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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Planning Commission - 02/03/2010 • R ED MINUTES e REGULAR PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Council Chambers-City Hall MAR 16 2010 Wednesday,February 3,2010 5:30 P.M. CRYSECRE7ARyns,CE COMMISSIONERS: STAFF: Rudy Garza,Chairman Johnny Perales, P.E.,Assistant City Manager, A.Javier Buena,Vice-Chairman •4rnred 545 Engineering and Development Services James Skrobarczyk Faryce Goode Macon,Assistant Director of John C. Tamez Development Services/Planning Johnny R. Martinez*Absent Miguel S. Saldana,AICP, Senior City Planner Evon J. Kelly Robert Payne, AICP,City Planner John Taylor Lisa Wargo,Senior City Planner Mark Adame Deborah Brown, Legal Counsel Govind Nadkarni Elena Buentello, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER A quorum was declared and the meeting was called to order at 5:32 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were a few corrections to the minutes from the January 20, 2010 Planning Commission meeting. Motion for approval of the amended minutes from the January 20, 2010, regular Planning Commission meeting was made by Commissioner Taylor and seconded by Commissioner Tamez. Motion passed unanimously. III. PUBLIC HEARING AGENDA ITEMS A. PLATS Mr. Miguel Saldana read the New Plats requests for items "a"and"b" (shown below) into the record. Staff recommended approval of these requests. I. New Plats a. 0210003-NP003 (10-23000003) Parkdale Shopping Center, Block A, Replat of Blocks A & AR(Vacating- 35.588 Acres) Located southwest of South Staples Street and northwest of Gollihar Road. b. 0210004-NP004(10-21000001) Parkdale Shopping Center, Block AR, Lots 1-12 (Final - 35.588 Acres) (� / Located southwest of South Staples Street and northwest of Gollihar otic 'la en r .arm Road. it 'Wi At this time,the public hearing was opened by Chairman Garza for public commenting. Planning Commission Minutes February 3,2010 Page 2 No one came forward in favor or in opposition. Motion for approval of items "a" and "b" was made by Commissioner Tamez and seconded by Commissioner Nadkarni. Motion passed unanimously. IV. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF A PLANNING COMMISSION REPRESENTATIVE TO THE JOINT LAND USE STUDY POLICY COMMITTEE Mr. Robert Payne offered to give a short Power Point presentation. He stated that there needs to be a nomination of a commissioner to be a representative on the Joint Land Use Study Policy Committee,which was indicated at the last City Council meeting. Mr. Payne first explained who is going to be involved in the Joint Land Use Study. He stated that there will be property owners, residents,business owners,and City, County, and DoD(Department of Defense)officials. Mr. Payne then explained what a Joint Land Use Study is. He said it is a land use study between the City and the Military for land areas affected by a military base. He said that the purpose of the study is to safeguard the military mission,while protecting the health, safety,and welfare of citizens living near a military installation. Mr. Payne stated that about two years ago,the Navy approached the City about the need for a Joint Land Use Study. The Navy was in the process of revising its Air Installation Compatible Use Zones(AICUZ). The revision to the AICUZs is necessary since the Navy is preparing for the introduction the new"T-6"trainer in approximately 2012— 2015. The Navy will soon finish the new AICUZ boundaries and the City and the Navy can then begin the Joint Land Use Study(JLUS)process. The JLUS is a means by which the City can plan for protection of Air Installation Compatible Use Zones. AICUZs are flight zones that will have an impact on land use either from accident potential or noise. The benefits of a Joint Land Use Study were explained by Mr. Payne. First, it establishes a plan to protect the naval base from future encroachment of incompatible land uses. Next, it provides guidance for compatible future land use decisions concerning zoning, capital improvements,etc. Then,Mr. Payne explained that the Plan establishes the community's commitment to the Naval Base for future Base Alignment and Closure Studies. Mr. Payne stated that another benefit of a Joint Land Use Study is recommendations will be made to guide local support of the military mission and protection of public health, safety and welfare. A majority of the communities in attendance have completed at least one JLUS study. JLUS studies usually take about 12-18 months to complete. The Federal Government has indicated that with the introduction of the new"T-6"Trainer that a JLUS for Corpus • Planning Commission Minutes February 3,2010 Page 3 Christi is appropriate at this time. Funding for JLUS studies is 90%DoD participation with a minimum 10% local in-kind or monetary match. The 90%is for the cost of a consultant to do the study. The 10%local in-kind match is typically met through local staff assistance. There is no direct monetary benefit to the local government from the grant. JLUS studies require the Mayor to be Chairman and the Base Commander to be the Vice- Chairman. Also, an odd number of members with a committee of five,nine or eleven is recommended;however,there is no set number on how big the committee can be. City staff drafts a grant proposal including a narrative description,a scope of work,and a proposed budget. A Policy Committee reviews and approves the grant proposal. The initial steps necessary for a JLUS is that the City Council establishes a Policy Committee. The Grant proposal is submitted to the Department of Defense and Office of Economic Adjustment for approval. The Office of Economic Adjustment approves the grant and City Council accepts the grant. The Policy Committee begins the consultant selection process with assistance from the Technical