Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

office. He just keep they kept moving him moving and moving him down in the basement. Hey, you can stay there if you want. I just figured I hate to.

All right. Good evening. The January 20th, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of the city of Long View is now called to order. Commissioner Brian Dawberg would lead us in invocation and pledge of allegiance. If you would please bow. Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity tonight to um just serve our community and this city. Lord, we just pray that you uh be with us tonight as we uh do our work tonight for this commission. We pray that uh we are thoughtful and um uh just be with us tonight as we uh work today for our city. Amen. I [clears throat] 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. [clears throat] All right, next item is the approval of the minutes from our last meeting in December. Has everyone had a chance to look at them? If so, are there any corrections or questions? All right. If not, I will now enterain a motion. Move to approve. All right. We have a motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. All right. There's a motion in a second. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Yes.

Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. We have now reached the citizen comment portion of our meeting. This portion of the citizen comment or comments made other than the public hearing items we have on the agenda tonight. If you wish to speak on an item on the agenda, please wait until that time to speak. Please begin by stating your name and address for the public record. Now on to the regular agenda. The purpose of this meeting is to hear all pertinent testimony of those in support of in opposition to the applicants before the commission. Tonight is the first of two public hearings required to approve a change in zoning. The commission also considers plats. The procedure for public hearing items to be followed tonight will be the public hearing will be open and testimony will be heard in the following order. First, staff. Three. Second, the applicant. Third, the general public. Those in support of and opposition to the request. If you're part of a large group with a common interest, we ask that you appoint a spokesperson rather than have each individual restate the same information. When addressing the commission, please begin by stating your name and address. Try to limit your comments to five minutes. When all sides have spoken, the public hearing on the matter will be closed and no further public discussion will be entertained. After each public hearing is closed, the commission will vote on the request. zoning request and the planning of zoning commission's recommendation will go forward to the second public hearing which will be conducted by the city council on February 26th, 2026. We're now on to item A of the regular agenda. Angela,

thank you. to a public hearing be held to [clears throat] consider application Z26-01 filed by Serendipity Property Management of Texas LLC requesting to reszone lots 21 through 23 block one new city block 109 Evans Hill Estates from single family 2 to town home zoning district located on the north side of Ruthlin east of McCann road. So, the applicant is requesting that this property shown here on this zoning map be reszoned from single family 2 to town home zoning district. Uh the applicant is proposing to develop town homes on these lots. Uh the property to the west is zoned planned development for a pharmacy and this reszone request would provide a transition from that use to the single family neighborhood to the west. The transition from single family to town home zoning is a logical step ensuring that new development complements the existing neighborhood and provides a mix of housing types that can ser that can serve diverse needs. There is an increased demand for different housing options in Long View with the focus on affordability and density. The proposed reszoning is a necessary step in accommodating the growth growing demand for housing. Ruthland Drive is classified as a local street and is maintained by the city of Long View. Macccan Road is classified as a principal arterial and is maintained by Texot. Access management is essential to avoid traffic congestion and delays causing caused by turning movements for vehicles entering and ex exiting the roadways. Staff finds that the proposed zoning change is consistent with our future land use map shown here and

surrounding uses. Therefore, it does not constitute spot zoning. I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time. Anybody on the commission have any questions for Angela on this item? All right. Is the applicant present? All right. All right. Uh, anybody have any questions for the applicant on this item? About how many units would be total? How many doors? You can come up to You might come up to the podium. Thank you. [clears throat] Pardon me. Yes, sir. We're looking approximately eight units. Okay.

Any other any additional questions? All right, I will now open the public hearing. Are there any in support of this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name and address for the staff. All right. Are there any in opposition to this request? If so, please come to the podium, state your name and address for the staff. I do have a few speaker cards here. Um, all right. Yes, ma'am. My name is Pamela Rash and I live at 306 Ruth Lynn.

All right. My mother-in-law lives at 310 and she received the letter for this. Uh I have pictures of her yard already flooding and so from the pharmacy being built. The city does not maintain our street as they stated they do. I've lived on that street for 29 years and I've seen my uh ditch cleaned out one time. I do most my husband and I do most of the maintenance oursel to keep it flowing. The majority of those houses on that block are rental houses. Those people do not clean out their drainage ditches like because they don't own the property. We have pictures of flooding waters since the pharmacy was built going all the way across the street. You can see the mud. The next day, the people up there put in b uh bales of hay to address that and slow it down. It still has stopped up ditches on that side of the street. I live across from the pharmacy. I want to know what the planning and zoning committee plans to do about the flooding issues. That's my number one concern. that in the traffic from eight additional town homes.

Yeah. All right. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. All right. Um, uh, additional speaker cards for Pamela. Is it Rash? That was me.

