HomeMy WebLinkAboutG_DevPlan_Introc
G =. OF
eorget �,� y'//)
o n DEVEIAPMENT PLAN
DEVELOPMENT
PLAN
IN
t
1996
Georgetown
CITY OF GEORGETOWN, TEXAS
CENTURY PLAN
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Land Intensity, Transportation,
and Utilities FLnctional
Plan Elements
Adopted by the
Georgetown City Council
March 13, 1996
Second Edition: August 1996
G ❑T OF
eorgetown DEv=PmENT Pray
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Second Edition
MAYOR
Leo wood
CITY COUNCIL
Ford Torn - Mayor Pro Tom
George Arroyos
Lee Bain
Charles Burson
Shelly Davis
Susan Hoyt
Dick Vincent
CITY MANAGER
Bob Hart
CITY STAFF
Edward I. Barry, AICP - Director of Development Services
Clyde von Rosenberg, AICP - Chief of Long Range Planning
Lisa Miller - GIS Coordinator
Kenneth Bloom - Planning Intern
GC" OF
eorgetown
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
March 13, 1990 Adoption
MAYOR
Tim Kennedy
Jim Colbert to 1988
CITY COUNCIL
Mice McMaster - Mayor Pro Tem, from 1987
Barbara Pearce, from 1987
Marvin Lackey, to 1988*
Ercel Brashear, from 1988*
Doak Fling, from 1988
Luther Laubach, to 1989*
Winfred Bonner, from 1989*
Joe Saegert, from 1989
Shorty Valdez, from 1989*
CITY MANAGER
Bob Hart
Bob Gaylor, to 1988
*Council Representative to the Century Plan Working Group
CRT OF
Georgetown
DEVELOPMENTPLAN
CENTURY PLAN WORKING GROUP
CHAIRMEN
Ron Gahagan, Chairman from 1989
Ben Whisler, Chairman to 1989
CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES
Winfred Bonner Tim Kennedy Luther Laubach
Ercel Brashear Marvin Lackey Shorty Valdez
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
REPRESENTATIVES
Steve Bamsch Bill Johnston Susie Ramos
Armistead Davis John Kuhn F. L. Tonn
Patty Eason Barton Levy Henry Vasquez
Karen Gilbert Wayne Meadows Ben Whisler
CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVES
Jack Barnes
Robin Hallett
Bill Simpkins
Gene Bernd
Claude Hays
Bill Smith
Scherry Chapman
Jack Hunnicutt
Perry Steger
Jimmy Coffman
Ethel Moore
Rex Titsworth
Kay Cordi
Jeanne Mosier
Wade Todd
Mark Dixon
Paula Oliver
David Voelter
Bob Durst
Glen Schmidt
Rae Wheeler
Judy Gregg
Dale Shamklin
Paul Williams
CITY STAFF
Edward J. Barry, AICP - Director of Development and Planning
Hildy L. IGngma, AICP - Senior Planner
Randall Gaither - Chief Planner
Eric Winter, AICP - Senior Planner
Traci Pederson - Assistant Planner
Laurie Golden - Planning Technician
Tammy Hughey - Secretary
GCFTY OF
eorgetown
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction
The Century Plan - Development Plan
Focus
Plan
Overall Statement of Policy
Land Intensity Issues
Transportation Issues
Utilities Issues
Infrastructure Management for a
Growing Environment
11
Land Intensity Element
15
The Intensity Map
15
Use of the Impact Analysis
16
Demands Measured by the Impact Analysis
23
Site Design Criteria
26
Transportation Element
28
Transportation Plan Map
28
Design Standards
41
Level of Service
46
Alternate Modes of Transportation
46
Utilities Element
52
Future Water and Wastewater System Maps
52
Water System Guidelines
57
Wastewater System Guidelines
60
Guidelines for Other Utility Services
61
Georgetown
Page
Implementation
65
IMAGE
66
Development Plan
67
Annexation and Extra - Territorial
Amendments
Jurisdiction
68
Subdivision Regulations
69
Zoning Regulations
69
Construction Permits
70
Annual Operating Plan
71
Extension of Services
72
State and County Funding
73
Impact Fees
75
Special Improvement Districts
77
Exactions
79
Thoroughfare Improvements
80
Appendices
1.
Policies, Ends, Means
A - 1
2.
Ordinance Number 900149
A -24
3.
Amendments
A -28
4.
Development of the Intensity Map
A -31
Classification of Land Use Activities
A -31
Magnitude of Change
A -35
Land Use Features
A -35
5.
Development Intensity Examples
A -37
6.
Functional Classification of Roadways
A -43
7.
