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2021-05-06 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT REGULAR MEETING MINUTESMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING VIA TELEPHONE/VIDEO CONFERENCE OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS. HELD ON MAY 6, 2021 AT 6:00 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, 3519 LIBERTY DR. The following Board Members were present: Mark Lewis, Chairperson Jerry Acosta, Vice -Chair Teresa J. Del Valle, Secretary Donand Glenn, Board Member Gary Shrum, Board Member Christopher Tristan, Alternate Natasha Charles, Alternate (NON -VOTING) Nicole Tonini, Alternate (NON -VOTING) The following members were absent: John H. Gehring Jr., Alternate City Staff: Lawrence Provins, Deputy City Attorney; Martin Griggs, Planning Manager; Florence Buaku, Planner II; Monica Aizpurua, Office Assistant; Parviz Pourazizian, Assistant City Engineer; and Rajendra Shrestha, City Engineer & Capital Projects. I. CALL REGULAR MEETING TO ORDER Chairperson, Mark Lewis called the meeting to order at 6:18 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE MARCH 4, 2021 MEETING Board Member, Gary Shrum made a motion to approve the March 4, 2021 meeting minutes. Secretary, Teresa Del Valle seconded the motion. Motion approved 5 to 0. III. ITEMS PULLED FROM AGENDA AFTER NOTICES SENT — NO ACTION TO BE TAKEN Zoning Board of Adjustment Application VARZ 21-00002 Applicant has requested deferment to the June meeting date. Zoning Board of Adjustment Application VARZ 21-00005. Request no longer required. IV. NEW BUSINESS A ZBA APPLICATION NO. VARZ21-00003 ACCESSORYSTRUCTUREAND FENCE VARIANCE 1. CALL PUBLIC HEARING TO ORDER Chairperson, Mark Lewis opened the public hearing for ZBA Application No. VARZ 21 - 00003 at 6:21 p.m. Page 1 of 5 2. PURPOSE OF THE HEARING: A request by Gilberto Cardenas, applicant on behalf of Roberto Reyna and Alma Perez, owners; for a variance, as permitted by the Unified Development Code, Ordinance No. 2000-T, to allow encroachment of accessory structures and fence into required setback areas on a property zoned Suburban Residential 12 (SR-12) District, (Section 2 4.2 4(c)(2)) to wit: Legal Description: Being 0.624-acre tract of land situated in the H.T & B. RR. Company Survey, Abstract No. 509, Brazoria County, recorded in Clerk's file No 2016054056 of the official records of Brazoria County, Texas. General Location: 3710Aubrell Road, Pearland, TX. 3. STAFF REPORT Mrs. Buaku presented the Staff Reportwith exhibits and information on the case. She explained that in 2021, two accessory structures and a fence were constructed without the proper permits. Mrs. Buaku explained how one of the new structures did not meet setback requirements and the fence did not meet the requirements for a front yard fence. Mrs Buaku informed the board that the City's Public Works and Engineering department have agreed to issue a consent to encroach (encroachment agreement) to allow the accessory structure to remain within the water sewer easement if the variance was to be approved. According to the criteria for approving variances in the UDC, the applicants meet two out of eight criteria. Staff is recommending denial; staff does not believe approval would be detrimental to public health and safety. Mrs Buaku informed the board that staff received one public comment form, in favor of the variance request. 4. APPLICANT PRESENTATION Gilberto Cardenas — 3710 Aubrell Rd. Pearland, TX. The owners were not aware that they needed to get permits for the construction. Owners did not know that they had limits to where they could build, their survey did not show these limits. They have used all their money for the construction, to help protect their farming equipment and to have shading on their property. 5. PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK FOR ORAGAINST THE PROPOSED REQUEST None 6. STAFF/BOARD/APPLICANT DISCUSSION Secretary, Teresa Del Valle questioned who built the structure and fence. Mr. Cardenas answered that the owner built the structure and fence. Ms Del Valle questioned if the property would have sufficient room to relocate the structure and the fence, to make it into compliance. Mrs Buaku answered yes, and they would probably have to demolish both in order to relocate. Ms. Del Valle questioned if staff would recommend approval. Mrs. Buaku explained that no hardship was associated to the property, but they had evaluated the situation, and it seemed that it would not negatively impact any properties and the neighbor adjacent owners should be able to move in and out of their property without having their view being abstracted by the fence. Mrs Buaku explained that this was a harmless mistake. Board Member Gary Shrum questioned if any Page 2of5 neighboring property owners would be affected by limiting access or encroaching into other properties. Mrs Buaku informed the board that no other properties would be affected. Mr Shrum questioned if there were any other utility companies within the easement. Planning Manager, Martin Griggs informed the board that the City's sewer was the only utilities shown on the plat. Mr. Shum expressed that if the board decides to have the owners move the structure and the fence, that they would both have to be completely torn down, they could not just be simply moved. Ms Del Valle questioned if the board would be setting a precedent for all the other properties down the road to build within the setback if they were to approve the variance, and if more new requests for similar variances would be requested in the future. Mr. Provins informed the board that they would have to explain the differences between this case and other new cases to come; however, each case stood on its own, but it could make it difficult for the City to argue against approving similar future variances. 