Committee(Staff). Composition of the JLUS Policy Committee was approved by City Council on January 26,2010 and the members are to be composed of the following: ❖ Chairman, Mayor of Corpus Christi (required) ❖ Vice-Chairman,NAS Base Commander(required) b City Council Member(to be determined) e Nueces County Judge • Planning Commissioner(to be determined 2/312010) At this time,Chairman Garza asked if there were any questions for staff regarding the presentation. There were no questions. Chairman Garza asked for nominations for a Planning Commissioner to be on the Joint Land Use Study. Commissioner Skrobarczyk nominated Commissioner John Tamez. Commissioner Nadkami nominated Chairman Garza. Roll call revealed the following: Commissioner Taylor—Chairman Garza, Commissioner Kelly—Chairman Garza, Commissioner Tamez—voted for Commissioner Tamez, Commissioner Skrobarczyk— Commissioner Tamez, Vice Chairman 1-Iuerta—Chairman Garza, Commissioner Johnny Martinez—Chairman Garza,Chairman Nadkami—Chairman Garza,and Commissioner Adame—Chairman Garza. Chairman Garza was nominated to the JLUS Policy Committee by majority vote. B. CONFLICT OF INTEREST/ABSTAIN FROM VOTING Deborah Brown,Legal Counsel spoke to the Commissioners regarding the conflict of interest and abstaining from voting issue that was brought up at the last meeting. Mrs. Brown stated that researching this topic revealed five conflict of interest memos that were written in the last several months. They were all written by Jimmy Bray,former City Attorney. Mrs. Brown's superior, Lisa Aguilar,asked her to gather more specifics about what exactly the commissioners wanted to know. Planning Commission Minutes February 3,2010 Page 4 Commissioner Skrobarczyk stated that he feels like the commissioners should be able to vote and give their valuable input on almost all matters. He feels that by a commissioner abstaining from a vote or discussion when there is only a remote conflict of interest is unnecessary. Commissioner Skrobarczyk added further that the input and knowledge of the commissioners is valuable and should be a part of discussion of the cases. Chairman Garza mentioned an option where a commissioner could resign their position and contribute as a citizen and Mrs.Brown replied that in her opinion,the opinion of a commissioner is taken more seriously than that of a member of the audience. Mrs. Brown stated that if there is even the appearance of impropriety,one should abstain because it is construed as a conflict of interest. Chairman Garza referred Mrs. Brown to the Ethics Policy and she said the commissioners should look at that policy. She read a statement included in that policy about abstaining from discussion/voting to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Commissioner Skrobarczyk stressed that commissioners should be available to vote on most issues and not have to abstain from discussion and subsequent voting. Mrs. Brown also advised the commissioners that if one can be unbiased regarding an issue,then abstaining from the issue should not be necessary. Mrs. Brown said that the instances should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and to avoid the appearance of impropriety is the end result of abstaining. Commissioner Kelly encouraged the other commissioners to refer to the by-laws and the issue of abstaining/conflict of interest was discussed. Commissioner Kelly stated that if there is a conflict of interest in any given case,the commissioner should go to the back room and not participate in the discussion as well as the vote. Mrs. Brown stated that she will review the by-laws and report back after that review is completed. Vice-Chairman Huerta inquired if a commissioner is being sued over a comment made in discussion of a case, would the City Legal Counsel defend the commissioner. Mrs. Brown stated she feels they would unless the Legal Counsel advised the commissioner not to speak and the commissioner chose to speak anyway. Vice-Chairman Huerta further inquired about the commission making an incorrect decision and there was a lawsuit involved,would they be represented? Mrs. Brown stated that there are not any hard-and-fast rules involving ethics. Mrs. Brown said that there might be a concern if you had been advised not to do something,but you went ahead and did it anyway. It is very hard to make general laws when it comes to ethics. Going back to the Joint Land Use Study Policy Committee appointment,Chairman Garza asked that Commissioner Tamez be designated as his alternate to attend meetings of the Joint Land Use Study Policy Committee when he is unable to attend. Commissioner Skrobarczyk made a motion to nominate Commissioner Tamez to the JLUS Policy Committee. Commissioner Nadkarni seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. se- Planning Commission Minutes February 3,2010 Page 5 IV. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mr. Robert Payne gave the Director's Report. A. ABSENCES Mr. Payne stated all were present at the January 20, 2010 Planning Commission meeting. B. FUTURE PLANNING COMMISSION SCHEDULED MEETINGS • February 17,2010 1. Cottage Housing District Ordinance C• March 3,2010 ❖ March 17, 2010 C. CITY COUNCIL ACTION O February 9,2010 1. Case No. 0110-01 Anthony's Aveda Concept Salon. 2. Case No. 0110-02 Ed Hicks Imports, Ltd. 3. Case No. 0110-03 Yorktown Oso Joint Ventures. 4. Transportation Plan presentation with Staff and Planning Commission's recommendation, public hearing and first reading. :• February 23,2010 1. Case No. 0110-04 Marwell Properties, LP. ❖ March 9,2010 1. Public hearing and first reading of the Cottage Housing District Ordinance. A March 23,2010 1. Second reading of the Cottage Housing District Ordinance. If approved, the ordinance can be put into effect. D. ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA—There were no items to be placed on the next agenda.