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Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes / October 6, 2009 Page 1 of 3
City of Georgetown, Texas
Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting
Minutes
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Council Chambers
101 E. Seventh Street, Georgetown, Texas 78626
Commissioners: Don Padfield, Chair; Patrick Lawson, Vice Chair; Annette Montgomery,
Secretary; Porter Cochran, Brandon Collier, Gregory A. Austin, Gene Facey.
Commissioner Absent(s)
Commissioners in Training: Pat Armour
Commissioner(s) in Training Absent:
Staff Present: Elizabeth Cook, Director, Carla Benton, Planner; Valerie Kreger, Planner; Jordan
Maddox, Planner; Tommy Garcia, Planner; David Munk, City Engineer and Stephanie McNickle,
Recording Secretary.
Chair Padfield called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chair Padfield stated the order of the meeting and that those who speak must turn in a speaker
form to the recording secretary before the item that they wish to address begins. Each speaker
will be permitted to address the Commission once for each item, for a maximum of three (3)
minutes, unless otherwise agreed to before the meeting begins.
1. Action from Executive Session - There was not an Executive Session.
Consent Agenda
The Consent Agenda includes non-controversial and routine items that the Commission may act
on with one single vote. A Commissioner or any member of the public may request that any
item from the Consent Agenda be pulled in order that the Commission discuss and act upon it
individually as part of the Regular Agenda. The Planning and Zoning Commission's approval of
an item on the Consent Agenda will be consistent with the staff recommendation described in the
report, unless otherwise noted.
2. Consideration of the Minutes of the September 1, 2009, meeting of the Planning and Zoning
Commission.
3. Consideration and Possible Action on a Preliminary Plat for 60.930 acres out of the Dyches
Survey, also known as Walnut Springs Subdivision, Phase II, located on Joshua Drive off of FM
3405. (CB) PP-2009-008
Motion by Facey to approve the Consent agenda including the September 1, 2009 minutes as
corrected. Second by Lawson. Approved. (7-0)
Regular Agenda
4. Consideration and Possible Action on a Waiver request, pursuant to Section 1.03.C of the
Unified Development Code (UDC), to allow utilization of the less restrictive RS, Residential
Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes / October 6, 2009 Page 2 of 3
District setbacks at Berry Creek, Section V, Block C, Lot 23, located at 30418 Briarcrest Drive.
(TG) WAI-2009-001
Staff report by Tommy Garcia. The applicant has requested approval of a waiver in order to
utilize the 6-foot side setback of the UDC instead of the more restrictive platted side setback
of 10-feet to facilitate construction of a single-family residence. The property is within the
Berry Creek Subdivison loceted between Airport Road and State Highway 195. Specifically,
the tract is part of the mostly developed Berry Creek Section 5 neighborhood and located on
the west side of Briarcrest Drive, just north of Kingsway Road.
The lot sits between two developed lots. One home was developed in 2006 and the other was
developed earlier this year. This will be one of the last lots on this street to be developed. The
subdivision was platted in 2004 with 25-foot setbacks along street frontages, 10-foot and 5-
foot alternating side setbacks and 20-foot rear setbacks. The side setbacks were set out in such
a way as to result in a 15-foot separation between the houses. Many of the homes in the area
were built using the platted setback requirements while others were developed using the
regualtions of the Unified Development Code.The properties on either side of this structure
utilize the 10 and 5-foot side setbacks. The property across the street was built using the
current UDC side setback of 6 feet. That structure is also next to a house that utilizes a 5-foot
setback, thus the separation between those two houses is approximately 11 feet. The proposed
waiver would create a 16-foot separation along the north property line and an 11-foot
separation on the south property line. Chair Padfield opened the Public Hearing. No one
came forward the Public Hearing was closed.
