Loading...
August 3, 2009 Minutes CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 3, 2009 After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Joint Work Session of the City of Denton City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, August 3, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. in the Facilities Management Training Room, 869 S. Woodrow Lane, Denton, Texas. COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Burroughs; Mayor Pro Tem Kamp; Council Members Gregory, Heggins, Mulroy, and Watts. COUNCIL ABSENT: Council Member Engelbrecht P & Z PRESENT: Commissioners Lyke, King, Ryan and Schaake. P &Z ABSENT: Commissioners Eagleton, Thomas and Watkins 1.The Council and Commissioners received a report and held a discussion regarding a variety of topics including but not limited to a status report of the November 3, 2008 joint meeting, Planning & Development Department accomplishments, revisions to development review process, Planning & Development Department programs, project updates including but not limited to infill, certificate of occupancy process, proportionality assessment process, and tree preservation and mitigation code update Mark Cunningham, Director of Planning and Development, stated that the meeting agenda would consider a status report of the November 3, 2008 joint meeting, Planning and Development Department accomplishments, revisions to Development Review process, Planning and Development Department programs, project updates and future projects. Status Report of November 3, 2008 joint meeting Process Improvements - Reduction of the project intake processing time, the creation of a customer service area, applicant/owner attendance at the DRC meetings, relocation of the DRC meetings, the creation of an ombudsman position, the creation of a development review engineering administrator and the reorganization of duties and responsibilities. The Developer’s luncheons were still on-going with monthly meetings. Code Enforcement Division Accomplishments - Passage of the Property Maintenance Code was a major accomplishment for the Code Enforcement Division. In terms of departmental reorganization, three code enforcement positions were added; a standardized staff orientation and in-depth officer training program for code enforcement officers was established; a Substandard Structures Program was created; a demolition contractor and trash and debris contractor were hired; a policy and procedures manual was developed and regularly updated; smaller specialized programs such as a Home Daycare Education and Enforcement Program, Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program, and ROW signage removal programs were created; the TrakIT software program was improved; electronic notices and citations were developed; and new performance measures were developed. Community Development Division Accomplishments - administered the HOME funds awarded to the Denton Affordable Housing Corporation; provided assistance to 34 very-low income households under the Minor Repair Program; provided down payment, closing costs and/or gap assistance to 18 households under the Homebuyer Assistance Program; assisted three households City of Denton City Council Minutes August 3, 2009 Page 2 with the rehabilitation or reconstruction of their homes under the Home improvement Program; worked with Engineering to complete various street and sewer improvements; assisted various agencies with public improvements; and administered the CDBG and General Funds awarded to 16 social service agencies. Building Inspections Division Accomplishments - installed computers in the building inspector trucks; organized a central plan storage area; created a central file room; adopted the 2006 International Building Codes; had two additional Certified Building Official Certifications; two new Master Code Professional Certifications; and 44 FEMA Incident Command System Courses. Planning Division Accomplishments- Accomplishments for this division included a departmental re-organization creating a development review administrator/development review committee ombudsman position; a restructure of the development review process; hiring a neighborhood planner; initiated several development code amendments to create a more effective document; formalized the development review process; accept new project submissions daily versus bi- weekly; established mandatory pre-applications for all submissions to walk developers through the stages of the development review process; and council approval of the Master Planned Communities. Revisions to Development Review Process included the pre-application process and the submission dates. The pre-application process allowed developers to discuss a potential project and receive feedback from the Development Review Committee. The fee paid for the pre- application process was applied to the project once the development was started. This was a mandatory process for new developments. The developer received a pre-application process time line and schedules. Minutes were taken at these meetings and included in the files of the development. A sample time line for a development, showing the dates/times a developer would follow with a project was reviewed. Mayor Burroughs questioned re-submittals and the time to process them. At times it seemed that minor changes took a long time to get approved. Brian Lockley, Development Review Committee Administrator, stated that staff now contacted the developer to work through those issues and worked with the developer to get those completed in a more timely manner. He stated that staff wanted to give the developer as much flexibility as possible but there was a need to balance the process with what was supplied by the developer. Council Member Gregory asked how Denton compared with other cities in terms of development process time. Cunningham stated that the best practice was 120 days but the Denton’s process was less than 120 days. Staff wanted efficiency and effectiveness at the same time. They wanted it done quickly but wanted it done right. City of Denton City Council Minutes August 3, 2009 Page 3 Mayor Burroughs felt that the pre-application process could easily be shifted into a prescreening process. The current pre-application process could be seen as a road block process rather than a speed up process. He was uncertain if this was a help or a hindrance to developers. He