References
A -45
G CRY Or
eorgetown
TABLE OF EXHIBITS
Exhibit
Page
1
Intensity Map
17
2
Allowable Land Use To Intensity Conversion Chart
18
3
Land Use Activity to Demand. Conversion Chart
21
4
Allowable System Intensifies Measured In Service
Units Per Acre Per Day
22
5
Fxisfing and Programmed Demands for the Future
Urban Area
25
6
Transportation Plan Map
30
7
Table of Transportation Improvements
33
8
Design Standards for Streets
42
9
Cross- Sections of Roadways
44
10
Roadway Spacing Standards. Matrix
45
11
Level of Service (Quality of Traffic Operation)
47
12
Level of Service Criteria for Signalized Intersections
48
13
Level of Service Criteria for Unsignalized Intersections
48
14
Future Water System Map
54
15
Future Wastewater System Map
55
16
Projected Water Needs
58
17
Land Use Classification System
A -32
Georgetown DEVELOPMENT PLAN
//
`The Century Plan - Development Plan consists
of three of the most crucial comprehensive
plan functional elements; those for
land intensity, transportation,
and utilities. "
Georgetown
INTRODUCTION
The comprehensive planning process, and the manner in which plans are used,
has undergone a significant evolution throughout this century. Comprehensive
plans are no longer prepared solely as physical plans for the design and layout of
a city's infrastructure. Today, they consist of social and economic factors and
goals, as well as the traditional physical factors. More important, however, is the
evolution in the manner in which comprehensive plans are used. It has become
more common for comprehensive plans to be used both in the day -to -day operation
of city government and in the determination of long range strategies and programs.
In order to be a truly dynamic and useful tool, the comprehensive plan should
bear a direct relation to the everyday regulatory and development needs of the
community. This includes providing a foundation for the city's zoning,
subdivision, and other land development regulations, as well as a means of guiding
capital improvements programming and other resource allocation decisions.
Although land throughout the United States, and in Georgetown as well, is
predominantly privately owned and controlled, the potential development capacity
of any given parcel of land is highly influenced by public sector decisions to
provide public services. The comprehensive planning process enables a community
to view the overall needs for services and to plan for the distribution of resources
in a manner that reflects public goals and values.
In Georgetown, the City Charter establishes the comprehensive planning
process as a means
... to guide, regulate, and manage the future development within
the corporate limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City to
assure the most appropriate and beneficial use of land, water and
other natural resources, consistent with the public interest.'
The Century Plan as a whole, . and more specifically the Development Plan,
fulfills this purpose in an innovative manner.
Georgetown
THE CENTURY PLAN - DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The Century Plan - Development. Plan consists of the Land Intensity,
Transportation, and Utilities Functional Plan Elements. These are among the first
of 15 Functional Plan Elements to be prepared and adopted by the City Council.
These Elements are mandated by Section 1.08 of the City Charter which requires
that the comprehensive plan include, among others,
... a) a future land use element; b) a traffic circulation and public
transit element; [and] c) a wastewater, electric, solid waste,
drainage and potable water element...."
The Development Plan has been prepared in accordance with the adopted
Policies contained in the Century Plan - Policy Plan. The adopted Policies, along
with the recommended Ends and Means in the Policy Plan, formed the basis for
the more specific programs, projects, and work activities included in the
Development Plan.
This Plan represents a significant departure from the typical means of planning
for and regulating future land uses and the transportation and utility systems
necessary to serve them. There is no future land use plan contained within this
document. The City has recognized the severe limitations to the typical practice
of regulating growth and development on the basis of land use. Too often property
owners must obtain zoning changes or amendments to the adopted land use plan
because the intended use of their land differs from that which is designated on the
official map. Each time a land use is approved and constructed that differs from
that shown in the plan, the integrity of the land use plan, as well as the roadway
and utility systems devised to support the plan, are called into question. Rather
than perpetuate this problem, the Development Plan supplements the City's
traditional Ind use planning process and zoning regulations with an impact
analysis based on performance characteristics. The key element of the impact
analysis is the intensity designation given to each parcel of land. The intensity
describes the extent to which a given parcel of land can be developed on the basis
of its allocated capacity for water, wastewater, and transportation services.
The Development Plan describes the proposed impact analysis and the
transportation and utility systems necessary to support it. The Land Intensity,
Transportation, and Utilities Functional Plan Elements of the Development Plan
are largely the work of the Century Plan Working Group, a committee of 25
Georgetown area citizens. The Working Group met throughout 1988 and 1989 to
develop the Policies, Ends, and Means and to refine the impact analysis to ensure
that each element of the Plan reflects the values and desires of the community.
Georgetown
The consultant team of Richardson Verdoorn, Inc. and Howard Needles Tammen
and Bergendoff was hired in the spring of 1988 to develop a geographic
information system to manage the data necessary to support the impact analysis.
After completing their work, and incorporating the work of the consultants, the
Working Group held a public workshop to present the Development Plan to the
public on November 30, 1989. They then presented the Plan to the City Council
on January 23, 1990, and the Council held their own public hearing on February
13, 1990. Ordinance #900149 to adopt the Century Plan- Development Plan was
approved by a unanimous vote of the City Council on March 13, 1990. The
Development Plan has been amended since its initial adoption. All amendments
are listed in Appendix Three. Each of these amendments is reflected in this new
edition of the Development Plan.
ro�.,a3 E
GEORGETOWN CENTURY PLAN
PLANNING AREA MAP
Jon,n
1 g 1 2 3 Miles Q
Georgetown Extra - Territorial
Jurisdiction (E.T.J.) boundary N
SCALE: 1" = 2 - 1/2 Miles
Prepared 811556 by I SJG.1.S.
