Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, I'm going to go ahead and call this uh meeting of the ward planning commission to order. Um if you would, we'll start with a prayer. Butch, if you would, would you lead us in prayer? Please stand. Gracious heavenly father, thank you for this great day. Thank you for this opportunity to serve our community. in our decisions in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, we're ready for roll call. Beth Ecman here. Tara Chandler here. Artbrook here. Don Waymck here. Butch Price here. Joseph Bardi here. Jack BS

here. Okay. At this time, um, of course, everyone should have received a copy of the minutes of the last meeting. Um, and I am open for a motion to approve those prior minutes. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. All in favor signify by saying I. I.

All oppose. No. Eyes have it. Um, according to the agenda that I see, we have no old business. Um, moving on to new business. Last month, we tabled uh the discussion to appoint a new planning commission vice chair. Um, is there any commentary or discussion um about that appointment? Is there anybody that would like to volunteer to be vice chair? Uh, the floor's open for nominations, I guess you'd say.

Uhuh. I recommend Don. Okay. Don Waymax been nominated. I recommend Don as well. Okay. It's getting It's getting kind of lopsided, isn't it? All right. What about you, Terra? You are the better option. Okay. Any any other any other nominations from the floor? Okay. I'm going to I'm open. I was going to say I move with nomination cease. I can't do that. Is do I hear a motion for nominations to cease?

So then second. Okay. Motion been made. seconded for nominations to cease. Uh all in favor of Don Waymack being our vice chair, uh signify by saying I. I. All oppose. No. Uh welcome Don. Uh as our new vice chairman. Well, thank you. Um may your shoulder may your shoulders be broad to carry the load. Okay. Next on the agenda, uh we have Gary Meadows uh to uh talk to us about a UDO change request. Gary, if you you have the floor.

All right. Well, thank you, Chairman. Um just to bring up everybody up to speed for about uh five six years, we were in the process of transferring over to the unified development ordinance. Uh in fact, I was chairman of the planning commission when we started that process. um three chairmans later and here we are. So, uh it's been working well. We've uh we adopted it last year and um uh it's been it's been working well. We have we still find some things that didn't get worked out even during all the the meetings and things we were having public hearings and things that we were having um uh during that time. So, uh, we've had that, uh, an issue brought to light on, um, one thing that probably should have been allowed in an agricultural zone and just wasn't. So, uh, the mayor and I have met with the applicant that's wanting to try to to develop a food truck park, uh, on Highway 319. And, um, we feel that, um, um, the the staff that met feels that that would be an applicable um, use for that zone. We could see we could foresee where uh, they might have rodeo events and want concession trailers. we could see where they might have fundraisers out there like at Beyond Boundaries and want concessions and things of that nature. Uh this is actually going to be across the highway from Beyond Boundaries. Um not part of Beyond Boundaries, but across the highway there. Um the barn that's adjacent to the lake out there on the Spence property is is the is the petitioner. He's the one wanting to uh come before. Um, did everybody have a chance to to print the um the letter from the mayor that was in the deal? Uh,

oh, you got it. I've got paper copy if you'd rather have a paper copy. Well, thank you. I brought some, but I wouldn't pause it until I asked for later. This is something the mayor drafted and uh in his absence he asked me if I would introduce this to you. So you know

I can't see that far. All right. So, this is something that the mayor drafted. He is out of state this evening and knew he wasn't going to be able to be here, but he and I both met with Kevin Spence. He's the one that's actually wanting to eventually do this. This isn't anything that he's want to do right away. He's looking at possibly retiring from medicine in the near future and kind of want to do this as a as a retirement uh event effort. Um, his initial goal, of course, he'll come before the planning commission when he gets ready to do this, but I can just I I think I could tell you that his initial uh desire is to have a food truck park uh that would accommodate um four, no more than six food trucks or trailers uh in the parking area adjacent to what he he calls the barn or their shop out there. Um that's up towards the highway uh right there in front of the lake. Um, and he's wanting to actually divide his barn into half, use the back half as his barn, keep his tractor and stuff in there, mower and stuff. He's actually wanting to remodel the front of it. Um, even has some uh some uh drafts or photographs that he'll bring when he decides to do this. Um, and have seating in there and maybe even a farmers market place to sell jelly and honey and whatever else might sell. uh which again would be conducive to a agricultural type environment. So um the problem was that it wasn't even allow it wasn't allowed in the UDO even by uh condition planning commission uh granting special condition. So, um, the mayor and I have talked about this on a couple of different times and the you can see that the current zone according to this letter that the mayor drafted up. Uh,

