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06/02/2003 MINUTESMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION JUNE 29 2003 The Planning and Zoning Commission met Monday, June 2,2003,5:30 P.M., Paris Junior College, Applied Technology Building, Room 1206, 2400 Clarksville Street, Paris, Texas with the following members present: I. Reeves Hayter 2. Russell McCain 3. Brad Archer 4. Marshall Kent 5. Carl Lucas 6. Cleveland Thomas Steve Methven, the building official was also present. The meeting was called to order by Reeves Hayter. 1. The minutes from the May 5, 2003, regular planning and zoning meeting were approved with a motion by Russell McCain and seconded by Carl Lucas. Motion carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. 2. Public Hearing to consider the petition of Henry Starks for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a Two - Family Dwelling District (2F), Lot 18, City Block 259, being number 514 25" NE. The public hearing was declared open. There was no one present to speak in favor of or against the petition, the public hearing was declared closed. 3. Consideration of and action on the petition of Henry Starks for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a Two - Family Dwelling District (2F), Lot 18, City Block 259, being number 514 25th NE. Motion was made to table by Marshall Kent and seconded by Cleveland Thomas. Motion to table carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. 4. Public Hearing to consider the petition of David Glass for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 2 Commercial District (C), Lot 1, City Block 249, being number 2404 Lamar. The public hearing was declared open. There was no one present to speak in favor of or against the petition, the public hearing was declared closed. 5. Consideration of and action on the petition of David Glass for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a Commercial District (C), Lot 1, City Block 249, being number 2404 Lamar. Motion was made to table by Marshall Kent and seconded by Russell McCain. Motion to table carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. 6. Public Hearing to consider the petition of E.A. Stewart for a change in zoning from an Agricultural District (A) to a Commercial District (C), Lot 4, City Block 167, being number 2705 3" SE. The public hearing was declared open. Eric Stewart, P.O. Box 189, Paris, spoke in favor of the petition stating that his Mr. E.A. Stewart wants to purchase the property to construct a 40 x 40 building for 4 offices to be used by paint contractors. The lot would be divided into 3 separate sections with the first section being the only one that he wants to build on right now. Tools, equipment, and vehicles would be parked in the back. Cleveland Thomas asked Mr. Stewart what else is around the area. Mr. Stewart stated that there is an old house on the property and it has a pool to be filled in. The house will be torn down. There are bois d' arc trees next door at a residential house and there is also residential property across the street. Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 3 Ralph Taylor, who lives directly across the street from the property, spoke in opposition to the petition stating that on the end of the Loop, there is Commercial property and then there is a residential area and this would make a Commercial area and then another residential area. Mr. Taylor stated that when Mr. Stewart first came to them they told him that they did not think that there would be no opposition. Mr. Taylor's concern was that if Mr. Stewart bought the property and did not build what he proposed, who would he sell it to and got to thinking about how many crews would be coming in and out of there since it is a total residential area around there except for the one property on the end. Mr. Taylor asked Mr. Stewart what their intentions would be if they bought the property and did not build and how many crews would be coming in and out and what night activities would be there. There was no further opposition, the public hearing was declared closed. 7. Consideration of and action on the petition of E.A. Stewart for a change in zoning from an Agricultural District (A) to a Commercial District (C), Lot 4, City Block 167, being number 2705 3 d SE. Motion was made to deny the request for Commercial zoning by Carl Lucas seconded by Marshall Kent. Motion to deny carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. 8. Public Hearing to consider the petition of Benton Rainey for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a Commercial District (C), Pt. of Lot 8, City Block 361, being the 3400 Block of Jefferson Road. The public hearing was declared open. Benton Rainey, 835 39' SE, spoke in favor of the petition stating that the National Resources Conservation, NRCC, Soil Conservation, Farm Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 4 Services Agency, RCD Conservation Development and Lamar County Soil Conservation are requesting to build an office building at this location. It will be one building with several offices. Alfred Mackin, Director of Lamar Soil and Water Conservation District, stated that the district wants to build a building for the Farm Service Administration and also the Natural Resource Conservation. There would be only one building, about 2 acres with 40 parking