Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Session September 4, 2024
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Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Session September 4, 2024
The Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission held a regular session on September 4, 2024, at 5:36 PM in the City Hall Council Chamber. The meeting included approval of prior minutes, three public hearings for zoning cases, and all items were approved unanimously by a 7-0 vote.
Approval of Minutes
- The minutes of the August 21, 2024 regular session were approved unanimously (7-0) on a motion by Commissioner Greer, seconded by Commissioner Carter.
Public Hearing: Zoning Case ZA24-7 (805 Mansfield Webb Road)
- Applicant: Karam Khalil (Banister Engineering, representing Dream City LLC). The request was to rezone approximately 3.864 acres from Residential Estate (RE) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC).
- Staff Presentation: Principal Planner Kevin Charles noted the site is partially developed with an existing concrete pad and pavement from a previous mosque construction that halted. The property has a 50-foot gas pipeline easement and flood zone constraints limiting development options. The site is in established residential area; Mansfield Webb Road is a major collector proposed for four lanes.
- Applicant Position: Mr. Khalil explained extensive community outreach, including door-knocking, Zoom calls, and meetings with HOA presidents. He presented renderings showing a 14,000 sq ft commercial building with landscaping, walking trails, a plaza, and a playground/dog park (non-mandatory but intended). He emphasized low rents ($18-20/sq ft) due to existing infrastructure, and commitment to connecting the neighborhood trail. He stated support from former and current HOA presidents and council member Dr. Nunias.
- Commissioner Comments: Commissioner Finley praised the applicant's track record and community engagement. Commissioner Bully asked for a wider buffer between parking and adjacent homes; applicant noted overparking and willingness to adjust if needed, but said the adjacent neighbor supported the project.
- Public Comment: No additional speakers in support or opposition.
- Outcome: Motion to approve by Commissioner Greer, seconded by Commissioner Blake. Passed 7-0.
Public Hearing: Zoning Case ZA24-6 (2926 South Cooper Street)
- Applicant: Ahmed Saleh (represented by staff). Request to rezone approximately 2.99 acres from Community Commercial (CC) to Flex Hybrid (FH).
- Staff Presentation: Senior Planner Cecilia Nelson described the vacant site, surrounded by commercial and office uses. The Flex Hybrid district was adopted in 2023 to accommodate low-intensity tech, manufacturing, and warehousing. The site is in established residential area; comprehensive plan supports mixed-use redevelopment. One letter of support received; no opposition.
- Commissioner Comments: Commissioner Blake and Commissioner Sumpter expressed support, noting appropriateness for Cooper Street corridor and the new Flex Hybrid category.
- Public Comment: None.
- Outcome: Motion to approve by Commissioner Sumpter, seconded by Commissioner Blake. Passed 7-0.
Public Hearing: Zoning Case PD24-15 (7700 South Watson Road)
- Applicant: Broadest Services (on behalf of Verizon Wireless). Request to rezone a 40-by-40-foot lease area within the 168.55-acre MISD Timberview High School property from Office Commercial (OC) to Planned Development for Office Commercial (PD-OC) to allow a 105-foot telecommunications tower, addressing the required three-to-one distance setback from residential.
- Staff Presentation: Principal Planner Kevin Charles explained the tower is needed for capacity and coverage, especially for student data usage. The proposed location is in the northwest corner to minimize impact on future school development. The three-to-one setback encroaches on a residential estate zone to the north (linear park) and west (fence line). Staff recommended opaque gates and additional landscaping (two ornamental trees, ten shrubs) along South Collins Street.
- Applicant Position: Alan Scavilli (Broadest Services) stated Verizon will build the tower, which will be available for co-location. He noted the lease term is typically 5-10 years with automatic renewals up to 40-50 years. He agreed to the opaque gates and noted landscaping challenges but committed to work with staff.
- Commissioner Comments: Commissioner Blake asked about co-location and tower density in the area; applicant confirmed sharing and noted data demand requires more towers. Commissioner Blake supported the project but requested landscaping improvements.
- Public Comment: None.