0
Georgetown
F � cus
The Century Plan - Development Plan establishes guidelines for the future
growth and development of Georgetown. This Plan will influence the day -to-day
activities of the City, as well as the timing, location, and intensity of development
which occurs in this community throughout the planning period. It is
important, therefore, to understand the guiding Policies which directed the
development of the three Plan Elements. Equally important is an overview of the
significant issues and needs which the Plan addresses. This Chapter summarizes
the overall Policies and issues at the heart of the Development Plan. The
compiled Policies, Ends, and Means which comprise a general outline of the
Plan can be found in the APPENDIX.
OVERALL STATEMENT OF POLICY
As the Development Plan was being developed, there were many ideas about
how the Century Plan could be used to improve our community. In general,
however, the participants agreed on some basic Policies, Ends, and Means
which are most important to the future of Georgetown. The Plan must be a
useful, hands -on tool to guide the future development of land, as well as the
resource allocation decisions which support development. It should facilitate land
use patterns which provide for diverse and productive economic, cultural, and
social activities. Therefore, land development regulations should be flexible at the
same time that they maintain the environmental integrity of the community and
enable the City to plan for future needs.
The development of land is closely linked to the availability of services. The
Development Plan recognizes those linkages and recommends a program for
guiding and monitoring growth which ensures that land is served with an
appropriate level of transportation, water, and wastewater services before it can be
developed. Subsequent Functional Plan Elements will establish the Ends and
Means relating to a wider range of City services in order to address and provide
for as many needs as possible.
Geo`r°getown
The Transportation Element of the Plan will enable the City to develop and
maintain a safe, efficient, and cost - effective transportation system. An
overriding End of the Utilities Element is to provide a comprehensive and
well - maintained utility system which protects the environmental quality of this
region. The City alone, however, cannot provide the desired level of
transportation and utility services. Therefore, transportation and utility planning
in Georgetown should be a cooperative effort between the City and other
overlapping jurisdictions and private service providers.
The Development Plan should be supportive of the economic development Ends
of the Century Plan. This includes creating incentives to attract development that
will be especially beneficial to the City, as well as improving and maintaining
services to meet the needs of existing and potential new businesses.
Finally, an overriding Policy of the Plan is to consider the cost - effectiveness
of all elements of service provision. Joint development of transportation and
utilities systems with other entities, continued maintenance of the existing systems,
and careful management of the development decisions that affect the systems will
help to ensure that Georgetown's transportation and utilities services operate within
capacity to meet the needs of the community.
LAND INTENSITY ISSUES
Land use plans typically establish a desired urban form by prescribing the
location and amount of each land use type that will be permitted in the future. One
of the first issues to be resolved by the Working Group was how to establish a
desired urban form, and what procedures would be necessary to ensure that it
would be implemented. It was important that the Development Plan become a
useful tool for both short term, development project review and long range
planning. The manner in which land use activities would be classified and
regulated would influence the usefulness of the Plan.
Some of the more detailed decisions which had to be made regarding the future
urban form include:
how could the special features of the natural and
built environment in and around Georgetown be protected;
what areas would be given priority for new development;
M
what incentives /regulations would be used to ensure the
�.f
Georgetown
desired urban form; and
in what manner would the development of land be linked to
the provision of urban services.
Resolution of these issues resulted in the creation of the impact analysis. The
description of this program and the means for implementing it form the framework
of the Land Intensity Flement of the Development Plan.
TRANSPORTATION ISSUES
The primary feature of the Transportation Element is the recommended plan for
providing arterial access throughout the community. However, despite its
predominance in our community; the automobile is not an appropriate means of
transportation in all cases and for all people. Therefore, recommendations for
alternate means of transportation have also been developed. In order to ensure
that this Element serves its required purpose, the Transportation Sub -Group of the
Century Plan Working Group considered the following issues:
- the appropriate street design standards for each functional
roadway classification;
- the level of service which should be maintained on
Georgetown's roadways;
- the alternative modes of transportation which should be
made available in the community, and how the City can
participate in providing them;
- the manner in which the roadway network can support the
desired urban form;
- priorities for transportation improvements;
- the manner in which the City can ensure that adequate
funding is available for roadway maintenance and
sufficient right -of -way is protected for future roadways.
The Transportation Element of the Development Plan provides the guidelines
for ensuring that growth in Georgetown includes the development and maintenance
of an adequate transportation system.
IN
cmor
Georgetown
UTii.i= ISSUES
The most significant issues to be resolved by the Utilities Element of the Plan
were to determine utility service areas and to establish an appropriate level of
service for each of the City - provided utility systems. Related to these central
issues, the Plan had to meet the following needs:
identify and recommend solutions to utility system
deficiencies;
identify utility improvements necessary to support the Land
Intensity Element of the Plan;
recommend an equitable means of distributing the costs of
utility service improvements and maintenance; and
establish guidelines and programs to minimize the negative
environmental effects of providing certain utility services.
The Utilities Element of the Development Plan addresses the needs of the
water, wastewater, electric, solid waste, stormwater drainage, and
telecommunications systems.
I-)