|
Back to Calendar
Return
|
| |
3.
|
| City Council Regular Meeting |
|
|
|
| BACKGROUND |
A Specific Use Permit for a convenience store with gas pumps was previously recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission on March 13, 2019 and was approved with conditions by City Council on April 23, 2019. The condition was that a building is approved within one year of the adoption of the ordinance on April 23, 2019. The Ordinance 19-S-14 that was approved by City Council is scheduled to expire on April 23, 2020. The applicant had a preliminary plat for the approximately 150 acre parent tract approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission on November 13, 2019, and the applicant is currently in the final stages of the final plat certification process and building permit review process. In order to continue the project the applicant would need an approved final plat, an executed subdivision improvement agreement, and an approved building permit before April 23, 2020. This timeline was judged to be infeasible, and to ensure the quality of the project the applicant is pursuing a new Specific Use Permit Application for a convenience store with gas pumps. The proposed Specific Use Permit application and site plan are consistent with what was previously approved by the City Council in April 2019. There are no proposed modifications to the land use, the building size, or layout with this proposed new SUP.
This Specific Use Permit application was heard by the Planning and Zoning Commission on March 25, 2020 and was recommended for approval to City Council by unanimous vote. |
| GOAL |
| The goal of the application is to allow a Specific Use Permit for a convenience store with gas pumps on approximately 2 acres of land, more specifically described as the southeast corner of FM 3009 and Ripps-Kreusler Road. |
| COMMUNITY BENEFIT |
| It is the City’s desire to promote safe, orderly, efficient development and ensure compliance with the City’s vision of future growth. |
| SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDED ACTION |
The subject property is currently surrounded by a 150 acre undeveloped parcel of land, the F.M. 3009 Right-Of-Way, and the Ripps-Kreusler Right-Of-Way. All adjacent properties are zoned General Business District (GB), and the properties on the opposite side of the two adjacent right-of-ways (currently occupied by Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union and First United Bank) are also zoned General Business District (GB). Given that the proposed convenience store would be surrounded by three public roads and the adjacent properties are zoned General Business District (GB), the proposed Specific Use Permit to allow a convenience store with gas pumps would not have an additional adverse impact on the adjacent development.
The Comprehensive Land Use Plan, through the Future Land Use Plan, identifies this area as both Commercial Campus and Single-Family Residential. The proposed convenience store with gas pumps is compatible with the retail commercial uses that the Future Land Use Plan designates as appropriate for land areas identified as Commercial Campus. Therefore, the proposed convenience store with gas pumps is in general conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.
A site plan was approved with the Specific Use Permit on April 9, 2019. The applicant is proposing to construct a 4,955 square foot convenience store with eight (8) gas pumps on the approximately 2 acre tract of land.
- Architectural Standards: The proposed convenience store complies with all architectural feature requirements (i.e. horizontal and vertical articulations) defined in Schertz Unified Development Code (UDC) Sec. 21.9.5 Exterior Construction and Design Standards.
- Parking: The proposed parking areas meet all current regulations within UDC Article 10 Parking Standards. The site will provide forty-three (43) parking spaces sized 10’ x 20’, of which three (3) will be designated as handicapped parking only.
- Screening requirements: The site has satisfied the minimum screening requirements for the location. The trash receptacle will be constructed of a masonry material with metal gates that meet the minimum requirements.
- Lighting and glare standards: The applicant will be responsible for complying with UDC Sec. 21.9.11 Lighting and Glare Standards through the building permit process.
- Landscaping: The proposed site plan meets all requirements outlined in UDC Sec. 21.9.7 Landscaping: The proposed site plan meets all requirements outlined in UDC Sec. 21.9.7 Landscaping. The proposed total landscaped area on the site is 24%, and the applicant is proposing to plant 39 total trees (22 Live Oak, 9 Texas Ash, and 9 Texas Redbud), which meet the requirements outlined in UDC Sec. 21.9.7.E Landscape Installation Required. The landscape plan shows that the applicant is also proposing to save both of the two existing Heritage Class trees onsite through relocation, which meets the requirement to preserve at least 25% of all mitigatable Protected and Heritage Class trees in UDC Sec. 21.9.9.C.3 Minimum Preservation. The applicant is proposing to plant fifteen (15) trees along FM 3009, which complies with the requirement of 1 tree planted per twenty linear feet (20’) of street frontage along principal and secondary arterials, outlined in UDC Sec. 21.14.3 Additional Design Requirements. The applicant will comply with UDC Sec. 21.9.7.H.2 Perimeter Landscaping by planting at least 1 tree per fifty linear feet (50’) along their two other street frontages to screen the proposed parking lots and vehicular use areas from the two right-of-ways. The applicant will also fully comply with UDC Sec. 21.9.7.H Parking Area Landscaping by planting one tree every twelve (12) parking spaces and at the terminus of all rows of parking.
- Access and circulation: The site will be provided access through three new driveways: a two-way entrance and exit on F.M. 3009, a two-way entrance and exit on the proposed extension of Baptist Health Drive, and a one-way entrance only on Ripps-Kreusler Road. A 25’ fire lane is being proposed on all sides of the convenience store to allow for emergency vehicle access. The associated Site Plan and submitted Traffic Impact Analysis has been reviewed and approved by both the City of Schertz Engineering Department and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
|
| FISCAL IMPACT |
| None |
| RECOMMENDATION |
This Specific Use Permit application was heard by the Planning and Zoning Commission on March 25, 2020 and was recommended for approval to City Council by unanimous vote.
A new Specific Use Permit for a convenience store with gas pumps will allow the applicant to ensure the quality of the plans submitted for the final plat, public improvements, and building permit instead of rushing to meet the expiration date. The idea behind the Specific Use Permit expiration condition is to make sure the applicant is moving the project forward in timely manner following City Council's approval, and progress has been made to develop the property since the approval of the previous Specific Use Permit one year ago. Therefore, Staff believes the applicant remains committed to the project and is recommending approval of the Specific Use Permit to allow a convenience store with gas pumps, once again conditioned upon the following:
- A building permit is approved within one year of the adoption of the SUP ordinance; and
- The use begins operation within two years of the issuance of the necessary building permit(s).
|
|
|
|