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City Council Regular Meeting

Meeting Date:

07/07/2020

BACKGROUND

Twenty-four (24) public hearing notices were mailed to surrounding property owners within two hundred (200) feet of the subject property on May 29, 2020, and a public hearing notice was published in the “San Antonio Express” on June 3, 2020. At the time of this staff report one (1) response in favor of and one (1) response opposed to the zone change have been received.

This application was noticed in the "San Antonio Express" as a zone change from Single-Family Residential District (R-2) to General Business District (GB), which is the reason it is listed on the June 23, 2020, City Council meeting agenda as a zone change to General Business District (GB); however, following the public hearing held at the June 10, 2020, Planning and Zoning Commission, the zone change request has been revised to Neighborhood Services District (NS) instead of General Business District (GB). After conversations with Staff and the property owner, the Planning and Zoning Commission decided that the Neighborhood Services District (NS) is more representative of the objectives for Historic Downtown Schertz, and still allows the property owner to achieve his goals for redevelopment. The property owner and the Planning and Zoning Commission agreed to move forward to City Council under a recommendation of approval to rezone the property to Neighborhood Services District (NS).

The following representatives were in attendance and spoke at the Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing:

PKM Ventures, Nick Marquez, Owner
- Spoke regarding his plans for all the properties he owns on Main Street and in the surrounding area
- Spoke regarding his plans for developing a restaurant at 603 Main Street
- Answered any questions the Commissioners had regarding proposed parking requirements
- Was amenable to the proposed amendment to the change application to NS instead of GB

GOAL

The project goal is to rezone the subject property from Single-Family Residential District (R-2) to Neighborhood Services District (NS) in order to redevelop the existing house on-site into a restaurant. The property is located at 603 Main Street and is currently developed with one residential structure and an accessory detached garage.

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 Planning and Zoning Commission met on May 15, 2020 and made a recommendation to City Council to recommend approval of a zone change to the Neighborhood Services District (NS) by a 7-0 vote. The original zone change application presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission was to rezone the property to General Business District (GB). The Commissioners expressed their concerns with the breadth of permitted uses in the General Business zoning district that they did not feel were adequately suited for the area designated as Historic Downtown Schertz. After conversations with Staff and the property owner, the Planning and Zoning Commission decided that the Neighborhood Services zoning district was more representative of the objectives for Historic Downtown Schertz due to the zoning district's heavier regulation of higher intensity land uses. The Neighborhood Services District (NS) permits the restaurant land use by right, which also allows the property owner to keep his original plans to redevelop the subject property as a restaurant.

The Sector Plan amendment to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan designates the subject property as part of Historic Downtown Schertz. The objective for Historic Downtown Schertz is to leverage the City’s history and heritage to create a unique destination with local independent businesses, while encouraging the use of existing buildings. While the Main Street Mixed-Use District (MSMU) is traditionally used in order to aid the transition of Main Street into the historic downtown envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan, the MSMU zoning district does not support the restaurant land use. This is primarily due to the reduced parking requirements for the properties zoned MSMU, and the potential problems that could arise if a restaurant only has two allotted parking spaces on a physically constrained lot. The applicant will be required to comply with all parking regulations in the UDC through the construction of parking spaces on-site and/or the potential utilization of off-site parking. Even though the proposed zoning application is to change the subject property to the Neighborhood Services District (NS) instead of the Main Street Mixed Use District (MSMU), the proposed zone change is still in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan by promoting the goals of Historic Downtown Schertz: the newly developed restaurant will be a local, independent business unique to Schertz and the applicant will be taking advantage of existing infrastructure by repurposing the house on-site to develop the restaurant.

The subject property is currently surrounded by single-family dwellings and right-of-way; however, all three of the other corners at the intersection between Main Street and Randolph Avenue are zoned General Business and used for commercial purposes, so the proposed zone change to Neighborhood Services is compatible with the commercial properties on this corner and that span along the vast majority of Main Street.

FISCAL IMPACT

None

RECOMMENDATION

The Comprehensive Land Use Plan identifies this area as Historic Downtown Schertz which is intended to leverage the City’s history and heritage to create a unique destination with local independent businesses, while encouraging the use of existing buildings. The proposed zone change to Neighborhood Services District (NS) and the property owner's plan to repurpose the existing house into a restaurant is compatible with the above outlined goals. The proposed zone change should also have a minimal impact on the adjacent properties around the intersection of Randolph Avenue and Main Street since the area is already primarily used for commercial purposes.

The property owner and the Planning and Zoning Commission agreed to revise the requested zone change to Neighborhood Services District (NS) during the June 10, 2020, public hearing. Based on this recommendation on behalf of the Planing and Zoning Commission, the compatibility of the proposed zone change and development plans with the Comprehensive Plan's goals for Historic Downtown Schertz, and the minimal impact of adjacent properties, Staff is recommending approval of the proposed zone change to Neighborhood Services District (NS) at 603 Main Street.

Attachments
Ordinance 20-S-19
Ordinance 20-S-19 Exhibit A
Aerial Map
Public Hearing Notice Map
Public Hearing Notice Responses