the food truck park not allowed. The retail and service of 10,000 square ft or less, which is be the farmers market and the jellies and jams and things like that um is not allowed and any kind of restaurant and eating establishment is not allowed. He he has a vision uh that he shared with us that he'd like to do like seating area so that people could come there and um uh you might want tacos and you might want barbecue and but you could still go to the same table and eat just like the food courts at a at a mall. Um, uh, it's kind of that that's kind of what he has envisioned to where there'd be a seating area and everybody could go get what they wanted to, uh, and then eat at the table, uh, with whoever they whoever they went to eat with and then still have an opportunity to shop and stuff like that. So, um, what what we're requesting, uh, to change is that, uh, all three of those events I just mentioned be allowed, uh, as being permitted with special condition, which means that, um, not just when he brings the food court, uh, up for um, want to do it, he'd have to come before the body. Um, but any any it would be allowed in, it's not just for him. it would be allowed in any agricultural zone because when we got to realizing that it wasn't allowed in that zone, we just felt like that was an oversight, it should have probably been allowed in that zone from the get-go. Um, and we just never had any really um insight to to think about that even being something that they going to do. He's actually got uh um visions of of making it to where it would actually draw people to there to eat from BB and Cabbat um as opposed to people going to BB and Cab from here to eat. So he's uh again this is not anything immediate. Uh it might be a year in the making. We just once it got brought to our attention we wanted to get it fixed in

the UDO because that's that's how we modify the UDO. So, with y'all's recommendation of this, uh, the city council would then have to pass an ordinance to amend this because this was done by ordinance. Uh, so the ward UDO in paragraph 6.9.3, it does allow for administrative changes without having a public hearing. This we had public hearings during the process, but we don't have to have a public hearing every time we see something that got omitted or needs to be changed. Uh the UDO does allow for administrative changes without having a public hearing. Um the change is presented to the planning commission with y'all's recommendation. If you so see fit, um then the recommendation will be sent to the city council. Uh the city council then upon recommendation by by the commission shall approve or disapprove by ordinance or motion. If it's disapproved, the matter can be brought back up to the council at the next regularly scheduled meeting. And the mayor, as I said, has formally request on behalf of the city that the planning commission recommend approval of the changes noted above and refer the matter to the city council for action. So, um that um that that is his wish. I certainly share that that desire, that vision. I just feel like and again, I'll I'll accept my share of the responsibility because I was chairman in a majority of that process, but we just never never thought about adding sales to agricultural zoning. Um, but with with what he's shared with us, whether he does it or not, it would allow it for any agricultural zoning, which would be what we're want to try to do. And and really, we're want to try to get it amended in here. And I'm sure the mayor probably wants to do that on his watch because he he, you know, got this actually um uh finished through. And so, I'm sure he wants to try to do that on his watch as well. As we all know, he's not going to

run for reelection. So, I'm sure he wants to get that done uh now that we know that that's an issue. So, and with that, I'll turn it back over to you. Yes, sir.

Right now, this would this would change the UDO for any agricultural zone. So, it would actually be their entire property. they would have to come once he decides to if he decides to build it and build it there, he would come and present a site plan just like um um um any other stick and mortar business. He'd have to come for the planning commission. he or anybody else that ever wanted to do this on their property in an agricultural zone um would come to the planning commission with a site plan um and parking detail and and restroom facility details and he would have to he or anybody else would have to go to the state and get their plumbing plans approved just like any commercial restaurant would uh because he plans on having electricity at the site, RV type hookups and uh water uh type hookups. uh for the food trucks and food trailers. So this you know this doesn't this doesn't that's why it says with condition it's not just permitted it's permitted after they get permission for that particular use by this body. So

another question yes sir the I know Kevin is the overseer since the death of his parents but I was under the understanding reason I'm asking any confusion later that long.

It it belongs to the estate. They've got it. However they've got it sectioned up is really not any my business because like I said, we're not zoning that piece of property. We're zoning the the the zone agricultural zone. Um I do know that um um his I know his sisters know about it. Um he is Not my understanding. I'm just sharing because I don't want to come back here. Well, Carla told me personally that her piece of well and that that that's for them to work out. Um I'm sure he got some of that or whatever it might be. So I know he is the

he's actually trying to get his sisters to use some of their inheritance and try to go in partnership with him. That may or may not happen. This may or may not happen at that particular site. That's why I'm saying he's the one that brought it to our attention that it can't be done. We're just trying to fix that. So, he may never do this or they may never

they may never collectively do this. We're just thinking that that should that should be allowed. It's good wide open ground whether it be there or any other agricultural zone that we have in the city or annex into the city. Um and so this would just allow that with the planning commission's permission in that zone. And that's all we're trying to do is is it just never it should have probably been in that table on page 10 and 11 um and 12 and 13. It should have been in that table when it when we did it the first time, but we're going to catch things for the life of the UDO, I'm sure, that needs to be amended. And this is this is one of them. Probably the first one I guess we've done formally since we actually adopted the UDO. I don't recall making amendments yet to this document.

