DEPARTMENT: Development Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Michael Shannon
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: 2
SUBJECT:
Plan Amendment PA-2021-11600004
(Associated Zoning Case Z-2021-10700021)
SUMMARY:
Comprehensive Plan Component: Arena District / Eastside Community Plan
Plan Adoption Date: September 10, 2003
Current Land Use Category: “Parks Open Space” and “Mixed Use”
Proposed Land Use Category: “Mixed Use”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Planning Commission Hearing Date: February 24, 2021
Case Manager: Justin Malone, Planner
Property Owner: Gurinda Akhtar
Applicant: Amir Namakforoosh
Representative: Amir Namakforoosh
Location: 3623 East Commerce Street
Legal Description: 12.088 acres out of NCB 10578
Total Acreage: 12.088
Notices Mailed
Owners of Property within 200 feet: 11
Registered Neighborhood Associations within 200 feet: Jefferson Heights
Applicable Agencies: Planning Department, Martindale Army Airfield, Fort Sam Houston Military Base
Property Details
Transportation
Thoroughfare: E Commerce
Existing Character: Primary Arterial
Proposed Changes: None
Public Transit: VIA bus routes are within walking distance of the subject property
Routes Served: 25, 225
ISSUE:
Comprehensive Plan
Comprehensive Plan Component: Arena District / Eastside Community Plan
Plan Adoption Date: September 10, 2003
Goals:
Land Use Guiding Principles:
2.2 Protect the neighborhoods by providing them with the necessary improvements
to enable infill development and redevelopment
2.3 Create attractive streets
2.5 Respect existing natural systems and maximize their benefit to the plan
Comprehensive Land Use Categories
Land Use Category: “Mixed Use”
Description of Land Use Category:
Mixed Use provides for a concentrated blend of residential, retail, service, office, entertainment, leisure, and other related uses at increased densities to create a pedestrian-oriented environment where people can enjoy a wide range of fulfilling experiences in one place. Nodal development is preferred around a transit stop, where the density would decrease towards the edge of the node. Mixed Use should be located at the intersection of a collector and arterial street, two arterial streets, or where an existing commercial area has been established. Mixed Use incorporates high quality architecture and urban design features such as attractive streetscapes, parks/plazas, and outdoor cafes. Mixed use evolves from surface parking for cars to a multi-modal transportation system relying on transit, centralized parking, pedestrian linkages, and an option for light rail transit service. Buffer yards provide a landscaped separation between residential and commercial uses, and for all off-street parking areas and vehicle uses areas. Mixed Uses include those in the Commercial and Residential categories and including low, mid and high-rise office buildings and hotels. This classification allows for a mix of uses in the same building or in the same development such as small offices (dentists, insurance professionals, non-profits, etc.), small storefront retail establishment (coffee shops, cafes, shoe repair shops, gift shops, antique stores, specialty retail shops, hair salons, day care, drug stores, etc.) and residential uses (live/work units, small apartment buildings, townhomes, etc.) A Mixed-Use Town Center provides a central civic function with mixed uses incorporated into the peripheral development. A special district should be implemented to provide design standards for Mixed Use development.
Permitted Zoning Districts: MXD, TOD, NC, C-1, C-2, O-1, O-2, RM-4, RM-5, RM-6, MF-25, MF-33, MF-40, MF-50
Land Use Category: “Parks Open Space”
Description of Land Use Category:
Parks/Open Space, which includes both public and private lands, should preserve neighborhoods and promote economic vitality by providing high quality opportunities to enhance overall attractiveness and livability, maintain property values, improve the health and wellness of the city’s residents, encourage natural resource protection, and promote tourism opportunities. Recreational lands and open spaces should maximize use by surrounding residents and, where possible be located adjacent to proposed school sites, ensure optimum management and conservation of natural waterways, flood plains, and open space areas of unique environmental or historical value, and provide for noise control or visual buffer zones along road and highway rights-of-way using urban forest areas. Examples of this classification are lands that are available for active use (golf courses, playgrounds, and athletic fields), passive enjoyment (trails, plazas, and courtyards), natural areas and reserves, greenway linkages or parkways, greenbelts, urban forests, wetlands, drainages, and utility easements.
Permitted Zoning Districts: None
Land Use Overview
Subject Property
Future Land Use Classification:
Parks Open Space, Mixed Use
Current Land Use Classification:
Vacant Land
Direction: North
Future Land Use Classification:
Parks Open Space
Current Land Use Classification:
Vacant Land, Salado Creek
Direction: East
Future Land Use Classification:
Mixed Use
Current Land Use Classification:
Vacant Land, Industrial Door Supplier, Hardware Store, Event Planner
Direction: South
Future Land Use Classification:
Mixed Use
Current Land Use Classification:
Hotel, Coffee Retail, Bar
Direction: West
Future Land Use Classification:
Mixed Use
Current Land Use Classification:
Multifamily Residential
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
Proximity to Regional Center/Premium Transit Corridor
The property is not within a Regional Center however it is within a premium transit corridor.
STAFF ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION:
Staff Analysis and Recommendation: Staff and Planning Commission (11-0) recommend Approval.
The applicant seeks a Plan Amendment from “Mixed Use” and “Parks Open Space” to entirely “Mixed Use” to rezone the property to “IDZ-2” Medium Intensity Infill Development Zone with uses permitted for up to fifty (50) units per acre. The Plan Amendment to “Mixed Use” is consistent with the overall planning pattern of the area, especially near the East Commerce and I-10 Corridor intersection. Behind the subject property lies the Salado Creek Greenway an amenity which the proposed multifamily development would benefit from.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Recommend Approval of the proposed amendment to the Arena District / Eastside Community Plan, as presented above.
2. Make an alternate recommendation.
3. Continue to a future date.
ZONING COMMISSION SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Z-2021-10700021
Current Zoning: "R-5 EP-1 MLOD-3 MLR-1" Residential Single-Family Parking/Traffic Control Martindale Army Airfield Military Lighting Overlay Military Lighting Region 3 District and "C-2 EP-1 MLOD-3 MLR-1" Commercial Parking/Traffic Control Martindale Army Airfield Military Lighting Overlay Military Lighting Region 3 District
Requested Zoning: "IDZ-2 EP-1 MLOD-3 MLR-1" Medium Intensity Infill Development Zone Parking/Traffic Control Martindale Army Airfield Military Lighting Overlay Military Lighting Region 3 District with uses permitted for up to fifty (50) units per acre
Zoning Commission Hearing Date: March 16, 2021