Oh, that was you. I'm sorry. U, there was one for, uh, Sandra Scott. Hello, my name is Sandra Scott and I live at 312 Roofland Drive. Um I'm closer to this area that proposing to build the um town houses. Before the town houses are being built, I'm having problems already. My foundation is being um shifted because of the water coming across the road going under my house. I've had an estimate for $8,000 just to fix that. My floors are buckling because the water that comes across the road and it's it's it's horrendous. You can swim in my backyard just now from the water that goes across when we have flash floods. And it's they came out maybe a couple of weeks ago to clean the ditch out and they just scraped here and scraped there and that's supposed to alleviate the problem. But next time we have a flash flood, I can't even um get into my trunk of my car because the water is up to my knees already. And I don't think it's um I'm all for a new development, but now when I've got to pay my money out to keep my stuff going because of what's going on across the street. Sometimes when the water is so deep, if a car goes by, it's like a tsunami. A big wave comes across the yard and if you're not careful, you can run off. We've had people run into the ditches over there. What's I want to say it's a ditch. It's just a It used to be a ditch. It's not even um concave enough to even be a ditch anymore. you can walk across it and the water just comes across between my house and her mother-in-law's house and it's awful.

In the backyard, we had to um stick um holes through the fence to let the water flow through. It's so deep sometimes and it takes days and days for it to dry out. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. [clears throat] I have a looks like Richard and Regina both.

Hi. Thank you. Um, first off, I live at 309 Ruth Flynn Drive. That property has been in my family for 73 years. Um, so I've seen a a multitude of changes in the neighborhood. Um, I would like since we're on the topic of flooding, I would like to speak to the fact that by putting in so much concrete for a town home, you know, area that it's impervious obviously to rain, there's no place for the rain to go. If we already have that situation with just putting in the pharmacy, that excess rain will flow across the yard and eventually

it cause even more damage to to that side of the road. Yeah. Um the city did come out the one time she [clears throat] was talking about that I've seen and literally they were there all day and did nothing. Um I mean there they're I consider growing up it's not a digital culvert. It's just barely just I can mow it. Um, so just the fact that um having the ability not to I mean I don't know what they can do to to assist, but I would ask you to do a study on any flooding in that area before you permit any type of additional full I mean you're looking at three acres of concrete. Yeah.

With maybe a little strip of grass in the middle which is not going to assist with the absorption of any amount of water coming. Um, even our side, we live on the other side and ours floods anyway. Um, with any type of rain. Um, I also like to address the the amount of traffic that we have on our road. We are I I call it like a two-lane road. It's not a typical road. The amount of traffic that cuts through from Macan over to Judson, it's insane. Um, to add eight more homes there and then eight more traffic and then those people have people. Just the congestion alone. Um sometimes we can't even get out of our driveway because we're having to wait for so much traffic to go by. Yeah.

So, you know, I don't know. I mean, that needs to be addressed as well. That that is one thing that um is one of the other problems, the capacity of the street. Um also not a proponent of going from an SF2 to a to a town home area. This was established as a single family home residence um since as long as I can remember and I understand the opportunity to bring in new housing for different types of um family st lifestyles and sizes but this I don't believe that this is the this is the location for that. Okay. So, Richard. Oh, okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else in opposition to this request? If would the applicant like to address any concerns by um any of the uh any of the speakers or um for the most part it wasn't going to be two to three acres of concrete. It was going to be um a little parking area in front and then a row of homes and then the back yardage was going to be remaining as grass and dirt area and stuff of that nature, just normal backyards with long fences. So, it wasn't going to be a lot of excess development if you would. So, as far as uh runoff, I don't know that it would add that much. Well, and and through the process and I understand that the pharmacy also went through the process, but um he will have to submit plans and our engineering staff will have to look at that um and look at the flooding and drainage at that time as well. Um and all of these concerns that y'all have relayed to us. Uh we will relay that to our engineering team and have them take a look um at the flooding that's occurring out there.

Yes, ma'am. Um, if you don't mind coming just because it's recorded. [clears throat] Thank you so much. [snorts] One of the biggest areas before the pharmacy was built for flooding was their property. Okay. The land is more like this at an angle.

They have never done anything. They don't keep their ditches clean now. They never cared that the water runs right down the driveway that which is dirt. and gravel and that's what goes into the ditch and fills it up. We have gone down there with our tractor and made a ditch so it would drain into the ditches and quit flooding my mother-in-law's home and running in Sandra's home and on down. We even helped them do it at their house. But that is the city's responsibility to maintain that street, not ours. And we're already having to do it now. And just like the Botwell said they've owned that property in the family for 70s something years, my mother-in-law has lived in that house since 1961. On that block, there are eight people who actually own their homes. The rest of them are all rental properties. And that is not taken care of by the owners and it should be the drainage and it should be and it's not now. So why should we have any faith that once they build this property they will take care of it because they're not. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Are they I'm happy.