Motion by Facey to recommend approval of a waiver, pursuant to Section 1.03.C of the UDC,
to allow utilization of the less restrictive UDC side setback for Berry Creek Section 5, Phase 1,
Block C, Lot 23, located at 30418 Briarcrest Drive. Second by Montgomery. Approved. (7-0)
5. Consideration and Possible Action on a Waiver request, pursuant to Section 1.03.C of the
Unified Development Code (UDC), to allow utilization of the less restrictive RS, Residential
District setbacks at Williams Addition, Block 6, Lot 1, located at 1801 Dawn Drive. (TG)
WAI-2009-002
Staff report given by Tommy Garcia. The applicant has requested approval of a waiver in
order to utilize the front and side setbacks of the UDC instead of the more restrictive platted
setbacks to facilitate construction of a single-family residence. The property is located at the
northwest corner of Dawn Drive and E. Central Drive. The majority of this subdivision,
located between Williams Drive and Northwest Boulevard, is already developed.
The lot sits on a corner with an existing carport taking access from E. Central Drive. There is
also an existing gazebo that the applicant plans on moving to a different portion of the lot.
The property was platted in 1969 with a 25-foot setback along all street frontages. Since that
time the City’s development regulations have gone through several revisions even though the
setbacks on the plat have stayed the same. These revisions have included keeping the front
setback at 25 feet while reducing the side street setback to 15 feet, to the current regulation
that requires a 20-foot front setback and a 10-foot side setback along a street frontage. Since,
until recently, builders were able to utilize either the current development regulations or the
platted setbacks, many of the homes in the area utilized the setbacks from the development
regulations at the time of their construction.
Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes / October 6, 2009 Page 3 of 3
Two other lots at the intersection are not developed. The property next door to this lot was
built utilizing a front setback of 20 feet. The property across the street, which is also a corner
lot, was built utilizing a front setback of 20 feet and a street setback of 25 feet. It is unclear
from the file as to whether the house was setback that distance due to regulation or to
accommodate the design of the home. Further down, on the other side of Dawn Drive, the
home is setback 35 feet from the front property line
Chair Padfield opened the Public Hearing. No one came forward the Public Hearing was closed.
Motion by Austin to recommend approval of a waiver, pursuant to Section 1.03.C of the UDC,
to allow utilization of the less restrictive UDC front and side setbacks for Williams Addition Unit
2, Block 6, Lot 1, located at 1801 Dawn Drive. Second by Facey. Approved. (7-0)
6. Public Hearing and Possible Action on an Amendment to the Unified Development Code
(UDC) to revise Sections 10.04, 10.06, and 16.04 “Definitions of Uses” and add a new Section
10.06.070 “Changeable Electronic Variable Message (CEVM) Signs” to allow Changeable
Electronic Variable Message (CEVM) signs. (EC) Elizabeth Cook reviewed the Amendments to
the Unified Development Code. Chair Padfield opened the public Hearing. Ross Hunter, 908 S.
Walnut, stated he is concerned with safety. He feels that anything that is trying to attract the
driver is distracting the driver from driving. However, he is not opposed to business owners
wanting to upgrade signage. Linton Mayfield, 2706 Giacomo Cove stated he is the owner of the
DQ in Georgetown. He feels that any sign could be potentially dangerous, but his DQ on a busy
corner in Lockhart has not had any problems. Sherry Danu, 1101 Walnut is concerned with IH
35 looking like Burnet road in Austin. Peter Dana has been in Georgetown for 30 years and feels
Georgetown does not have the look and feel as Cedar Park and Round Rock and would like to
see this continue. The Public Hearing was closed. Discussion among Commissioners.
Motion by Facey to recommend to City Council approval of the Proposed Amendments to the
Unified Development Code with a sixty minute per frame time limit, with a text color of Amber
with black background, with the maximum daytime bright time brightness level of 4690 nits and
the maximum nighttime brightness level of 1675 nits. Second by Lawson. Approved (5-2)
Collier, Austin.
7. Motion to Adjourn at 7:40 P.M.
_______________________________ __________________________________
Approved, Don Padfield, Chair Attested, Annette Montgomery, Secretary