spaces on it. It would only be used for housing these offices. The building would be used 5 days a week, 8 hours a day and it would be a Federal Building. The building is being leased to the Federal Government and the district is wanting to build the building. David Basinger, Deport, Texas, Lamar County Soil and Water Conservation Chairman, spoke in favor of the petition stating that there would be only 1 or 2 front doors with all the offices working together. There will not be several offices lined up together but will be an open form. They will be out there out of the way, all the farmers can come in and out without any problems. The Loop access is very good. They are trying to building something that they can lease to the Government for so many years and then after it is paid for, the money from the lease can be put back into the community, used for scholarships and helping the people in the community on their farms. 9. Consideration of and action on the petition of Benton Rainey for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a Commercial District (C), Pt. of Lot 8, City Block 361, being the 3400 Block of Jefferson Road. Motion made to approve by Brad Archer, seconded by Russell McCain. Motion to approve carried by a vote of 5 ayes and 1 nay. 10. Public Hearing to consider the petition of Donald G. Wilson for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 5 a Planned Development District (a) Retail shopping center (PD -a), Part of lot 14, City Block 259, (See Exhibit A Attached). Don Wilson, 3110 Stacy Lane, spoke in favor of the petition stating that he represents a group called HW Group who have owned the property for approximately 20 years. The property is directly across the street from East Paris Baptist Church. It runs along Collegiate Drive from the subdivision that Jack Denman put in, North Park. It runs from that house South to the corner of Collegiate Drive and Pine Mill Road. What the Group have as a contract is to sell the northeast property to an insurance company and build a building with the same setting as a residential structure. It will have brick, composition roof, no metal on it, and they are looking at having a transition house, a transition business that transitions from residential into a Commercial site. The entire property would be deed restricted where anyone that builds there would have to have a 4 sided brick exterior, no metal showing, and any dumpster would have to be enclosed in brick. Further south on Collegiate, there are metal buildings, and all kinds of Commercial structures but this would be a transition from Residential to Heavy Commercial and with the deed restriction the issued could be forced where it would always look nice and in setting with the residential houses that are to the North and well to the East in Springlake Addition. Although, the property behind this requested zoning area would be an additional street of residential left in there that zoning is not being requested. Site plan in the future would address parking and drainage. If anyone comes in a want to build a retail center or retail building of any sort, they will have to follow the deed restriction, they would have to do exactly as Norment & Landers and would have to come before the Planning & Zoning Commission for approval. It is enough land to have 4 or 5 lots similar to what Norment & Landers is buying on the north end. Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 6 Steve Methven stated that he received a phone call from Ms. Gibson, 830 N. Collegiate, against the zoning she wanted to keep the residential zoning in, the area. There was no further opposition, the public hearing was declared closed. 11. Consideration of and action on the petition of Donald G. Wilson for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a Planned Development District (a) Retail shopping center (PD -a), Part of Lot 14, City Block 259, (See Exhibit A Attached). Motion was made to approve by Brad Archer seconded by Carl Lucas. Motion carried by a vote of 6 aye and 0 nays. 12. Public Hearing to consider the petition of the Historic Preservation Commission for a change in zoning from Central Area (CA) to a Historical Overlay District (HD), being the Downtown Area. The public hearing was declared open. Steve Methven presented an overlay map of the Historic District. Favor Paul Denney, 2435 Clark Lane, member of the Historic Preservation Commission, stated that he recently purchased 2 other pieces of property one at 941 S. Church. He is a professional architect. Mr. Denney is extremely concerned with the mistakes that 4 or 5 building owners have made on buildings. Expressed that the Commission cares about what happens to historic buildings. The Commission works in a collaborative spirit with the Downtown property owners and other property owners that want to do the job the right way. If property A Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 7 is worked hard on and property B is made a mess of, it hurts the whole community and that is why this is so important. Something permanent should be studied before action is taken. When a building is reroofed it has a 25 to 30 year life and you can not just tell the building owner to tear it back off, its permanent. There are several downtown building owners that are interested in doing the job right but because some people are