So I have a question. Yes, sir. If the very last thing, if disapproved, matter can be brought back up to council at the next regularly scheduled meeting. So you're telling me that every month someone can bring it up every time? Every month? That's by design of the ordinance. Um, there are some things that when the when the planning commission or board of adjustment disapproves something, it's dead for a year. This is not one of those things. So, it can actually be uh it can actually be revisited every month. Um, but you know, that's that's just by design of the ordinance.

So, the final approval would be with us or does council still have to

The final approval to amend the ordinance would be with the city council. They adopted the ordinance by ordinance. Uh they would have to amend it by ordinance, but they would do that with y'all's recommendation. We're hoping, but if y'all choose not to, then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess. But uh uh but they would have they would have the the responsibility of of amending the ordinance because they adopted the ordinance. But because we collectively staff and this body enforce the ordinance um through our planning and zoning um it it starts here. So and again this isn't about uh Kevin or his family or anything about um that. It's about this not being allowed in that zone. He's just the one that brought it to our attention. He does have some desires to uh I apologize for that. He does have um some desires to to hopefully do this, but he's he's still a long ways out from that. But when he once he brought it to our attention, we just wanted to get it fixed because it it really should have been allowed from the get-go.

Any other questions? Um I've got a question on and and just help me my memory when we talk about uh permitted with special conditions. Okay, first of all, that's uh conditions set by us on each kind of it can be specific to the property. That's correct. Okay. Uh are there certain conditions that we're limited to or is it just kind of as things happen and we come up with things?

It's kind of as things happen and y'all come up with things. So, if it was just straight permitted, then all this body could do is approve or disapprove the site plan. And if the site plan had everything on there that the ordinance says they'll have, you'd have no legal justification to deny it. It'd be discriminatory towards their their business or their person or whatever. Permitted with conditions means that it's allowed in that zone. But if you think it's too close to the highway, um, then you can you can tell them it needs to be located somewhere else on the property. If you think that they need extra bathrooms because of the size of it or extra parking because of the size of it, it could be conditional on whatever conditions you give them. Um, but it's allowed, but it has to meet the conditions of the planning commission. Anything that's in this book as permitted means that they don't have to go through the process of reszoning it and hoping it passes and all that kind of stuff. All they have to do is dot their eyes, cross their tees, and make sure they address. If their setbacks are right and their utilities are right and their streets are in or whatever it is, then this body has really no legal reason to deny things that are by the letter to our ordinance. But if it's permitted with condition, you you do have the ability to set some of those conditions such as parking and access and too close to a curve, we you will do it, but the driveways got to be down here, that kind of thing.

Thank you. Yes, sir.

Gary, I have a question. Yes, sir. Is this setting a precedent for uh the agricultural zoning that people can just decide to put these sound like commercial projects add a commercial project to their agricultural without getting reszoned? It's it's not really I mean it is the first time this has been done. So I I can see that rationale, but it's not really setting a precedence for um uh res for agricultural zoning other than we may identify something later that something else that might should have been allowed in a agricultural zone or anything else that we can amend and adopt. Um it doesn't mean that we have to change every time somebody comes up for um um um want to some do something that's not necessarily in that um west of here um or actually north I guess of of this site um down by the school that area has some industrial close to where Mayor Brookke lives. That area has some industrial as well as that's a commercial corridor there where that daycare is and the dance studio is and where the school is. That's that's adopted in the UDO as a commercial corridor. So, we could have just as easily made that whole highway commercial, but there just wasn't any need to really do that. There's commercial north and south of there um for uh out around the dude's place and the restaurant, Mexican restaurant there, as well as back towards town where the daycare and the school and and that kind of stuff is there as well. So, so it's not spot zoning. it's not allowing something that that doesn't fit a highway corridor uh necessarily. So, but again, that could be part of the condition if they've got, you know, if um if if they let's just say the other side of that instead of rail bumping up against a railroad track bumped up against a subdivision and we said that's not conducive to being a buffer to a

residential zone, that could be one of the conditions that the planning commission could visit. So, more advantageous to have it reszone.