questioned if seasoned developers needed to go through the pre-application process and why the City would want to force assistance on someone who might not need it and would not cut short the process time. Cunningham stated that the mandatory process was a result of a directive from the prior joint meeting. It was correct that some developers going through the process might be held back but others found it very helpful in terms of avoiding obstacles they otherwise might have encountered. Council Member Mulroy stated that prior applicants had a problem with not knowing what was expected of them. There also was no internal process at that time assist with the development process. Council Member Watts stated that a developer who went through the pre-application process with no problems did not necessarily shorten the application time but the City’s codes were always changing. Going through this process took care of problems in the beginning rather than having to find out at the re-submittal phase. Commissioner Lyke felt that part of the process might be economy driven. She stated that it was a unanimous decision at the prior joint meeting to make the pre-application process mandatory as a way for a developer to find out what was needed before getting too far into a project. Mayor Burroughs felt that the process was efficient as an alternative but he was not sure about making it mandatory. He suggested considering an alternative track; one without the mandatory process. Council Member Mulroy asked if the 10 day time line could be shorter. Lockley stated that staff needed to have time to review the entire project to be sure nothing would slip in at the last minute. Council Member Mulroy asked if the 10 days in the front end of the process was effective. Cunningham felt it was very worthwhile but that it did add to the time of the development process. Mayor Burroughs suggested staff might develop some type of fast track alternatives for the developers. Council Member Mulroy asked about developer’s comments on the pre-application experience. Lockley stated that the overall feedback was positive and that it brought to light some issues to the developers that they did not know about. Staff would look at further at the process with the developer’s committee. City of Denton City Council Minutes August 3, 2009 Page 4 Council Member Mulroy suggested working with the developers committee to suggest some criteria to waive the pre-application process. Those suggestions would then be brought back to Planning &Zoning Commission and Council for consideration. Neighborhood Planning – Katia Boykin, Senior Planner, stated that neighborhood planning was a collaboration effort between community residents, businesses, and local government acting cohesively for the well-being and sustainability of its foundation - the neighborhood. It was planning from the foundation outward. Guiding principles included (1) understand that people were the most valuable resource, (2) achieve community cohesiveness and consensus, (3) identify neighborhood priorities, (4) establish short and long term goals, (5) create asset building initiatives, (6) assist neighborhoods in the governmental processes, (7) attract investments to targeted neighborhoods, (8) coordinate efforts between the community, government, non-profit, and private partners. Essential elements for healthy neighborhoods included civic empowerment, physical aesthetics, social stability and economic vitality. Program initiatives involved a demonstrative initiative, engagement initiative, and community planning initiative. Neighborhood goals for 2009-2011 included community development leadership and quality of life strategies. Mayor Burroughs noted that small area plans were not mentioned. Boykin stated that the new terminology was now quality of life plans instead of small area plans. Staff was working on a neighborhood registry program to help with neighborhood issues. Commissioner Lyke asked for a time line for revisiting small area plans as a fresh start was needed. Boykin stated that she was talking with city staff to see what had been done with the plans already completed. Chuck Russell, Planning Supervisor, presented updates on the tree code amendments, tree fund, eCognition, and CITYgreen. The current tree code was adopted in 2004. At the time it was adopted, Council directed staff to develop a citizen’s advisory committee to see how the code was working. Staff was going to start a comprehensive rewrite on the ordinance. A key question was if the city was promoting a tree canopy percentage. The current tree fund balance was $634,000. eCognition and CITYgreen were programs staff was looking at for future use. Staff was recommending that the Planning and Zoning Commission act as the recommended tree committee. The City also needed to consider the purchase of treed areas in order to protect them. Mayor Burroughs stated that key elements from the citizen’s tree committee was to hire an arborist, training of Code Enforcement officers on the issues and establishing a citizens committee to identify stands of trees that needed to be saved. That committee could advise the Environmental Committee regarding saving those tree standards. Commissioner Schaake felt that the Council needed to initiate such a committee and tie it in with neighborhood groups. Council Member Mulroy asked that a work session be scheduled in the near future on this issue. City of Denton City Council Minutes August 3, 2009 Page 5 PS Arora, Division Manager, presented an overview of the proportionality assessment process. This applied to perimeter street improvements, right-of-way dedication, easements, sidewalks, water and wastewater line extensions, drainage facilities, and development fees. Proportionality involved what type of impact a new development would have on the existing infrastructure. Commissioners Schaake and James left the meeting. Cunningham stated that future planning projects included (1) a planned development process, (2) parking, (3) in-fill/minor development, (4) signage, (5) certificate of occupancy and (6) the Downtown Implementation plan, With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m. ____________________________________ MARK A. BURROUGHS MAYOR CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS ____________________________________ JENNIFER WALTERS CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS