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Home My WebLink About12-01-1980 Meeting• • • MINUTES OF LA PORTE PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION December 1, 1980 1. Meeting called to order by Chairwoman Muston at 7:00 P.M. Members of Planning and Zoning Commission Present: Chairwoman Pat Muston, Sidney Grant, R. J. Blackwell, Walter Springall. Members of Planning and Zoning Commission Absent: J. B. Womack, Dallie Wright Others Present: Mayor J. J. Meza, John Courville, John Joerns, Donald F. Ford, Kenneth Schick, Dorothy Tarpey, W. H. Colbert, Hoyt Gibbs, Stanley H. Florance, Jim Hudgens. Jim Hudgens introduced John Joerns, City Engineer, and stated Joerns would be at the disposal of Planning & Zoning for ad-~ vice at any time he was needed. 2. Motion was made by Blackwell to approve the minutes of Plan- • ning & Zoning Commission held November 3, 1980, seconded by Grant. The motion carried, 4 ayes and 0 nays. 3. Mrs. Dorothy Tarpey presented their plan to utilize a moving van trailer into a work shop in her back yard. Plans were reviewed by Planning & Zoning members and such items as floor space and electrical connections were discussed. Mrs. Tarpey stated this structure would not be used for residential pur- poses and would meet required electrical codes. A motion was made by Blackwell to recommend a variance be granted to Dorothy and Dan Tarpey to construct the proposed building. Seconded by Grant. The motion carried, 4 ayes and 0 nays. Ayes: Muston, Grant, Blackwell, Springall Nays: None 4. Planning & Zoning considered the request for re-zoning of Outlot 449 by owner, W. Henry Colbert, from residential to commercial. Mr. Colbert stated his reason for the re-zoning request is financial. He stated he had tried for several years to sell this property and was unsuccessful. He feels he should or must sell •this property because of taxes. Grant • asked if Colbert had a buyer for Outlot 449. Colbert stated he had been told by his real estate agent of a possible buyer for Outlot 449 and Outlot 450; however, the project would be too large for just 449. Grant stated he felt very strongly • the land along North L Street should be utilized as much as possible for commercial purposes and in that light he made a motion to approve the request for re-zoning of Ou•tlot 449. • • Minutes, Planning and Zoning Commission December 1, 1980 • Page 2 Grant's motion died for lack of a second. Springall asked if Colbert had any plans to show the Commission or some pro- posal he was considering? Colbert stated he had none at this time; however, he felt confident his agent would line up something in a very short time because he had been able in the past to work up some very good retail centers. Motion was made by Springall to give Mr. Colbert a letter of intent from Planning & Zoning to consider a project for this area. The motion died for lack of a second. Motion was made by Blackwell to recommend to the City Council the request for re-zoning of Outlot 449 be denied, seconded by Springall. The motion carried, 3 ayes and 1 nay. Ayes: Springall, Blackwell, Muston Nays: Grant 5. The Planning and Zoning Commission considered a request by F. Carrington Weems to permanently re-zone 2.8818 acres of Tidewood Subdivision, 420 feet north of McCabe Road in the William P. Harris Survey A-30. Mr. Weems was not present. Springall spoke in opposition to the request, since the prop- erty directly across the street is being developed for 150 apartments and this request is for 90 apartments, he was • afraid problems would develop that the City couldn't handle. Discussion followed. Planning & Zoning reviewed the materials provided concerning this property, including Ordinance 780NN providing temporary re-zoning. Motion was made by Blackwell for Planning & Zoning to recommend to City Council a permanent re-zoning of the Weems property to "District C - Apartment and Commercial District." Seconded by Grant. The motion carried, 4 ayes and 0 nays. Ayes: Springall, Blackwell, Muston, Grant Nays: None 6. Mr. Donald Ford appeared before Planning & Zoning to request the re-zoning back to its original status parts of Outlots 339, 340, 320, 321. These outlots are in the Lomax addition and the request is to rezone from Residential to Commercial, as they were prior to consolidation. Ford presented plans for the property, showing a shop similar to Brashear Manu- facturing on the adjacent property, and there is a fifty foot pipeline at the rear of this property to act as a buffer bet- ween this property and the residential subdivision. Motion was made by Springall, seconded by Grant, to recommend to City Council that this property be rezoned to Commercial. The motion carried, 4 ayes and 0 nays. Ayes: Springall, Grant, Blackwell, Muston • Nays: None • • Minutes, Planning and Zoning Commission December 1, 1980 • Page 3 7. Mr. Kenneth Schick appeared before Planning & Zoning repre- senting