7. ADJOURNMENT OF PUBLIC HEARING Chairperson, Mark Lewis adjourned the public hearing for ZBA Application No. VARZ 21- 000003 at 6:49 p.m. 8. CO NSI DERATI ONAN D POSSI BLEACTI ON Secretary, Teresa Del Valle made the motion to deny the variance. Vice -Chair, Jerry Acosta seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 to 2 Chairperson, Mark Lewis, and Board Member Gary Shrum voted against the motion. B ZBA APPLICATION NO. VARZ 21-00004 VARIANCE FOR RESTAURANT WITH DRIVE-THRU 1. CALL PUBLIC HEARING TO ORDER Chairperson, Mark Lewis opened the public hearing for ZBA Application No. VARZ 21 - 00004 at 6:55 p.m. 2. PURPOSE OF THE HEARING: A request by Carrie Sheldon, Helm Design Group LLC, Applicant on behalf of Abimbola and Adekunle Aderibigbe, owners; for a variance, as permitted by the Unified Development Code, Ordinance No 2000-T, to allow a reduced landscape buffer for a proposed restaurant with drive- thru service in the Neighborhood Services (NS) District (Section 2 2 5.2 (d)), to wit: Legal Description: Being 0.2557 acres, situated in the WDC Hall League, Abstract 70, Being part of lot A, in commercial Tract B of Shadycrest Subdivision in Brazoria County Texas, according to map or plat thereof recorded in Volume 8, Pages 95-96 of the Plat records of Brazoria County, Texas. General Location: 2024 Broadway St., Pearland, TX 3. STAFF REPORT Mrs Buaku presented the Staff Reportwith exhibits and information on the case. Mrs. Buaku informed Page 3of5 the board of the history of the property and explained how in January of 2021 the applicant came before the board with a reduce landscaping and parking variance request. That request was denied by the board, voting 2-3. Mrs Buaku explained how since then, the applicant has reduced the building size and how the parking requirements will be met due to the reduced building footprint. Mrs. Buaku provided exhibits showing the proposed access area to the subject property and the access to the adjoining neighborhood Shadycrest. Staff received three public comments in favor of the variance, staff also received 18 public comments against the variance and one public comment requesting more information. Mrs. Buaku concluded that staff's evaluation determined that the variance request met the UDC criteria for approving variances and staff was recommending approval of the landscape variance request. 4. APPLICANT PRESENTATION • • Adekunle Aderibigbe, 2024 Broadway Pearland, TX, owner — Gave a quick presentation of his New Orleans business, similar to the shop they were proposing. Carrie Sheldon, 5768 Lightstone Lake, League City - Helm Design Group LLC — She explained how they had been working to make the site usable due to the size of the property. Jennifer Henrichs, 6126 Ravenwood Dr. Pearland, TX (available for questions) Jim Helm, 979 Astoria Ln. League City, TX. (available for questions) 5. PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK FOR OR AGAINST THE PROPOSED REQUEST Linda Cowles, 3412 Shadeycrest Ln. Pearland, TX. Opposed, due to traffic hazard. Troy Shull, 3914 Shadycrest Dr. Pearland, TX. Opposed, the corner is notorious for traffic accidents. Shadycrest does not have any sidewalks, the parking overflow would be at Baytown Seafood and they already have restricted parking EMS would not be able to get to the elderly neighbors quick enough. Tony Voigt, 2631 Lake Crest Dr. Pearland, TX. He was involved with the traffic assessment for the project. He was available to help with questions. Sylvia Arehart, 3903 Shadycrest Pearland, TX Opposed, the owner who purchased the lot should have known what the requirements were prior to purchasing. The health and welfare of the public would be negatively affected. The neighboring businesses would be affected by the view being obstructed. David & Mary Yates, 3403 Shadycrest Pearland, TX. Their property is directly behind the subject property. They are concerned with the reduction of the landscape buffer and how that would affect their property with the garage being very close to the property line and the power lines near the easement. Traffic could back up to his property. Lesa Brownstein, 3904 Shadycrest Dr. She agreed with what Sylvia and Troy said. 6. STAFF/BOARD/APPLICANT DISCUSSION Ms. Del Valle verified if the project were to comply with the landscape requirements, if that would not eliminate all the drive-thru lanes. Mrs. Buaku agreed it would. Ms. Del Valle questioned if the traffic study required the business to stop taking orders or close if traffic backs up. Mr. Voigt explained that if a business were to exceed a threshold of 60-70 arrivals per -hour and they see that the drive-thru was backed up, that is when the business would adjust their operation reduce the backup. Mr. Voigt addressed that 60-70 arrivals per -hour was very high, that Starbucks could get around 45-50 arrivals per -hour. Mr. Voigt informed the board that the second window and the online orders could help before closing the operations. Mrs. Sheldon informed the board that the secondary drive-thru window could be utilized to speed up processing of orders. Ms. Del Valle questioned if the owner had thought of eliminating the drive thru. Mrs Buaku explained that the parking requirements for a restaurant use without drive thru was higher. She also added that if the board were to approve the variance, the site plan could Page 4 of 5 still be subject to some changes during the review process to ensure it meets all UDC requirements before permits could be issued. 7. ADJOURNM ENT OF PUBLIC HEARING Chairperson, Mark Lewis adjourned the public hearing for ZBA Application No. VARZ 21- 00004 at 8:09 p.m. 8. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLEACTION Secretary, Teresa J. Del Valle made a motion to approve the variance request. Alternate, Christopher Tristan seconded the motion. The motion failed 5 to 0. II. ADJOURNM ENT Meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m. These minutes respectfully submitted by: Mont a . izpu ua, Office Assistant Minrtes approved as submitted on this 3rd day of June 2021. 624rezi 6L-1,43 Donald Glenn, Vice -Chair Page 5of5