Item 6B - Variance Request (flat roof)1 | Page
November 29, 2021
Arris Consulting LLC
1910 Research Blvd., Bldg 1
Lubbock, Texas 79407
To:
City Council, City of Southlake, TX
1400 Main Street, Suite 270
Southlake, Texas 76092
Re: Variance request for HTeaO (Retail Ice Tea Store) located on Davis Boulevard / FM 1938
We are writing on behalf of the owner of the above proposed project to request a variance to
certain provisions of Zoning Ordinance No. 480, Section 43.9(c) Development Standards.
The project consists of a retail ice tea store, to be located in a new stand‐alone building of
approximately 2500 square feet. All products such as tea, water and coffee are sold for off‐site
consumption; there is no customer seating or other provisions for on‐site consumption.
Off‐street parking is provided, along with a drive‐through window with adequate stacking space.
The specific provision of the Ordinance for which we are requesting a variance is Section 43.9(c),
Paragraph 1. (b), Roof Design Standards, which states that all buildings with a footprint of 6000
square feet or less shall have a pitched roof. We are requesting the variance based upon both
technical issues and neighborhood context.
Technical Issues:
The proposed building is an Iced Tea retail establishment. For a building of its size
(approximately 2500 square feet), there is an unusually large amount of rooftop‐mounted
equipment associated with this use, including five condensing units for ice machines, one
condensing unit for a walk‐in cooler and one large HVAC rooftop unit. Because of the relatively
small footprint of the building, true pitched roofs would leave little room for this equipment.
Additionally, a false pitched roof facade as found on other buildings in the immediate area
would be difficult to execute and still provide sufficient space for the equipment . This could
possibly compromise the efficiency of the refrigeration equipment, and conceivably reduce the
service life as well.
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Neighborhood context:
The immediate neighborhood along Davis Boulevard and West Southlake Boulevard contains
multiple buildings that do not appear to comply with the ordinance, having nominally flat roofs
despite being less than 6000 square feet in area. Please refer to the photographs at the end of
this document for examples.
These include the Sonic Drive‐in, directly adjacent to our proposed site, in which the main part
of the building has a flat roof with a parapet. Others include the Shell station at the intersection
of Randol Mill and Davis, along with Starbuck's, Texas Health Breeze Urgent Care, Panda Express
and KwikKar on West Southlake. None of these buildings have any visible roof planes.
Several also exist in which a false roof facade has been employed, allowing some room for HVAC
equipment, but this solution is less than optimal for our application because of the amount of
refrigeration equipment on the roof. There is not much that can be done to avoid the rooftop
equipment; placing the ice machine condensers on the ground would not be practical because
of the excessively long runs of refrigerant and electrical lines.
Given the precedents set by the nearby development, we do not believe that our proposed
design would have a significant negative impact on the quality of the built environment in the
area.
Therefore, we respectfully request that the design be allowed as follows:
No roof planes will be visible on the proposed structure. The proposed building would have a
nominally flat TPO membrane roof, with a continuous parapet around the perimeter of the
building.
HVAC and other equipment shall be fully screened by the building parapet from all directions – a
continuous parapet shall be provided that is taller than the largest piece of equipment (Rooftop
HVAC unit).
All other elements of the building and site design would be executed in accordance with other
provisions of the Ordinance.
Respectfully,
Steve Fillipp, Project Architect
Arris Consulting
806‐773‐6763
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Appendix
1. Neighborhood Overview, Locations of Photo Examples
(HTeaO is location of Proposed Project)
1. Sonic
2. Panda Express
3. Kwik Kar
4. Urgent Care
5. Shell Station
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1. Sonic
2. Panda Express
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3. Kwik Kar
4. Urgent Care
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5. Shell