Title
Consider a public hearing regarding, and a resolution giving preliminary approval to the draft amendments to create the Round Rock Zoning and Development Code and to authorize the City Manager and City Attorney to prepare an ordinance for the Council’s consideration.
Body
The purpose of this resolution is to authorize the city attorney to work with the city’s online code vendor, Municode, to codify the Round Rock Zoning and Development Code. Preceding this resolution were several code amendments regarding some of the most important policy items contained within the Development Code. The adoption of those amendments allows them to take effect immediately instead of waiting for the completion of the codification process, which is expected to take several months. Upon completion, another item will be brought to Council to formally adopt the new Development Code in its entirety.
Planning and Development Services staff, with help from other city departments and the city attorney’s office, have been working diligently since 2013 to craft the new Round Rock Zoning and Development Code, which is an update and consolidation of all the city’s regulations pertaining to land development. Currently these regulations are scattered about the Code of Ordinances, creating confusion, conflicts, and inconsistencies. The Development Code will create a more streamlined, user-friendly set of regulations, keeping with the city’s development philosophy of “making it happen.”
This process also brought about the opportunity to evaluate how Round Rock stacks up to its peer cities with regards to various development standards, and subsequent research showed that Round Rock’s base standards had fallen behind in many areas. The new Code contains regulations that ensure Round Rock will maintain its prominent reputation among developers both locally and nationally and will provide a durable, high-quality built environment for years to come.
Many of the proposed changes serve to provide clarity to existing requirements or address areas where the Code was previously silent. Those are minor in nature. A summary of the more notable changes to development regulations contained within the new Code are as follows:
• Upgrades the exterior wall treatment of most non-residential zoning districts, with an emphasis on true masonry such as stone, simulated stone, brick, and architecturally finished concrete masonry units, as well as stucco. Fiber cement siding and architecturally finished steel/metal are permitted as well, as is concrete tilt wall in some zoning districts. EIFS is prohibited.
• Allows greater flexibility for alternate, recognized architectural styles and new/ emerging materials not explicitly accommodated by the Code.
• Creates new single-family, office, and mixed-use zoning districts which may alleviate the need to create a PUD for certain types of developments.
• Increases the height limit in the MU-2 zoning district for properties west of Mays St; the closer to IH-35 a property is, the taller it can be, to a maximum of 8 stories.
• Creates a cap on the number of bars in the MU-1 zoning district to encourage a variety of uses and more daytime activity in the downtown core.
• Creates landscaping requirements for new single-family and two-family homes which generally mirror those in recently-adopted PUDs.
• Permits accessory dwelling units in the Local Commercial (C-2) and General Office (OF-1) zoning districts to accommodate small business owners.
• Permits multi-story, climate controlled self-storage facilities in the Light Industrial (LI) zoning district.
• Clarifies that compatibility buffers are not required when the adjacent single-family zoned property is occupied by a civic use or place of worship; also creates the ability to apply for an exemption to the compatibility buffer requirement where existing site features already serve to provide a buffer.
• The 150-foot setback that serves to buffer drive through facilities and restaurant patios from residential property lines may be waived where existing site features serve as a buffer already.
• Creates connectivity requirements for new residential subdivisions to facilitate traffic flow within subdivisions and ensure there are multiple ways into and out of each one.
• Changes the requirements for a concept plan such that it will apply to fewer developments, and changes the requirements for a minor plat such that it will apply to more developments, streamlining the platting process for many projects.
• Allows for administrative approval rather than Planning and Zoning Commission approval of some plat applications, as permitted by Texas Local Government Code.
• Requires a property owner of an historic structure to pay back to the city the previous 5 years of historic tax exemption monies should the owner choose to demolish the structure. This will help the city recoup some of the cost of subsidizing the preservation and maintenance of the city’s historic building stock.
• Allows home builders to obtain building permits for new homes once the subdivision improvements are substantially complete.
• Expressly allows some minimal encroachment into the critical root zone of monarch trees and the delisting of the Mesquite Tree as a protected specie.
It is also important to note what the Development Code will not change:
• The process by which Planning and Development Services staff interact with the development community, review applications, and issue comments.
• No properties are proposed to be rezoned.
• Nearly all uses will continue to be permitted as under the current Code, with a few exceptions:
o Outdoor dog kennels will be prohibited within city limits (currently permitted in LI district)
o Gas Stations in the C-2 district that share a common lot line with a single-family or two-family home will be limited to a maximum of 4 pump islands, although more may be permitted with ZBA approval of a special exception (currently no limit)
o Amenity centers will not be permitted in the C-2 district
o Event centers in the Mixed-Use Downtown Medium Density (MU-2) zoning district will require special exception approval from the ZBA (currently permitted by right)
Staff has undertaken significant public outreach during the process, including the following measures: a public open house, a series of six meetings with a Council-appointed Advisory Committee to discuss major policy amendments; round table meeting with home builders; email updates to neighborhood groups; Facebook advertisements; development newsletters; newsflash (utility bill insert) updates about progress and upcoming meetings; informational presentations and four public hearings at Planning and Zoning Commission meetings; and several in-person meetings with interested individuals.
Additionally, a dedicated website was created to serve as a clearinghouse for news and events related to the Development Code. A comment box on the website served to solicit feedback on the Code, and over 60 comments were received. Staff compiled these into a document along with a description of how the Development Code would address the topics raised, and published it on the website as well. Many comments were about topics unrelated to the Development Code (such as ongoing transportation matters), but of the relevant comments the issue that was raised most frequently was concerns regarding the number of bars in downtown.
P&Z Recommendation: The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval at its meeting on December 21, 2016, after several presentations, public hearings, and discussions at the previous four Commission meetings. Comments from the public expressed support for the downtown bar limit, support for the masonry standard for nonresidential buildings, and opposition to portions of the nonresidential building materials standards due to a concern they would not provide enough flexibility.