Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

If everybody would like to rise for the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, everybody can be seated. Roll call. I have Yimka. Rex. Tony.

Here.

Matthew.

Here.

And myself. So we are a full commission. We only have one item on the agenda tonight.

Yay.

Summer. So we're going to start with a presentation of the material. Then we will open for public hearing. And then public hearing will close. And then we will have our discussions. All right. So do you guys stand right here? So you don't have to, I promised you I'd make this. So this is a request for a replat and a specific use permit for building tiny homes and tiny homes are not the definition. Tiny homes in this larger lot and divide it and replatting that larger lot into four lots of a minimum of 2,500 square foot each. And then building a maximum of a 300 square foot family, single family home. On the lot. 800. 800. I said 300, didn't I? I meant 800. 800. A maximum of 800. So in the state of Texas, a tiny home is classified as 500 and less. So this is not a tiny home. Okay, would you guys like to kind of present your idea?

Sure. So we actually had some photos printed up if you guys want to look at each one and pass them around. That's kind of our plan of what they're going to look like. There's four different versions. Yes. Hi, I'm Ashley Gladden with Vela Gray Flooring and Homes. Yes. 17 Fairview Lane in Aledo.

Thank you.

Yes. Sorry about that.

That's okay. My fault. I should have said that.

That's okay. Basically, what we're trying to do is create single-family residences for the community of Glen Rose. We envision new families maybe with one child or an older couple that are empty nesters. We're just trying to utilize this lot to the best of its capability. And we see longer, more narrow lots, longer, more narrow lots on that property with each frontal facing the street. And basically, we are excited to provide a little bit more affordable housing for that area. As you can see, they look all different, unique, and well-built. We will be contracting with a builder. We do remodeling from the studs, everything. A builder, we do remodeling from the studs, everything, a whole plumbing. We redo all sorts of square footage of homes. We will be utilizing a home builder to help us get going with slabs. We will be having slab homes, not pier beam. And that's kind of it. Do you guys have any questions for us?

That's it for now. Okay. We're going to let you sit down. Okay. Perfect. And we are now going to open the public hearing for the replat and specific use permit for building these smaller homes, individual homes on these parcels. So I know that we have some people in the audience would like to speak. If you will take your turn, walk up to the podium, give your name and address. You have three minutes so that we can hear your thoughts.

Good evening, everybody. Excuse my English. It's not too good.

So my name is Agustin de Reza.

I've been living in a 707 street for like seven years. And like I told you on the last meeting, my main concern pretty much is that it will be Too many people live in that place, different people. And like my kids, my main concern is I got a special kid, so I don't know what kind of people is going to move in. Like the lady, it could be an old couple, but it could be, you know, kind of people. And usually a lot of time for long terms. So they can be in and out. And like I said, my main concern is the safety of our neighborhood, pretty much.

Fair enough.

Thank you.

Hello, Howard. I've got 4 properties right there within the 200 foot radius of this property. I was making some copies in my print around out of 8. so I've got coffee for you guys. So, same same as last time I'm concerned about the smaller houses and forth. which is going to put that building much closer to the street than any of the other buildings on that street. And there also does not show any rear setback. I don't see how you can approve it as it's planted. Even with those changes made, I would not like to see it go in, but I know things happen. And so I'm just asking at the bare minimum that you have them revisit the plat and knock that down to three lots so that that 25 foot setback can be done. Thank you.

okay um the so let's address some of the safety concerns um we did in that note was overriding the setbacks of all the other things so the only setbacks that we set with the city council as your line of sight is perfectly clear and we had that checked by a variety of people.

Parking, that's my biggest concern is parking.

Yes, they will have a drive area in front of the home, and we are planning to do a carport, so they have covered parking. We're not exactly sure. It'll be something that looks aesthetic.

If the house looks like this, you're going to have a carport in front of it? Not.

The way it's coming off the street, how does that make it a 25-foot offset?

Right.

Yeah.

Because the parking area doesn't count towards your offsets. It's just the building. You can have a carport if it's not enclosed on the sides.

The offset, right? This one. Correct. And you got four. So if you just took that one away and made it three, you still have the same offset.

Well, this also is concerned with the street. Got you.

These are all fair questions. And trying to understand. This is the first time, this is the first of these projects that is coming to, this is something that for years, a number of us within the community have been trying to find a way to provide housing for our workforce, our tourist employees, our teachers, et cetera. And this was, best first attempt so understand that there's people that are concerned about it i do i also understand that you know we're working through this together community um the ordinance as it was approved and written by city council is there is no corner lot setback different than the seven feet okay

So does that mean any other subdivision in Glen Rose? No.

Just for small homes on 2,500 square foot lots, because you couldn't have a corner setback of 25 feet and still give room to build the property when you only have 25 square feet. A maximum of an 800 square foot home. Okay. The setbacks required are a 25-foot front and a seven feet on each side. And we dropped the corner lot setback and we dropped the back property line setback. These are completely different. They are single-family homes built on a smaller scale on a smaller lot size. That's the intent. Okay. So we are going to take that, and we will have our city attorney address that before city council approves. Absolutely. We will make sure.