Okay. So, in rebuttal to what he I was maybe I was a little exaggerating on the three three acres of concrete, but as you know, y'all have guidelines on how much property has to be concreted per how many parking spots have to be there. Um, putting eight homes on that property, there is still going to be a significant amount of concrete on there. Um, probably not all of it. Probably I would hedge to say 2/3. Um, or maybe a little less. Um, but that still is going to impact the the the runoff and the flooding um that is going to come from that. And if they can find an engineer to fix that, um, then maybe we can have another discussion. I still do think that it will ruin the aesthetic of the original intent of the neighborhood.

Yeah. Okay. All right. Any additional questions or comments at this time? I have one. Um, you know, so you guys mostly are bringing up engineering issues [clears throat] that are really not our purview. Um, but is it Botwell? Is that correct? I Angela, can you go back to the very first slide? I think that has kind of the blue that one. So when I look at this slide, the blue is all single family. Yes, that is correct.

And so I I kind of agree with Miss Botwell. I mean, I the notion of um the town home um is concerning to me because, you know, once you set that precedent, there's no telling how far down those blocks that could go. Um the the engineering issues that we can't deal with that the the drainage, that's just not our our purview. Um, but I have concerns about um turning over single family one to not I don't want to say multif family because it's that's not the technical term for it, but in reality it is. I mean, you're you're taking single family, one residents, and you're you're you're you're [clears throat] increasing the, you know, the occupancy on the on the the lot. So, um, that's kind of where I fall on it. So, All right. Thank you, Brian. Anyone else? [clears throat]

Hi, Richard Bwell at 309 Ruth Lynn. Um, on the next hearing, y'all are saying it goes to the engineering. Is that still a public venue? The next hearing will be city council. Yeah. Does that is that still where we get to have our you can still discussions on those two? Yes, sir. Because I mean like right now we don't know anything of what it looks like or driveways up front or any kind. We're essentially pro providing a recommendation to city council and they they give the final approval or not not

cuz yeah I mean other than all the flooding and all that in my op I really don't want that type of thing in our neighborhood. I mean we have to live there. He doesn't. So I don't know if these things are going to be rental properties or if they're going to be you know sold as people owning them or what. So yeah, that's another problem we got. Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you. Any additional questions or comments? All right. If there are no additional questions or comments, I will now entertain a motion.

I'll have to move to deny. Move to deny. Okay. We have a motion to deny. Is there a second? Second. All right. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Yes. Any opposed? No. All right. Motion does not carry. Now on to item B of the regular agenda. Angela,

thank you. Get to that slide. Okay. A public hearing will be held to consider M26-01, an ordinance updating the unified development code to de to delegate approval responsibility. Um, so in 2023, state law, House Bill 3699 significantly expanded the city's authority um allowing city council um or the planning and zoning commission to delegate plat authority approval to city staff uh for administrative efficiency. So right now platting uh most plats come to planning and zoning commission for approval. But as long as they meet the city's requirements, planning and zoning commission doesn't have any discretionary authority. They have to y'all have to approve those plat. And so, uh, this is just a snippet from the Texas LO local government code, um, where it gives the authority to staff, um, to allow staff to approve these plat zoning commission and city council. Um so the reason for delegating that a plat approval authority to the city planner uh would be to promote efficiency uh reduce processing time um improve predictability for owners and developers. Uh there are times developers um and owners don't want to start construction um because it has to go to planning and zoning commission for approval. Um even though y'all you know planning and zoning commission has to approve it as long as it meets their requirement uh there is just that unknown and so

sometimes developers are a little hesitant to start those projects until it's approved by the commission. Um, and so instead of staff having to wait and you know, we have to write a staff report and spend the time to write draft a staff report, present these items to y'all, as soon as they submit them and they're appro they're approvable, staff can approve it instead of bringing them to the planning and zoning commission. So, our recommendation is just updating the UDC to allow staff to approve these plats rather than bringing them to planning and zoning commission for approval. um and having developers and property owners wait for that for that approval. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Angela. Anybody have any questions for Angela on this item? All right. I will now open the public hearing. Are there any in support of this request? If so, please come to the podium and state your name and address for the staff. If not, are there any in opposition to this request? If so, please come to the podium, state your name and address for the staff. All right. Any additional questions or comments? Being none, I will now entertain a motion. Move to approve. All right. We have a motion. Any second? Second. All right. We have a motion to second. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. Last item on the agenda is a staff update. Angela.

Yes. We didn't have we did not have any zoning items in December, so therefore there is no staff update. All right. Yeah. Good deal. Well, uh, this concludes tonight's meeting. We're now adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.