Mr. Kenneth Bryan for the rezoning of Outlots 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 from Residential to Commercial - Apart- ment. Schick requested consideration for commercial 240 foot frontage along Spencer and balance, approximately 12 acres for multi-family. Certainly Schick felt Spencer, or West Main, is all going to be commercial. He asked that the prop- erty be rezoned zone "C". After looking at the plan and the surrounding area, a motion was made by Blackwell to recommend to City Council a rezoning to zone "C" for this property. The motion was seconded by Grant. The motion carried, 4 ayes and 0 nays. Ayes: Springall, Grant, Blackwell, Muston Nays: None 8. Trans-Continental Services, represented by Mr. Hoyt Gibbs and Mr. Richard Florance, posed the question before Planning and Zoning as to their zoning classification. Mr. Gibbs stated the project including offices, warehouse, container storage and repair shops will be located on the Florance property just east the intersection of State Highways 225 and 146, north of the railroad right-of-way. Cost of installation will be • approximately 12 million dollars, and employ some 130 persons. Florance presented to Planning & Zoning a study done by a Houston firm as to the best use for the Florance property, which was put into the Lanore Corporation in September 1979. The study brought out that residential use of the land was out of the question for several reasons: no support facilities, the bridge across the ship channel will cause even more traffic, and the population shift is more to the westerly areas of La Porte. The study revealed that heavy industrial was not possible due to land size and location; therefore, this project was the best use for the area and the acreage. The property is presently zoned Commercial - Light Industrial with special permits. Questions followed the presentation by members of Planning & Zoning. Grant, what kind of material will you handle and what is the traffic pattern? Gibbs stated all the units outside the yard will be empty, all material storage will be in the warehouse which has a complete sprinkler system and fire partitions between different cargos. Roughly, I would say 150 to 200 units a day will move in and out of the facility. Springall questioned the stand-still traffic mornings and evenings? Gibbs stated they anticipated a normal 8 to 5 opera- tion with round-the-clock security; we anticipate the shop will be a two shift operation. • Muston asked if the member of Planning & Zoning felt that this project fell within the present zoning? Blackwell stated that if they were looking for a place to put such a project, this certainly seems to be a good one. • Minutes, Planning and Zoning Commission December 1, 1980 Page 4 Springall stated that for access with the feeder roads it would work out well. Muston questioned the feelings of neighbors. Florance stated the Muellers have just recently sold their property to in- vestors and there are no neighbors to the east or west and the railroad separates them from neighbors to the south. Grant stated he feld due to the material handled this project should fall under heavy industrial. Muston stated Planning & Zoning's past determination was that heavy industry is smoke stack production. Grant answered, I have a reservation about setting this in light industry. I feel the City should have the tools of heavy industrial zoning to govern this type of project. Joerns stated the other ordinances of the City give adequate control for either classification. Springall stated he felt this location was ideal for either classification. • Grant stated he had no problem with the location; his problem was with the classification. Muston stated this project cer- tainly does not fall within the commercial classification. Motion was made by Springall to recommend to City Council that a "Special Use Permit" be granted to Trans-Continental Services, Inc., to enable construction of this facility in the present zoning classification. The motion was seconded by Blackwell. The motion carried, 4 ayes and 0 nays. Ayes: Muston, Grant, Springall, Blackwell Nays: None. • 9. Muston suggested a light industrial classification be created under the present ordinance to facilitate the incoming endeavors. Grant and Blackwell both stated they felt the new ordinance was near enough to submission to the Council; they would rather wait. 10. .Motion by Blackwell to adjourn, there being no further business to be brought before Planning and Zoning. The motion was seconded by Springall. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 P.M. Passed and Approved this 5th day of January 1981 P t Muston, Chairwoman Re ect lly mitted, alter Sprin 11 Secretary to Plann ng & Zoning ~{ ~~, i , ~~~ ~ ~ C=~~m . , ~ ~ ~ .- ~~`~ ' ~ v ~, ~~ _ ~ °~~~ ~ . ,, ~~ - ~~ ~~ ~: DIY . V _ ~.~ ,~ _ ~~ ,;, ~~ ~:. i ~; ~~'~ v ~ U r /~ ~~~ /~ ~, .:. I'i I:' ~ :;~ ~! ~~ 1 / ~~ ,! . ;i