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11/01/2004 MINUTESMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 1, 2004 The Planning and Zoning Commission met Monday, November 1, 2004,5:30 P.M., Lamar County Fairgrounds, Community Exhibit Building, 570 E. Center Street, Paris, Texas with the following members present: 1. Reeves Hayter (arrived at 5:35) 5. Marshall Kent 2. Barbara Forrest 6. Carl Lucas 3. Russell McCain 7. Benny Plata 4. Brad Archer Lisa Wright, the Director of Community Development, was also present. 1. The meeting was called to order by Marshall Kent at 5:30 p.m. 2. The minutes from the October 7, 2004 and October 20 meetings were approved with a motion by Carl Lucas, seconded by Benny Plata. Motion carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. Reeves Hayter arrived at 5:30 and assumed the chair. 3. Public Hearing to consider the petition of Charles Park for a change in zoning from a Two - Family Dwelling District (2F) to a Neighborhood Service District (NS) With Specific Use Permit (28) Mortuary or Funeral Parlor, on Lot 10, City Block 70 -A, being located at 1305 Pine Bluff Street. The public hearing was declared open. Sandra Patterson Chappell spoke in opposition to the petition stating that this is near the Patterson family home for 40 years. Pine Bluff Street is 20 blocks of unrestricted traffic with nothing to slow traffic down. Her major objection is that they are not utilizing the old house Planning and Zoning Minutes November 1, 2004 Page 2 that is there but the plan is to tear the house down and put up a metal building with brick front and a half circle drive - -in the middle of the soon to be historic area. Jerry Haning, 1213 Pine Bluff spoke in opposition to the petition stating that 20 years ago when he bought his property he had it rezoned to Neighborhood Service with the thought of doing some retail business there. Mr. Haning is a building contractor —he builds Commercial buildings. Mr. Haning stated that every town that he works in has architectural standards but in Paris there are metal buildings going up all over town. He stated that the house at 1305 Pine Bluff was salvageable but it is not now. Mr. Haning stated that until Paris comes up with standards on metal buildings, he will always be opposed to metal buildings. Dennis Nelms, who owns property at 1202 Pine Bluff was not against or for the petition but stated that he has spend several thousand dollars fixing his house up and that we should think outside the box and go forward. He stated that we can use this to help benefit Paris but he thought that Pine Bluff would always have a lot of business on it. Mr. Nelms thinks that a plan should be presented prior to the zoning change. The public hearing was declared closed. 4. Consideration of and action on the petition of Charles Park for a change in zoning from a Two - Family Dwelling District (2F) to a Neighborhood Service District (NS) With Specific Use Permit (28) Mortuary or Funeral Parlor, on Lot 10, City Block 70 -A, being located at 1305 Pine Bluff Street. Motion to bring item from the table made by Brad Archer, seconded by Benny Plata. Motion carried 5 ayes 2 nays. Planning and Zoning Minutes November 1, 2004 Page 3 Motion was made to deny the petition by Carl Lucas, seconded by Brad Archer. Russell McCain abstained. Motion carried by a vote of 6 ayes and 0 nays. 5. Public Hearing to consider the petition of Chad Stephens for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) With Specific Use Permit (50) Recreational Facility (Private), on Lots 8 -A and 12, City Block 262, being located at 1240 20t" Street NE. The public hearing was declared open. Chad Stephens, 5002 Sunset View, Paris, spoke in favor of the petition stating that he would like to put in a paint ball or laser tag course. Mr. Stephens is requesting the zoning change before they decide which one they will put in due to cost factors. The paint ball will be insured and protective nets would be around the courses. Trees would also act as a buffer zone as far as flying balls or noise is concerned. There would be a parking area right off of 20th Street where the 2 lots are on 20th Street to get down into the property. There would be no structures built, the only obstacles would be natural terrain. There will only be cars parked on the facility and they will not be parked there for long periods of time. Nothing will be changed as far as drainage. Traffic will not be a hazard —there will only be about 10 -20 cars parked on about 12 1/2 acres. The property has been vacant and Mr. Stephens would like to utilize the property to the best of their ability. Paint ball is a big industry and it will bring money to Paris. This would be for all ages —a family deal. Mr. Plata asked if there were any plans to put up a wall or if the trees would be as the buffer. Mr. Stephens stated that for insurance reasons if a course could be the size of a basketball court or the size of a football field, you would have nets that you see at driving ranges. If you are going to be an insured facility, you have to abide by their standards and that is to have a Planning and Zoning Minutes November 1, 2004 Page 4 protective net for onlookers. Mr. Stephens stated that he would have on -site marshals and referees to keep thing under control. One could be barred for life if out there to cause mischief. Mr. Lucas asked what is the height of the nets. Mr. Stephens stated that he does not know specifically but he has gone to several web sites and looked at their facilities as well as on tv on the Spike Channel —the nets could go up about 25 feet, not taller than the trees. There would be a child's course and a close contact course that would be surrounded like a tennis court would be surrounded by a net. It is a close contact sport. The course would be open weekends only but if, for example, Kimberly Clark called and stated that they wanted to reserve the court on Wednesday for 25 people —they would do that. The winter months requires a lot of clothing, therefore, it would take away from the stinging effect of getting shot. When it is wet or muddy, people do not want to crawl around in the mud. It would be a seasonal deal. It would be open on children's holidays at school so the children would have something to do. Mr. Stephens stated that location is important and being right in the heart of the city is an important factor that he wants to capitalize on. Mr. Stephens stated that the paint balls will not hurt anyone