DEPARTMENT: Development Services Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Michael Shannon
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Council District 1
SUBJECT:
Review and update of Section 35-335 "NCD" Neighborhood Conservation District including amendments to "NCD-5" Beacon Hill Area Neighborhood Conservation District.
SUMMARY:
An update on Councilman Roberto Trevino’s Council Consideration Request will be provided to the Neighborhoods and Livability Committee.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In March 2016, Councilman Roberto Trevino requested that the City of San Antonio review and update the "NCD-5" Beacon Hill Area Neighborhood Conservation District. The Governance Committee was briefed on this item on February 8, 2017 and recommended that staff move forward with the community input process to amend the Beacon Hill NCD. As this is a UDC amendment, staff provided a briefing of the proposed changes to the Planning Commission Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on March 27, 2017 and the TAC had no objection to staff moving forward with the amendment process.
ISSUE:
The Beacon Hill NCD was created in 2005. In March 2016, Councilman Roberto Trevino submitted a CCR to amend the Beacon Hill NCD language related to front setbacks for non-residential projects. Since that time, the Beacon Hill neighborhood has experienced different development patterns for multifamily residential projects that the language of the NCD does not adequately address to ensure consistency with the character of the neighborhood. Development Services Department has met with a working group formed by the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Association, comprised of property owners within the neighborhood, since August 2016 to identify other areas of the Beacon Hill NCD that need amendments to update the standards.
DSD staff and the Beacon Hill neighborhood working group met 8 times between August 2016 thru February 2017 and developed revisions to the NCD and presented a draft of the revisions to the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Association on March 20, 2017. In addition, two community meetings were held to present the proposed changes to property owners within the Beacon Hill NCD. Below is a recap of the meetings:
• A meeting with residential property owners was held on April 3, 2017 to receive input and feedback on the proposed changes. At the meeting, there was no opposition to the proposed standards related to height and building massing for all residential structures to address the development patterns that have been occurring and have concerned the neighborhood. However, a number of standards related to elevation features, building materials and accessory structures and its applicability to developed homes versus vacant lots or new construction needs additional discussion. Owners were invited to send in their comments and feedback to staff by April 14. Staff will consolidate the input and present revised language at a future meeting.
• A meeting with commercial property owners was held on April 5, 2017 to receive input and feedback on the proposed changes. Many of the current standards remain the same, however, major changes include defining a building for the purposes of meeting the maximum front setback, no longer exempting the industrial zoned properties by IH 10 and the railroad, aggregating lots more than a half-acre, and signage to allow more flexibility for primary signage and lit signs. There was no objection to the proposed definition of a building, however, several of the commercial property owners were concerned that the working group did not include commercial owners and would like to review the standards and its applicability to redeveloped properties or new construction versus additions or minor changes to exterior buildings. The owners asked to form a committee to review the district standards with staff and propose revised language at a future meeting.
ALTERNATIVES:
N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this briefing.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends continuing to review and revise the proposed changes to the NCD with the Beacon Hill NCD property owners to develop consensus. Upon completion of this process, staff will proceed to Zoning Commission for their review and recommendation, provide another update to the Neighborhoods and Livability Committee, and move forward to City Council for approval.