PUBLIC HEARING – There will be a public hearing to give all interested persons the right to appear and be heard on amendments to the Zoning Ordinance Schedule of Uses City-wide and in the Overlay District.  (P&Z has not completed their review of the amendments proposed for the B-3 Overlay District and has not yet made a recommendation to Council.  However, the last agenda item for this meeting is the discussion of and action on these amendments.  There is supposed to be another public hearing at the next P&Z meeting on Tuesday, August 4, 2009.)

MAYOR’S REPORT – The Mayor will provide updates on the Helotes Natural Area, the Helotes City Park Playground, and movie night.  He will also discuss the Gubernatorial Proclamation regarding extreme fire hazard and the relocation of the fire station utility box.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS – This item was on the agenda of the last Council meeting but was postponed to this meeting.  They will continue their discussion on amending the City’s Major Thoroughfare Plan by removing an 86-foot right of way bisecting a triangular piece of property near the intersection of Iron Horse Way, FM 1560 and Antonio Drive now owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The Church is now concerned about this designation, as the ordinance requires an 86-foot ROW dedication through the middle of their property.  This proposed ordinance would remove the ROW dedication from the property and transfer the variance authority from Planning and Zoning to City Council.  (For more information on this item, see the post on this website entitled “Report on 7/9/09 Helotes City Council Meeting.)

CONSENT AGENDA -  (These items will not be discussed in open session unless one of the Council members pulls it from the consent agenda.)  Approval of the minutes from the July 9 meeting and of the Quarterly Investment Report, quarter ending June 30, 2009.

Approval of the following board/committee/commission appointments and acceptance of Alison Rivenburgh’s resignation from P&Z.

Board of Adjustment:  Paul Friedrichs (as a member) and Steven Ritchie (as an alternate).

BOA membership would then consist of – Niels Jensen, Chairman; Doug Deptuch; Charles Roberts; Robert Logue; and Paul Friedrichs.  Alternate members are – Donny Jones; Jerry Cotton; Frank Thompson (who replaced Barb Galland), and Steven Ritchie.

Planning and Zoning Commission – Bert Buys (who is apparently replacing Alison Rivenburgh) and Steven Ritchie (who is replacing John Cooper).

P&Z membership would then consist of – Gregg Michel, Chair; Alex Blue, Vice Chair; Jerry Cotton; Joe Edmond; Sandra Ethridge; Richard Hawk; Ron Hozza; Mike McGlothing; Bert Buys; and Steven Ritchie.

Parks and Recreation Committee – Phyllis Jackson.

Committee membership would then consist of – Scott Muenz, Chair; Bert Buys; Linda Montemayor; Maria McCarns; Donny Jones; Megan Mutschler; and Phyllis Jackson.

Approval of an ordinance declaring a public necessity for the conveyance to the City of a permanent easement by the Bluff at Old Town Helotes.

Ratification of Mayor Schoolcraft’s approval and execution of the first amendment to the Design-Build Contract between the City and Middleman Construction for the construction of the Police and Fire Departments facilities within the Municipal Complex.  (It appears that there have been many changes made by Mayor Schoolcraft to the original contract resulting in the lowering of the cost of construction.  I will detail some of these changes in a separate article on this agenda item.)

ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION - Discussion and action on an ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance Schedule of Uses (land uses).

Discussion and action on an ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance Schedule of Uses in the B-3 Overlay District.  (As stated above, there is supposed to be another public hearing on this item at the August 4 P&Z meeting, so there should be no action taken on this tonight, but we’ll see.)

Please plan to attend the meeting and let Council know your thoughts on the items detailed above.

Members absent were Joe Edmond, Sandra Ethridge, and John Cooper.

A PUBLIC HEARING was held to give all interested persons the right to appear and be heard on amendments to the Zoning Code as pertains to the B-3 Overlay District.  There was no one present wanting to speak, and the public hearing was closed.

In the open session during CITIZENS TO BE HEARD, Garrie Gillaspie commented on the request for a monument sign that was to be discussed and acted upon later in the meeting.  She stated she was pleased that the sign was only going to be 8 feet tall, which complies with the old sign ordinance before the current Council changed it.  The smaller monument signs (as opposed to the taller signs allowed in the current sign ordinance) lend themselves to, and are more compatible with, the “small town feel” we want to preserve in Helotes.  She hopes that in the future Council and City staff will give more attention to the many signs around town that do not comply with the ordinance.

ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION

The owner of Ooh La La, a business located at 12440 Bandera Road, has submitted an application for a permit for a monument sign in front of her business.  As mentioned above, it would be 8 feet tall and complies with the current sign ordinance.  P&Z approved the sign stipulating that there would be 2 feet of landscaping around the base of the sign.

Ken Dempsey, the owner of the Bluffs at Old Town Helotes, 14391 Riggs Road, submitted a conceptual design plan (including the site plan, building design, and exterior lighting) for the expansion of an existing building now housing Stellar Books.

The building will be increased from approximately 1,034 to 1,888 square feet.  The proposed expansion will accommodate a coffee shop serving coffee, drinks, and pre-packaged foods and is proposed to blend with the existing building architecture (tin roof and fieldstone exterior) currently on the site.  No additional signage is proposed.

Mr. Dempsey said that two small oak trees will be removed.  The City Arborist will determine if this plan complies with the City’s tree ordinance.

P&Z unanimously recommended that Council approve this request.

NOTE:  At the Council meeting tonight, Council will also decide several other issues regarding this property.  Mr. Dempsey is requesting to pay a fee in lieu of detention.  He is also seeking a variance to the parking requirements and a variance to the current platting requirements.  Since these requests have been placed on Council’s consent agenda, it appears that these variances will be granted.  However, any Council member can pull this item from the consent agenda and require individual consideration.

P&Z was also to discuss all the amendments that have been proposed to the Zoning Ordinance Schedule of Uses.  However, they decided that, since they had already held several meetings during which they discussed and agreed upon these proposed amendments, no further discussion was necessary.

The last item on their agenda was discussion of and action on amendments to the Zoning Ordinance, in relation to the B-3 Overlay District Schedule of Uses.  The City Administrator presented the suggested changes to the prohibited uses in the Overlay District.  Some of his suggestions for uses that should no longer be prohibited were:  alcoholic beverage retail sales; appliance repair; automobile repair; car wash; bus passenger station in an existing business; dry cleaning shop; funeral home; tavern (completely enclosed); pawn shops (completely enclosed; no bars allowed on outside of windows); stone cutting or monument manufacture (completely enclosed); veterinarian office and hospital (with outside pens).  To be clear, all of the above uses were prohibited in the B-3 Overlay District, but if these proposed changes are approved, they would then all be allowed.  The reason offered by the City Administrator is that all of them are neighborhood services.

Because of the lateness of the hour, P&Z decided that at their next meeting, on August 4, 2009, they would discuss the proposed uses that would require the approval of City Council.  The City Administrator stated that they would have another public hearing at that meeting, but they are not required to re-notify citizens living next to the B-3 Overlay District (primarily residents of Cedar Springs) because they had already received a notification of tonight’s public hearing.  It was his opinion that if they were interested in the proposed amendments they would have been at tonight’s meeting and will already be aware of the public hearing now being scheduled for August 4, 2009.

Before adjourning at 9:03 p.m., the P&Z Chair presented a certificate of appreciation to Alison Rivenburgh for her service as the secretary of the commission.  Alison has resigned, and this will be her last meeting.