There's some argument to that, but um and and the mayor and I did talk about that. What we didn't like about that is that then you would have to if they wanted these three acres or 3 acres half mile down the road, not just not just this family, but I'm talking about anybody that has that kind of land, which is why it's usually zoned as agricultural. um they would have to know exactly what they wanted to use and they would have to replplat it, subdivide it, get it get it reserveyed, come before this body to draw just that two acres or three acres or whatever they wanted to use out of it. Um it logistically it was a lot more difficult to do that because you're not talking about a lot uh I mean a like a city lot you're talking about a lot of land gross amount of land uh but you're having to restrict it to um a particular couple acres then you'd have to have the public hearings and you'd have to have the reszoning request. um it it would just be logistically it would be difficult to try to do when you're talking about somebody that may have 80, 100, 200 acres, whatever they might have. And again, this is not just that property. It's any property that we already have or that may be annexed. Um whether we're talking about out 38, cross 319, I mean cross I57 to 319, any of that area, uh if and when any of that ever gets annexed, it would probably come in as either residential or or agricultural until they decided what they want to do with it. I think that there is pros and cons because of location very high traffic area. I'm sure that would be visited if it was

Yeah, I'm I'm sure that would be I'm sure that would be if that ever developed even res even residentially. I'm sure that if that would be um addressed and and looked at and studies would be done. Um because you're right, that's you know it's it's like it's like the speed limit now. it's 55, then it goes to 4525 when school's in session. Then it goes back up to 55 for about a block, and then when you get down there towards the fire station, it's back to 45. Um, so, you know, it could be there could be some modifications to the speed limit along 319. Regardless of whether we do anything with this property or not, it's uh it's it's pretty it's pretty, but as you know, we don't we don't set the speed limits. So, um, but uh but there there there are some flaws in the speed limit on 319. I I recognize that myself.

Well, I understand. So, yeah, but that and again, that would be one of those things that that if if this land developed on this land, regardless if it does or doesn't, that would be something that changing it from agricultural to residential, commercial, whatever it went to, would would have to be looked at. You know, traffic control and things of that nature. I just mentioned the Yes, sir. We worked on that a long time. Yes, sir. We did.

I felt like there was some confusion in that anyway. It was good product and still is a good product and I think that awesome job on it for now we're going to violate it.

We're not violating we're just amending it. We're not violating it. and and and and and I like I said I I worked on that document hard as well as you well know and and u you know I can recognize that that really this should have been um looked at but but we couldn't catch every every little detail of it there and and I'll tell you there's there's parts of that document that I don't necessarily um uh would have agreed with but I but I'll enforce it in my current position and I wasn't opposed to it in my previous position. position. I do think it's better for the community as a whole and that's that's what we're supposed to be doing. Not necessarily what I want, but what's best for the community and this certainly is is that. So, um I I think that there's I think that this is one of those things that would better serve the community. Um I really I really do.

Any other questions for Gary? We have discussion. Is there any discussion? Yes, sir. I don't have anything. All right.

I just have a quick question. Yes. Did you say this comes with conditions? Yes. As it is now. If if if you Not now. No, not now. It's not permitted at all as it is now. If this gets amended, it would be permitted with conditions. meaning that they would they or whoever wanted to do it would have to bring their wishes to the planning commission and you would have control over way more than just their site plan. Okay. So, as it's presented to this body now, it it is a proposal with those conditions. Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir.

All right. So what's the what's the wishes of the board and the I think the question here is to approve or not approve the amendment amendment to the UDO. That's correct. I make a motion to approve. All right. Motion's been made. Do I hear a second? Second. Motion been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose? No. Eyes have it.

All right. I thank you and on behalf of Mayor Gas and all I thank you for him as well. Thank y'all. Okay. All right. That next one kind of went with that. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. The food truck discussion. All right. on um the agenda. The next point of discussion is next month's meeting date. I think Memorial Day is throwing a monkey wrench 27th

into things. So, so the 27th would be the fourth Monday. Yep. Okay. With the question marks, does that mean is there any any reason we couldn't do that on the 28th? Yeah. No, that's why I put it on there. I wasn't sure if that's what you guys wanted to do. Okay. May

it Okay. We I can just get consensus on that. Is that okay with everyone? What's the date? Uh it would be May the 26th. 28th. 28th is Thursday. 28th 28th is Thursday and 26 is the fourth Monday. Yeah. Yeah. It'd be the fourth Tuesday. Yeah. Sorry, that's my Okay. So, we're looking at May 26th.

Okay. Is that okay with everyone? All right. Next meeting will be May 26th. Other announcements. May 2nd, spring cleanup from 8:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. 10th is Mother's Day. May 19th, city council meeting at 6:30. May 25th, city offices be closed for Memorial Day. Okay. Any other business or topics that need to be brought up? No. No. No. All right. I'm open for a motion to adjurnn. Motion.

Do we hear a second? Motion been made and seconded. All in favor signify by saying I. All oppose. No. Meeting adjourned. All right. 15 minutes.