HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Planning Commission - 01/20/2021 �/ 1201 Leopard Street
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°� Meeting Minutes
Planning Commission
Wednesday,January 20, 2021 5:30 PM Via WebEx Video Conference
I. Call to Order - Roll Call
Chairman Baugh called the meeting to order and a quorum was established
with Vice Chairman Dibble absent.
II. PUBLIC COMMENT: Andrew Dimas, Development Services, informed thethat no
public comment input forms were submitted for any of the items on this agenda.
III. Approval of Absences: None.
IV. Approval of Minutes
1. 21-0096 Regular Meeting Minutes of January 6, 2021 & Special Meeting Minutes
of January 11, 2021
A motion was made by Commissioner Schroeder to approve item"1"and it
was seconded by Commissioner Miller. The motion passed.
V. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding the 2020 Planning Commission
Annual Report
2. 21-0095 2020 Planning Commission Annual Report
A motion was made by Commissioner Miller to approve item "V" and it was
seconded by Commissioner Salazar-Garza.The motion passed.
VI. Consent Public Hearing (Item A): Discussion and Possible Action
Chairman Baugh asked Staff to present the Consent Agenda, item VI.A. Mr.
Dimas read the Consent Agenda items into the record. New Plat items"3,4&
5" satisfy all requirements of the UDC/State Law and the Technical Review
Committee recommends approval.After Staff's presentation,Chairman Baugh
opened the public hearing for items "3,4&5".With no public comment being
submitted, the public hearing was closed.A motion was made by
Commissioner Miller to approve items "3,4&5"and it was seconded by
Commissioner Mandel.The motion passed with no abstentions.
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A. New Plats
3. 21-0098 19PL1084
TURTLE COVE CENTER UNIT 2, BLOCK 1, LOT 7R1 (REPLAT - 5.22
ACRES)
Located north of Padre Island Drive (SH 358) between Flour Bluff Drive &
Bullfinch Street
4. 21-0102 20PL1103
EL CABALLO SUBDIVISION (FINAL -OCL - 1.2 ACRES)
Located south of Old Brownsville Road (FM 665) and east of FM 763.
5. 21-0109 20PL1004
LA COSTA CENTER UNIT 1, BLK 1, LOTS 17-Al, 17-A2 & 17-A3
(FINAL - 1.35 ACRES)
Located east of South Staples Street and north of Wooldridge Road.
VII. Public Hearing (Item B): Discussion and Possible Action
B. Comprehensive Plan
6. 21-0099 Public Hearing on the draft Northwest Boulevard (FM 624) Corridor Plan, an
element of the City of Corpus Christi Comprehensive Plan.
Dan McGinn, Director of the Planning Department, began by mentioning that
this area was of particular interest to the City Manager considering the amount
of traffic activity and future projects to occur; it currently does not have a
bike/pedestrian facilities which is a safety concern. He introduced Matt Rufo,
Consultant with Asakura Robinson,assisted with the presentation.Asakura
Robinson was chosen to work with Staff on the corridor study to develop a
vision, goals and recommendations for this area.
Mr. Rufo presented an aerial map describing the study area Northwest
Boulevard (approximately a 500-foot buffer within a 2.7-mile segment) between
County Road 73 and Interstate Highway 69. He went over the timeline for the
Plan ranging from March to August of 2020 with three phases(understand,
envision &act)consisting of Advisory Committee meetings and public input
meetings. Public input also included an online vison survey.The key themes
from the survey included reducing traffic congestion, more grocery story and
dining options, beautification and landscaping and improving pedestrian and
bicycle safety.
With those themes, Mr. Rufo stated that the vision was created: "Northwest
Boulevard is Calallen's "Main Street," providing the amenities of a prosperous
neighborhood center in a small,tight-knit community. The Boulevard is a
welcoming, diverse,and family-friendly place where people go to shop,
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gather, invest in businesses, play and raise a family." He summarized that the
goals for that vision are to make Northwest Boulevard safe, prosperous,
healthy and attractive. He presented a map of the concept plan incorporating
those goals.
Mr. Rufo went into the subject of transportation of the plan to reduce
congestion at 1-69(owned by TxDot)by way of Single Point Urban
Interchanges(SPUI)and multilane roundabouts; improve intersections for
safety/mobility with things such as high visibility crosswalks and pedestrian
countdown signals/refuge islands. To help mitigate school traffic a meeting
was facilitated with TxDot and the Calallen school administration to develop a
specific plan of action.
For land use strategies, Mr. Rufo explained that an amendment to the Future
Land Use Map is needed, recommending the land uses along the corridor to be
"Mixed Use". He presented the existing Future Land Use Map and compared it
to the proposed map. Other land use strategies would be to relax zoning
restrictions due to COVID-19 and to provide small business funding programs
when available. In addition to the traffic safety recommendations,streetscape
enhancements are also recommended for reducing lane widths,enhancing
planting areas, expand/plant medians, installing signage/banners and
installing public art.
After the presentation,the floor was opened for Commissioner
comments/questions. Commissioner Schroeder asked for the rationale behind
determining the boundaries of the study area with respect to safety/mobility.
Commissioner Salazar-Garza felt that it is very dark at night in this area.She
raised concern regarding the addition of more lighting and asked if TxDot had
plans to help with this issue. She also mentioned the issue of flooding and the
lack of stormwater infrastructure. Further discussion took place regarding the
lack of infrastructure for all other aspects including water,wastewater and
streets/sidewalks. Commissioner Zarghouni expressed that the lack of
infrastructure hinders development in this area; he has known of several
developers dropping projects in this area because it is not feasible.
Mr. McGinn stated Staff is fully aware of this issue and infrastructure plans
were not part of this project but rather a recommendation/follow-up was
mentioned in the Plan that investment needs to take place over the next
several years.With that information,Al Raymond, Director of Development
Services, informed the Commission about the Impact Fee Study for Master
Planning,which will be presented to City Council in the coming weeks.
Commissioner Schroeder added that part of the reason why infrastructure is
lacking in this area is because the City's current funding mechanism is
antiquated (developer reimbursement agreements). Mr. McGinn stated that the
implementation of Impact Fees versus the current process for funding
infrastructure allows the City to plan more proactively, ahead of development,
rather than reacting to development.
Commissioner York added that the current process does not have a funding
mechanism for funding stormwater. Commissioner Miller emphasized that this
plan for the Northwest Boulevard Corridor is not the exact tool in which to
address infrastructure but more of a vision for development in the area.After
Commissioner comments concluded,Chairman Baugh opened the public
hearing.There being none,the public hearing was closed.A motion was made
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by Commissioner York to approve item "6"with a recommendation that City
Council look further into lighting along the corridor and to consider master
planning/impact fee funding mechanisms for developing utility/drainage
infrastructure in this area. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Salazar-Garza and the motion passed.
VIII. Director's Report: None.
IX. Items to be Scheduled: None.
X. Adjournment of Planning Commission Meeting
There being no further business to discuss, Chairman Baugh adjourned the
meeting at 6:30 p.m.
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