abusing their right —this regulation is necessary. This regulation is not retroactive — people would not be told to go back and take off what has been done up to now. Mr. Denney showed from the map where the proposed district would be. Arvin Starrett, 629 Church Street, spoke in favor of the petition stating that the city is very fortunate because virtually the entire commercial district was destroyed in 1916. What this devastation did was put together in one place buildings of 1916 -17 of the finest collection in the entire country. There are names such as Bywaters and others who made contributions to their community out of love for their city. There is a peristyle, park, fountain, and library in our city. Several families of means at the turn of the century were concerned about the future of the way their city looked. How can we be any less concerned that our children and grandchildren and folks 60 years hence be able to experience the Paris that we all know. None of us were around when those buildings were built hopefully those buildings will be around a lot longer than we are, we are custodians of those properties and the concern is that the decision made will be to help those buildings to be passed on to generations to come. Pike Burkhart, 524 Church Street, Chairman -Elect of Keep Paris Beautiful, spoke in favor of the petition stating that Keep Paris Beautiful represents a cross section of this community, citizens, business, industry, and government. Hard work is put into fostering the Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 8 historic preservation initiative. The Historic District Preservation will benefit the community immensely as it goes forward. Mr. Burkhart thinks that it will be for the good of the community. Paul Swasko, Rt.1, Paris, member of KPB Board, stated that the future of the city depended on all the Boards supporting initiatives that aimed at beautifying the city and preserving what we have. There are over 100 volunteers on the KPB Board who support this program. Paul Swasko spoke in behalf of The Community Development Corporation (CDC), Paris Living, is very much in favor of the historic district. The focus of CDC has been on enhancing Paris, especially the core of Paris, the city center and the area immediately around it. Garvey House, 29 E. Plaza, stated that his family has been here for many generations and property of a jewelry store. He is a property owner and longtime resident in support of the historic district. The perceptions that people have form the attitudes that they maintain. People need to perceive Paris as something valuable. People perceive things that are historic and attribute value to it. It is important to make an effort to preserve what we have. Susie Harper, 545 Johnson Woods, owns property next to House Jewelry and is on the Main Street Committee. We have in Paris, a very unique place. Protecting our historic buildings is good public policy. Our historic buildings bring tourism and promote economic development and they provide us with both a sense of community and sense of place. We should appreciate what we have and protect it. Mary Clark, 3160 Allen, Partner with Moore Law Firm, who owns property in the proposed district, encouraged adoption of the historic district. The Law Firm believes in historic preservation. The Firm took an old building and preserved it. After seeing their building they are very pleased with the use of their building for their purposes and can Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 9 visualize what the whole downtown area could look like with that kind of effort. The historic commission has come a long way in such a short period of ,time. Bill Payne, 436 S. Church, owns property further down Church Street and 2 properties on Sherman. Mr. Payne is a member of the Moore Law Firm, Main Street, and Paris Living Community Development Corporation. A tremendous amount of work has gone into vision and working and writing historic ordinances both for the Main Street Project and through various individuals. Paris is a pretty city but is behind as far as historic preservation is concerned. Mr. Payne asked that everyone in support of the ordinance to please stand up. The Community Development Corporation's objective is to provide affordable housing in the downtown core area. Part of that objective is to work with structures that are historically compatible with those districts. Paris Living has also selected that same core area and Main Street has been working on that as well. The Main Street project hopefully will culminate within a year or so when construction begins on improvement to the Plaza areas as far as street improvements, streetscape, etc. are concerned. All will enhance the historic district. Opposition Gene Rader, 2565 Clark Lane, not in opposition to the historic society. Mr. Rader does not think that the merchants downtown have destroyed it that much. Mr. Rader is in opposition to a group telling the downtown businesses what to do but he will work with anyone —no one preserves downtown history no more that he does. Mr. Cotton McDowell who is deceased saved downtown. When laws state that you cannot flush a commode without permission from the historic society or cannot paint a door a color —that is not right. Mr. Rader is certainly in opposition to making a law and stated that nobody loves historical stuff more than he does. Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 10 Carolyn Jordan, own property at 133 W. Sherman, stated that she tried to get a house trailer moved onto the property but was denied. Ms. Jordan asked if her land would be lost if they do not have the money to redo their land that they paid on for years. Ms. Jordan stated that there was 1 neighbor who opposed moving a trailer on the property. Ms. Jordan stated she was definitely opposed to the proposed historic district. Sybil Colson, 819 Lamar Avenue, owns the property at 4th and Bonham with Mr. Wells, objects the proposed historic district. The main reason is that it is a burdensome procedure which is being imposed on the landowners without any recompense, any tax credits, incentives, or whatever else. As owners of the older buildings downtown, enough hardships are faced — struggle to get insurance, deal with rising property taxes and declining city services. To do anything to a building, including painting a different color, a 3 to 4 level form of bureaucracy will have to decide. The routine maintenance does not include changing landscape —to change landscape or paint a window or door a different color, the whole process will have to be considered. Ms. Colson stated that as a result of this process, the absentee landlords, landowners are not going to do anything and the people there are not going to be able to afford to do anything, therefore, there will be a lot more vacant buildings and no improvements and very little maintenance will be done. Ms. Colson checked with CPA regarding tax credit and was advised that the only tax credits are more trouble than they are worth. The CPA stated that is the Federal Government and so you know what that is like. Ms. Colson thinks it will be a nightmare for the city to enforce regulations in the historic district. Ms. Colson that most landowners in the area are opposed to the historic district. Ms. Colson asked everyone present who opposed the zoning to please stand up. Bill Bone who owns 4 or 5 downtown properties asked who is going to pay for restoring the buildings to the original state. Mr. Bone said a Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 11 rough estimate on the old Rogers Wade building is over a million dollars. Chairman Reeves Hayter stated that it would be up to the owner of the properties to pay for whatever improvements are made. Mr. Bone stated that the building would already be gone if he had not put the metal roof on it. Some of the structure is rotten from the leakage. Freddie Swaim, 375 Laurel Lane, Paris, stated that his plea is for the Commission to do what is right. This is the only country that you can vote without worry about being killed or elections being turned over, the right to own guns, right to own property and the right to go anywhere in the United States without asking anybody or telling anybody. Mr. Swaim has been in his building since 1932 and has no idea of anyway that he would want to change it but when it comes time to fix the roof he will fix it the way it has to be fixed. Mr. Swaim stated the law is not even in effect and people have already been told that they cannot even live on their own land —where are property rights. Jim Wright, 805 20t' SE, who owns property at Bonham Street and Grand Avenue stated that in 1916 there was not somebody saying that you cannot put a trailer house on a lot where kids could be raised and sent to school to help pay taxes. Need relief on personal property taxes and maybe what the Historic Commission wants done can be done to the old buildings. There was no further opposition, the public hearing was declared closed. 13. Consideration of and action on the petition of the Historic Preservation Commission for a change in zoning from Central Area (CA) to a Historical Overlay District (HD), being the Downtown Area. Motion was made to approve the request to a Historical Overlay Planning and Zoning Meeting June 3, 2003 Page 12 District by Brad Archer and seconded by Carl Lucas. Motion carried by a vote of 4 ayes and 2 nays. 14. Consideration of and action on the Preliminary Plat of The Hills, Phase IV. Motion was made to approve by Marshall Kent and seconded by Russell McCain, subject to the City Engineer's Memo, dated, June 2, 2003. Motion carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. 15. Consideration of and action on the Preliminary Plat, Pt. of Lot 10, City Block 317, being the 2200 Block of NE 36t' Street. Motion was made to approve by Marshall Kent seconded by Cleveland Thomas, subject to the City Engineer's Memo, dated, June 2, 2003, and with escrow money put up for curb and gutter. Motion carried by a vote of 5 ayes and 1 nay. 16. Consideration of and action on the Preliminary Plat, Lots 13, 14,14A, 15, City Block 102, being the 1500 Block of Lamar Avenue. Motion was made to approve by Marshall Kent seconded by Carl Lucas subject to the City Engineer's Memo, dated, June 2, 2003. Motion carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. 17. Consideration of and action on the Final Plat, River Oaks Subdivision, being the 3000 Block of Aikin Drive. Motion was made to deny by Carl Lucas seconded by Marshall Kent subject to the City Engineer's Memo, dated, June 2, 2003. Motion to deny carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. Meeting adjourned at 8:45