coming down and it washes off. They do not want to make an eye sore with the nets. The nets would be put only in an area where the insurance company requires. Chairman Hayter asked if anyone wished to speak in opposition of the request. Tracy Leising,1060 20th Street NE, spoke in opposition to the petition Planning and Zoning Minutes November 1, 2004 Page 5 stating that she just bought property with her 2 small children. Ms. Leising stated that her house was the eyesore on 20th Street and she has worked hard on making her house no longer the eyesore. Property was cleared behind her property for the paint ball course and they left felled trees on her fence. Her children would not be able to play in their backyard if they put in a paint ball course. Ms. Leising stated that her mother lives right next door and is terminally ill, therefore, can not come to speak, and Mr. Boren, who lives next door, asked her to speak also. John Grimly, 1295 22nd Street NE, spoke in opposition to the petition stating that today's Paris News talked about paint balls —it says that study finds that thousands are injured yearly by bb guns and air guns. The study has found that air rifles, paint ball pistols and bb guns injure as many as 21,000 Americans a year. Regarding deaths it stated that from 1990 to 2000 there were 39 deaths -32 of them were children younger than 15. Mr. Grimly stated that his brother -in -law is a vivid paint ball person out in California. Mr. Grimly stated that as long as a paint ball busts, it will just sting and hurt. If it does not bust, which that happens periodically, it will leave a big bruise. Air pressure controls how far the gun goes. Virginia Allen, 1240 22nd Street NE, spoke in opposition to the petition stating that there are drainage problems. Ms. Allen stated that Mr. Stephens pays only around $864.00 a year in taxes on his property and they all pay more than that on their houses. Ms. Allen stated that they are not rich —this is all they have and Mr. Stephens has already taken top soil off the property. Ms. Stephens handed out photos showing the slope from First Christian Church. Ms. Allen stated that this course should be put in at the race track that they already have. Gary Weathered, who owns 8 acres next to the Ball Wacker, spoke in opposition to the petition stating that he has windows knocked out all Planning and Zoning Minutes November 1, 2004 Page 6 of the time. He has collected 4,000 golf balls from his property since the Ball Wacker opened. He asked them to do something about all the balls and they did for a while but then they stop. Mr. Weathered had a light broken out of his new truck. Mr. Weathered stated that if a corporation such as Kimberly Clark uses the course, it will be more than 20 cars parked there. He asked if the parking lot would be paved. Mr. Weathered also stated that the curve on 20th Street where you would enter the property is the worst curve in Paris. Chad Stephens spoke again stating that soil was removed from his property 20 years ago. He stated that the City did not stop them from clearing the property - -they did the clearing because of complaints from the City. No outside paint balls would be brought in and the speed would be checked before going onto the course. Nothing has been address about private club —this would be a private facility. Mr. Stephens stated that he is tired of paying taxes and not utilizing the property. 6. Consideration of and action on the petition of Chad Stephens for a change in zoning from a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) to a One - Family Dwelling District No. 2 (SF -2) With Specific Use Permit (50) Recreational Facility (Private), on Lots 8 -A and 12, City Block 262, being located at 1240 20t' Street NE. Motion was made to deny the petition by Benny Plata, seconded by Russell McCain. Motion carried by a vote of 7 ayes and 0 nays. 7. Public Hearing to consider the petition of Toby Yoder for a change in zoning from an Agricultural District (A) to a One - Family Dwelling District No. 3 (SF -3) With Specific Use Permit (39) Mobile Home, on Part of Lot 17, City Block 323 (Tract 1), being located at 2515 19t'' Street NW. Planning and Zoning Minutes November 1, 2004 Page 7 The public hearing was declared open. Toby Yoder, who owns property at 251519th Street NW, spoke in favor of the petition stating that he wants to put a double wide trailer on his property —there is nothing on this property right now. His property is located outside the Loop past the Union Hall on the Old Lake Crook Rd. Mr. Yoder stated that there are mobile homes in the area. Gavin Jaynes, 265518th Street NW, stated that he had no problem with the mobile home going in there. He stated that the property was junked up but it looks good now. Dennis Nelms, who owns 7 homes on Henderson Street, valued at a little over $40,000 each, spoke for the petition stating that he has purchased several homes from Mr. Yoder and bought apartments from his son over the years and anything they have set out to do they have fixed nicely. The Chairman asked if anyone wished to speak in opposition of the request. Kenneth Milsap, Rt. 1, Box 539, Paris, spoke in opposition to the petition stating that he has family property in the area —it is a pretty rough area. He is waiting on some of the houses to fall down so they can get started cleaning it up. Mr. Milsap stated that he was raised in a mobile home and they go down hill quickly. Russell McCain stated that he generally is opposed to mobile homes inside the city limits. Mr. Yoder stated that he would not be living in the mobile home. Planning and Zoning Minutes November 1, 2004 Page 8 8. Consideration of and action on the petition of Toby Yoder for a change in zoning from an Agricultural District (A) to a One - Family Dwelling District No. 3 (SF -3) With Specific Use Permit (39) Mobile Home, on Part of Lot 17, City Block 323 (Tract 1), being located at 2515 19th Street NW. Motion was made to deny the petition by Russell McCain, seconded by Benny Plata. Motion carried by a vote of 7 ayes and 0 nays. 9. Consideration of and action on the Replat of Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Block 1 of the Hull Addition, being located in the 1200 Block of 6th Street NE. Motion was made to approve the Final Plat by Carl Lucas, seconded by Brad Archer, subject to the City Engineer's Memo dated, October 29, 2004. Motion carried by a vote of 7 ayes and 0 nays. Meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.