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Consider public testimony regarding, and an ordinance zoning 1.72 acres of land located southwest of the intersection of High Country Boulevard and High Point Drive to the OF-1 (General Office) zoning district. (First Reading)*
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The property owner, Steve Sparks, submitted a request for original zoning to the OF-1 (General Office) district. The property is designated for residential by General Plan 2020 and office is considered compatible with this designation. The permitted uses in the OF-1 (General Office) district include: office, medical office, residential to office conversion, day care, cosmetic services, and urgent care facility. The district has exterior wall finish standards and building orientation, articulation and elevation requirements.
The property was annexed into the City in 2009, at which time no zoning district was applied. The property therefore has a default zoning designation of SF-R (Single Family - rural). The 1.72-acre property, which has approximately 300 feet of frontage on High Country Blvd., contains one single family home. It is the only single family property with a driveway on High Country Blvd, which is a collector street connecting Donnell Drive and Gattis School Road. Behind the property is a 10-acre tract owned by the City of Round Rock. This City property contains an approximately 100-foot tall elevated water storage tank, which is accessed via a paved driveway from High Country Blvd. This driveway is adjacent to the western and southern boundaries of the subject property. The remainder of the 10-acre City tract is High Country Park, which is accessed from Flower Hill Drive. Due to the location and layout of the lot, it is not a desirable single family lot and lends itself more for a non-residential use.
The owner sent a letter to the owners of the surrounding properties, stating that he wanted to sell the property to a buyer who wanted to use it as an administrative office for a contracting/building business. The owner requested a signature from each surrounding owner, attesting that they did not object to the office zoning. Four owners who are directly adjacent to the subject tract provided signatures. The owner also contacted representatives of the two neighborhood associations in the area.
The owner’s representatives participated in a pre-submittal meeting with the City on March 28, 2019, where the requirements for the potential conversion of the site from residential to office were discussed. These requirements include: a driveway which meets the commercial standard, the provision of wastewater service to the property, provisions for stormwater, designation of a fire lane(s), provision for parking spaces, landscaping, and a compatibility buffer where the site is adjacent to single family uses on the northeastern boundary.
The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing and voted 9-0 to recommend approval of the original zoning. There were three speakers, representing two households, and they were in opposition to the OF-1 zoning, expressing concerns regarding the use and the potential traffic it could generate. They also expressed concern about the current traffic on High Country Blvd.