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Home My WebLink AboutMIN 08.23.2001 CC-SdilAITES OF SPECIAL diEETIANG OF GOVERNINGBODY OF THE • ' • The City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Special Session on the above date with Mayor MaryEllen Kersch presiding. Council Present: MaryEllen Kersch Clark Lyda Charles "Noss" Burson Ken Evans Llorente Navarrette Sam Pfiester Doug Smith Jack Noble Staff Present: George Russell, City Manager Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager of Utility Operations Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration Cathy Riedel, Interim City Attorney Shirley J. Rinn, Deputy City Secretary Amelia Sondgeroth, Director, Development Services Karen Frost, Administrative Assistant Tom Yantis, Assistant City Manager Melissa Murphy, Development Planner Clay Shell, Assistant Fire Chief Tom Leggitt, Fire Marshall David Munk, Development Engineer •. -11 1 1• .- Executive Session In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, the items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session that follows. A Sec.551.071 consultation with attorney - Pending Litigation - Contemplated Litigation - Legal/Risk Management Issues - Duty to advise regarding agenda items B Sec.551.06 deliberation regarding economic development - Discussion of Economic Development Prospects C Sec.551.074 personnel matters Special City Council Meeting/August 23, 2001 Page 1 of 4 Pages - Performance Review of Council -appointed employees D Sec.551.072 deliberation on real property • • of property Lease of • -• property Called ••- Called to order: 7:00 p.m. E Action from Executive Session No action from Executive Session F Town Hall Meeting to receive public comment regarding the recently enacted amendments to the Subdivision Regulations for the City of Georgetown concerning traffic impacts, water quality measures and tree preservation (Ordinance No. 2001-45 as adopted July 30, 2001) The Mayor gave introductory remarks regarding the interim ordinance and the format for this Town Hall Meeting. Terry Morgan gave a discussion regarding the process by which the interim ordinance was enacted. He said that there were several considerations the council looked at prior to enacting the ordinance, the first being the current state law, under which the mere filing of a development application or Concept Plan" would stop the City from applying any future development regulations to that particular project. He went on to say that the second consideration was that the City of Georgetown's current development regulations were over thirty years old and were in the process of being reviewed and updated. He indicated that during that rewrite gaps could occur during the process and that those gaps may not be addressed under the current regulations and that the City does not have any authority to enforce any regulations that are not covered under the current codes. Morgon went on to say that the City had only two recourses it could look at. The first would be adopt a moratorium, and the second would be to adopt interim standards until permanent standards could be reviewed and approved in the standard course of time, which puts development in a holding pattern. He discussed the impacts of both a moratorium and the institution of interim standards. He went on to discuss different situations that might trigger the decision to put in place either a moratorium or interim standards. Mr. Morgan also briefly discussed the concerns the council had prior to enacting the interim ordinance with regard to the possibility of new development being filed on the Rivery property. He mentioned that if an application been filed prior to the enactment of this interim ordinance, the ordinance would have had no effect on the application. He also briefly discussed the details of the ordinance. Amelia Sondgeroth gave a presentation regarding the interim subdivision regulations and discussed the implications of the ordinance. She provided information about the three areas addressed in the regulations: Road Adequacy and TIAs (traffic impact analysis), impervious cover, and tree preservation. She indicated that with these regulations, developers will know up front the costs involved regarding a particular development. Special City Council Meeting/August 23, 2001 Page 2 of 4 Pages Mayor Kersch discussed the format for public comment regarding the interim ordinance. Kate Ingham of 100 Hillview Drive told council she supported the council and talked about the reasons why. Don Martin of 3345 Bee Caves Road, Suite 212, Austin, Texas told council he appreciated the hearing and being able to provide feedback regarding the interim ordinance. He talked about the right-of-way provisions in the ordinance and thought they could be modified somewhat. He also talked about his concerns regarding impervious cover provisions. He also told council he thought it was a good thing to review all of the ordinances. He also told council that he thought the six-inch tree provision was is a very stringent requirement and though it should be reviewed. Joanne Ford of 109 Crepe Myrtle talked to the council about the beauty of Georgetown and gave the council her support regarding their efforts to keep the quality of life in Georgetown. Dr. Lauren Ross, a water quality engineer and the owner of Glenrose Engineering, an environmental consulting firm, gave a presentation regarding impervious cover limits and the need for them to protect water quality. She said that it is important to keep pollutants out of the water and sustain the natural base flow and patterns that flow into streams from watersheds. She said that cities need to find a balance between parking lots, rooftops, trees, soil and grass. She also talked about ways to minimize the impact of impervious cover. Robert Seamans of 104 Southcross Road told council that he thinks the ordinance is a good idea and that the interim ordinance does buy us some time to review the current development codes. He also indicated that the City of Georgetown had a participatory form of government if only the citizens choose to participate. Marjorie Herbert of 1246 Main Street told council that she serves on the Planning and Zoning Commission and that the commission has dealt with the problem of traffic impact on a number of occasions. She said that thinks that the council has done the right thing. Bill Bushnell of 100 Pilot Place said that he has lived in Georgetown for 5 weeks and that he moved here because it wasn't a strip mall. He said that he moved to Georgetown from New York City and that he is a relief worker for disasters. He talked about quality of water and impact of water volume if the city is paved over. He told council that the recent flood disaster in Houston was a good example. Linda Turner of 111 Vivian told council that she would like to see more business development to gain tax base, but also would like to see more long-range planning to manage its future growth. She also said that she thought that builder should be held accountable and that prosperity, growth and quality of life can co -exist. Richard Cutts of 1312 Elm Street told council that he has lived in Georgetown for almost 20 years. He congratulated the council on passing the interim ordinance. He told them that he thinks that 5 acres is to high, and that large residential developments should be included Special City Council Meeting/August 23, 2001 Page 3 of 4 Pages in the ordinance. He also said that he feels like it is the council's responsibility to preserve and sustain the quality of life in Georgetown. Joseph Hossley of 131 Canyon Road told council that he is an environmental engineer and that he objects to the method by which the interim ordinance was passed. He also said that he would like the council to acknowledge that traffic is going to be an issue at the IH 35M/illisams ®rive intersection even if the Rivery isn't developed. There was additional discussion among the council members regarding the impact of the '/a cent sales tax increase, 4B funding, and a Resolution passed by council supporting the construction of a u -turn at that intersection. Meeting Adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Approved: Mayor MaryEllen Kersch Special City Council Meeting/August 23, 2001 Page 4 of 4 Pages Attest: Srimey J