So I would think to address safety sakes, if it turns out that they abandoned that setback, that that should be a four-way stop.

We can address that as well. To address safety. Address safety. I'm 100% on board.

I just think the biggest safety and... Problem in my personal opinion is parking because we've seen it in some subdivisions. Let's say you've got an older couple and a teenage child in a small home. They're going to have three vehicles and then they're going to start parking on the road. And I think.

Well, because that's one of the reasons why we as a specific use permit, because we can put in a specific use permit, no street parking. And that if they're caught street parking, they can have their car towed, et cetera. That's one of the big reasons we did this as this is different. Anything else we're doing in town.

Okay. I'm also learning from you. Yeah, I understand. Because.

with that limited parking i would think that's going to bring value down we want to have a renaissance we want to see that there are new homes and i'm really in favor of doing it into three lots because i think you can there are those lots and ends up owning the majority of the square footage then his one vote counts as a higher amount okay okay so we have to look at the square footage of each lot and then how many Of each lot is not end this move forward to council. Let me rephrase that. Do I have a motion to recommend approval of this to council or do I have a motion to not recommend. To move forward with council, it's going to council no matter what it's enough. Do we say yes, you should do this or no, you should not do this.

I need a second.

I would have to abstain from the table until we get a question on Mr. Howard's concerns.

Oh, you mean on me? So I can let the first die or I can push through the second so that we can then put together points of clarity that we need and we can say I can let the first die and then we just take it to council as is and say we let it die for these reasons. I can second it, and we can put together very specific reasons and need counsel to have answers to those reasons for them to be able to move forward with their recommendation or their denial. I would second with clarification as well. OK. So do you want me to go ahead and second it, or do you want to do that?

I'll do it. OK. Yeah, I would want the clarifications. OK.

So special use and restrictions will then apply. First is just the replatting.

Okay. Right now we're just on the replatting. And so on the replatting, we need to verify wording. I'll just make sure we're getting this right. Verify wording of note H against the chart for setbacks. Correct?

Correct.

Okay. Is there anything else that we need to verify related to the replatting? No, okay, so. We need to make sure that the way our chart is written the way our notes written that the attorney says, yes, there is no corner lot set back and there's no backyard setback.

Okay.

For this one? Yes.

Yes. Right. If the note is not clarified enough, then the attorney will tell us, and then we will not be able to do anything until all of that is right in the ordinances of what should corner lot setback be and what should the backyard setback be. All right. Right.

Okay.

I mean, we're not as concerned if this is peering beam. What we will not allow is trailer. Okay. Or manufacturing. Modular was okay, but mobile homes are not. Okay. Okay. We don't really get. R2M takes care of that in itself. The manufacturer allowed in an R2M. Okay. Okay. So. Modular is something that doesn't give us the ability to regulate code. Okay. All right. That's the conversation about the plat. So can I have a vote that we suggest recommending yes to the replat if we have the clarifications from the attorney that our document is legal? All in favor? All right, now we can address the rezone, not the rezone, the specific use permit, which can they build the smaller footprint on these lots? And what what parameters you want them to have?

One of the parameters is no street parking.

Okay. You were mentioning the power lines.

Oh, that's going to be on. Yeah, the company is going to take care of that.

Okay. Is there any other parameter? that we want to see for them to be allowed to do this if the replant goes through.

My only concern is the back build line.

Okay.

But with the way it's written.

Well, we'll end up with that decision here.

Yeah.

And so we can state that if the back build line stands at zero, what do we want the back build line to be? Right. I mean, I've lived in a house with it being three feet.

If it's written the way it's written, I don't think we should change it in their case.

OK. So the main piece is the no street parking. And then I think the other becomes pending the clarification of the replatting And the SUP requiring no street parking, which would have to be a part of the contract in any sales agreement that they forward. Are we in favor of accepting the specific use permit for the smaller than average home to be built on these lots? Do I have a motion for yes or no? Do I have a motion of any sort?

So if we create a precedent here to accept this, and it's a disaster, can we, you know... Every single one of these scenarios is an SUP.

So we have another one coming before us in July that is another smaller plat, smaller home situation. but each one of these is gonna be a learning lesson. So we can continue to alter our ordinances along the way as we learn things. I don't want this to be a disaster. I want this to be done in a way that enhances our community, not destroys it. In an SUP, you can have We are not allowed to create architectural things. And just any builder can come in, buy a lot, do whatever they want with it. The state of Texas does not give us control.

Line at the back there, from a fire point of view, that's the fire marshal or is it...

All that will end up being before building permits are built or permitted. There is proper. And we're again, we're going to solve that problem in the replant discussion that impact the specific use permit. I get it, guys. This is new. It's different. This is all so decisions about. So I'm not trying to fight one way or the other. I'm just trying to keep us out of lawsuits. I would have liked to see a carport in front of it.

