Staff stated Administrative Exception and Planned Unit Development applications have increased 31% from 2019 to 2021 due to the significant increase in demand for industrial development. Staff gave a powerpoint presentation and reviewed over the key terms and provided examples/slides for committee to view. • Height The vertical distance from grade to the average heightof the highest roof structure. • Slope The vertical change in grade divided by the horizontal distance over which that vertical change occurred. The slope is usually given as a percentage. • Architectural Feature - An architectural element attached to, contiguous to or otherwise related to a building, structure, or property including, but not limited to, awnings, pillars, posts, windows, doors, lights, overlays, moldings and other fixtures. • Gross Floor Area (GFA) - Gross Floor Area. The square feet of floor space within all exterior walls and including all floors of a building. Gross Floor Area (often referred to as GFA) does not include porches, garages or space in a basement or cellar not used for dwelling purposes. • Articulation - An interruption/differentiation of the building wall plane with either a recess (concavity) or an offset (convexity) that projects away from the building wall plane by a measurable distance or a differentiation in the height of the wall surface. • Tilt Wall Construction — construction method in which slabs of concrete are cast, then set upright to create walls. • Curtain Wall — a type of wall typically made of a metal framework supporting a glass panels. The Committee asked it the Administrative Exceptions applications are similar or are they a "mixed -bag". Staff stated there are few applications that vary but seeing some very specific ones over and over again like roof treatments and articulation on buildings. Discussion regarding design guidelines surrounding the roof treatments, slope articulation, and the requirements for parapets. It was stated one example was a requirement for parapet insulation on a UDC Advisory Committee March 9, 2022 large industrial building and trying to shed rainwater off the roof and the typical design would be to run gutters along the roofline, pick that water up, move it away. Staff stated now you must cut holes into this parapet needing to be installed, but when you cut holes into things, it creates a design issue. Clean lines, clean slopes, low slope roofs, even flat roofs with no parapet gets in the way of a lot of creative work. Discussion on ways to hide equipment without having a parapet wall up and only around the equipment on top of the roof. Discussions regarding some commercial properties around Georgetown and how parapets are being used. Staff presented a visual of different styles of roofs and treatments. (flat, shed, hip, gable, mansard, gambrel) Staff stated flat roofs and roofs with a pitch less that 2:12 must provide a parapet. Staff stated parapets must be at least 2 feet tall, have a cornice detailing and conceal equipment on flat roofs. Staff also stated there may be different roof styles combined in different settings like an apartment complex. Staff explained the calculation of the Horizontal and Vertical Articulation. Staff gave a PowerPoint presentation on architectural features. Staff stated the code would say that every building has a have at least three features. Staff discussed alternative building design and informed the Committee is an Administrative Exception application, explained the process and ways they work with the applicants. Staff stated Georgetown currently have requirements than other communities in the surrounding areas do not address. Staff reviewed those requirements with the committee. Staff and Committee discussed desired outcomes and deficiencies in the current code. Staff will collect and analyze information from this discussion. Staff reviewed roof treatment and types: Problem: 1. Current code requirements create significant design issues with industrial construction 2. Building design requirements for IN buildings are unclear on Arterial level roadways 3. Contemporary designs tend to avoid steep roof slopes and parapets Impact on Building Design: 1. AE process to allow slopes or find alternatives to parapets when construction type is prohibitive or results in a poor -quality design 2. AE to determine where exactly the design is required to comply as viewed from the roadway 3. Buildings in all districts require an AE to determine the conditions in which the low slope Potential Solutions: Clarify the extent to which parapet coverage must be provided on buildings in IN subject to 7.03, for example: A. On arterial roads does requirements must be met on the side facing the road B. Must be provided if the wall faces public streets, parks, residential districts C. Parapets must be provided if needed to screen rooftop equipment UDC Advisory Committee 4 March 9, 2022 2. Scale requirements for building design based on building size? A. Some roof treatment may be acceptable on some buildings but not others B. Some roof treatments may be acceptable in certain zoning districts but not others C. On large buildings, additional features can be substituted for full parapet coverage 3. Scale requirements for roof treatment based on building type or zoning district A. Some roof treatments acceptable in certain zoning districts but not others Discussion on the reason for a parapet on a building and asked if items like the HVAC can be placed on the ground behind the building, so they are out of view of the public and highways. Staff stated that works just fine but a sometimes applicants may also want skylights on the roof to help the interior. Discussion regarding hiding only the equipment on the roof of these large buildings. Staff stated the parapet code has been in place since the UDC was written in 2003. Discussion regarding the possibility of a parapet not being needed if the only reason is to hide something you can't necessarily see. Committee member felt they should be backing off the parapet language and just leaving the mechanical screening in place. They can use the parapet for mechanical screening and give them design options to do it. Possibly for all zonings, not just industrials. Staff presented Power point slides for Committee to view regarding different roofs. Discussion and Powerpoint presentation regarding Articulations: Committee member asked and Staff stated applicability of building design requirements in industrial is very general, but the terms for articulation are very specific that if the wall faces a street residential district or park. Committee member asked and staff stated changes cannot be made for materials. Staff stated before the law existed in 2018, we said that if you provided a change in materials, that we could count that as an architectural feature or we could consider that_ After 2019, the state legislature said that cities can no longer regulate building materials if it's allowed by the building code. Additional discussion on material changes by staff and committee. Discussion on zonings. Committee member stated the code and professional business offices are completely permitted in industrial. So, what you're going to find is that there will be people that go, I don't want to do any of this, I just want to go get an industrial zoning. The city may or may not know why they are getting the zoning and then forcing these zoning cases that really don't make sense for the area, but they're still forcing them through the system, and it gets to where city council just like with the fueling stations want to go in and change the permitted use chart again. It's this overreaction of things that didn't need to be reacted to. So, in general, I'm always going to lean away from saying it's only applicable in industrial rather than any size ability or scalability type situation. Discussion regarding San Marcus codes and menus. It was stated San Marcus seems to give people design options on how to achieve somethings. Staff stated they can look at San Marcus codes. UDC Advisory Committee March 9, 2022 Discussion regarding lighting on industrial buildings. PowerPoint presentation continues showing large industrial building features. Problem: • Extra large buildings have huge wall surfaces • large expanses that require carefully planned features that repeat or create patterns Impact on Building Design: 5 features does not adequately break up the wall or address impacts to buildings this large... difficult to scale to wall space Features requirements provide no clear expectation for how these 5 features are to be used Negotiate for fewer number of features, but use them to create repeating elements to break up fagade horizontally and vertically Potential Solutions: 1. Scale up feature requirements with wall size 1. Require additional features as walls get larger 2. Consider the number of times the feature has to be used 2. Require standard features, but add additional options to default list or guidance on how to use them on larger walls E.g. reveals & patterns created by them 3. Elaborate on entry design standards for specific uses or buildings of a certain size. 1. Use of features like glazing, offsets, shade structures 2. Variation in roof planes Committee member suggested adding options or guidance for people. Possibly create some graphics to add into the code to give people a little nudge to use this feature and achieve the intent. Staff stated they will bring back updates from this meeting to the next scheduled meeting. Staff announce Ethan Harwell is leaving the City of Georgetown. The Unified Development Code Advisory Committee thanked Ethan for his dedication and hard work for the city. Chair Stevens welcomed newest members Scott Allen and Joshua Baran to the Committee. Adjournment: Motion t(A adjourn at 5:37 p.m. PJ Stevens, UDC Advisory Committee March 9, 2022 Attest, Phillip Wanke, Secretary