- Outcome: Motion to approve by Commissioner Blake, seconded by Commissioner Sumpter, with the condition that the applicant honor the opaque gates and landscaping proposed by staff. Passed 7-0.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 6:23 PM. The next regular session is scheduled for September 18, 2024, at 5:30 PM.
Meeting Transcript
My name is Tom Ware. I serve as Vice Chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Arlington. I hereby call this regularly scheduled regularly noticed meeting of the City of Arlington's Planning and Zoning Commission regular session to order for September 4th, 2024. At this time, I'll ask the admin to read the speaker guidelines and general decorum. The City of Arlington fully embraces the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility where people of all identities and experiences are understood, appreciated, and fully included in the community, and where equitable treatment and outcomes prevail. We ask that the citizens and other visitors in attendance assist in preserving the order and decorum of this meeting and to provide for attendance at and participation in the meeting without fear of intimidation, threats, or hostility. Any person making personal, profane, hostile, slanderous, or threatening remarks who uses vulgar or obscene language, who engages in any other actions that disturb or are calculated to disturb the meeting, or who becomes disruptive while addressing the planning and zoning commissioners or while attending the planning and zoning meeting may be removed from the council chambers. All speakers shall address the commissioners and not the audience or city staff and shall not call out individually named members of city staff or the public. For speakers tonight, when your name is called, please come to the microphone at the podium and state your name and city of residence for the record. The applicant will be asked to speak first and will be given ten minutes to make a presentation. Speakers in support or opposition of the item will be given five minutes each to make their statements. If there are many speakers for an item, each speaker will be given three minutes to make their statements. The applicant will then be given five minutes for any rebuttal. If multiple speakers plan to provide the same or similar comments, those speakers may, if they so desire, designate one or more individuals to provide public comment on behalf of the group. A bell will signal the end of each speaker's time. In consideration of other speakers, please conclude your comments and promptly when you hear the bell. We ask that you address your comments to the planning and zoning commissioners. Thank you. A copy of the minutes of August 24th, 2024 regular session, the agenda meeting were sent to all the commissioners in advance. Are there any uh changes or corrections to the minutes? Do I have a motion to approve the minutes? I have a motion from Commissioner Greer and a second from Commissioner Carter. Please cast your votes. The motion passes 70. Next on the agenda, we have three zoning cases. Good afternoon, commissioners for the record, principal planner, planning and development. Kevin Charles, Principal Planner, Planning and Development Services. This afternoon we'll be looking at ZA 24-7, which is also known as 805 Mansfield Webb Road. The site in question is approximately 3.8 acres in size. The request is a straight zoning case where the current zoning on the property is residential estate, and the request is to rezone the property to neighborhood commercial. Here you see an aerial photograph of the site outlined in yellow. Currently, the site is uh is is uh partially developed, and the site is generally located south of Miller Spring Court and West of Manselweb Road. Here is a copy of the filed plat with the with Tarrant County showing the 50-foot gas pipeline easement along the southwestern property line for reference. And here's a little history about the development of the subject site. The site is currently partially developed. However, uh it was originally agricultural in nature uh until annexed into the city in 2011. A commercial uh building permit was applied for and issued uh for the development of a mosque. However, uh well, construction began on the site for the development of that uh mosque. However, the site was never completed. So that leaves us at the 2024 aerial photograph with uh where you see the existing pavement located on the site. It is the applicant's intention to use the existing pavement on the site uh as part of their future development. Also, the properties to the northwest and northeast are zone residential estate and developed with a mixture of residential and undeveloped properties. The properties to the southwest and southeast are zone residential single family 7.2, and they are developed with residential uses. Here's a listing of the uh itemized uses for neighborhood commercial zoning. Uh again, as this request is just a straight zoning case, uh, you cannot limit the uses through a straight zoning case. Uh so all of these uses, if you all choose to recommend approval of this particular case, would be available uh for the future use on this site. Coordination with other plans. Uh, as mentioned before, the site is located in established residential, which is the largest uh area within the city of Arlington. Uh when you look at our development land strategies, uh one is to evaluate the development proposals and context with existing infrastructure, connectivity, and surrounding uses. Ensure a balanced relationship between uh land use development and the transportation system by requiring that developments be uh appropriate for the proposed location.
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