I move to

Let me ask a question. Do you have the ability to pull up the R2M definition? We don't have internet access really quick.

Hang on. Yeah, hang on one second. I'll get it real quick.

Let me see what you have.

Yes, thank you. Off-street parking requirements shall be in accordance with the parking schedule. No enclosed or covered parking is specifically required. However, carports or garages are encouraged. So they don't have to have a carport. So they can pull in and have just a driveway. And that will suffice to our ordinances in this particular zone. Thank you. You expressed concern about carports and where they would look.

It's more aesthetics. I agree.

It's a beautiful front. You don't want to cover it.

I agree. I will say when we were originally talking with them long before the ordinances were anywhere near things, one of the suggestions we had was 401 Bernard Street, the Airbnb, where they have that portico chair in the front. Yeah. We said, hey, if you're going to have to do something, look that. Make it a part of the structure so that it doesn't look like a piece of metal on post. But in reality, in the ordinance, they are not required to have any type of parking. So that is going to be their decision on how to handle that. thoughts on if the replatting goes forward the specific the specific is allowed with the condition of no street parking okay

Is that part of code enforcement to require a walkway, a concrete walkway in front of this house?

That's not code enforcement. What city is that? I didn't get that. Could you try again? Subdivisions behind the residence. Can we try again? Into other walkways? There's no... Wait, is it connecting to other walkways? So it doesn't make sense to require it for it to be in front of four houses and then it just gets...

Invest in doing, extending it.

Well, that's not our rule.

Yeah, but what I'm saying is if it's there, it's an invitation to do that.

We can always make that suggestion to the city that they look at sidewalks in Wood City. They have other priorities for sidewalks right now. OK, so if plat is approved as is, then we recommend the SAP. If the re-plat is not approved as is, then the whole thing blows up and we get to go back to the drawing board. Do I have a second for that? Thank you, Matthew. All in favor? Okay. With that, if there's no other business before the commission, then I am going to close our meeting at 6.05 p.m. We're going to get in front of the, put all this together, get in front of the city attorneys. I do want to address, since they are saying you're concerned about people now, since they are saying they're putting these up for sale, does that make you feel more comfortable that they'd be new neighbors?

Well, like I said, I would prefer less house because we'll be less people. I understand that. Pretty much all the people... I don't, we don't want each other. I've talked with several, they're speaking or so. Some of them, they don't call me because they don't speak. I understand. I speak with them. But it's pretty much our, my house is kind of old. I mean, it's not like he's, I know he's more.

I do too. My main concern is I've got an autistic kid.

Sure, so I'm gonna it's going to be more danger for him. I always we always take with him, but it's going to be more cars one one way or another. He don't know about the danger, but that would be a good idea that she was talking about. I decided to be something good because people at the end of

I am going to say this, and this is my own opinion, not opinion of anybody within the city, employment, or et cetera. Ms. Simmons has owned this and her family has owned this lot for years, and it's done nothing. It's just a vacant lot. And I do find, in my opinion, that vagrancy tends to fester When you have large plots of land vacant without ownership in them, and they are constantly so having the lot be used for homes, I think is a better use. In some ways, and nothing happening than it being vacant with that said, we do understand concerns. And safety. And unfortunately, we're not allowed to control who our neighbors are. Anybody can buy anything. They can live however they want next to you. It sucks. But I do believe that what they're trying to build is refreshing and something that we begin, speaking for myself, I know that my employees need a safe place to live. And they can't afford to live in Glen Rose. And all the other developers that have come in to start building homes in Glen Rose are building $400,000 homes. And my employees need to be able to live not in government housing. They need to be able to live in some place they feel safe. And we don't have that here.

OK, but that's European.

It is mine. everybody has one i understand i understand somebody would eventually would be buying that lot and doing something with it but it could be a house too i get it i get it i just there it is i know that i i can't keep putting up my employees and living at the end because they can't afford a house in glenrose so Somehow, you know, there is.

You're right.

No, I agree. Anyways, all right. Thank you so much for your time and your attention, and thank you for your feedback so that we can find the best way forward that solves something, whatever it is. Thank you.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you so much.

Well, I hope that helps. So thank you very much. I want to, so.

Philip, thank you. Do you have two minutes?

Yeah, what's up?

I'm trying to help. Okay.

While you're revisiting that, when this note only has three specifications, and then it says all other, so like this specification is already in the table, just kind of why it's even in there, so is this one. But when it says all of the requirements in the table above them are in effect, you might want to revisit the width and the depth in case you can't get a 2,500 square foot lot.

Correct, and that was the point, yeah.

And so if there's a legal issue with it, I'm saying just fix it all at once instead of having it be in there again.

Yep, I appreciate that. Thank you very much. sometimes my my failure of law thanks