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Ordinance 480-YY City of Southlake Department of Planning MEMORANDUM July 16, 2004 TO: Planning and Zoning Commission FROM: Bruce Payne, AICP, Planning Director SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 480-YY – Amendments to Section 4 and Section 45 pertaining to petroleum operations, oil & natural gas drilling and production. _____________________________________________________________________________________ REQUESTED ACTION: Conduct a public hearing on Ordinance No. 480-YY Consider approval of Ordinance No. 480-XX BACKGROUND: Of late, interest in natural gas exploration, drilling, and production has increased and several adjoining cities are recognizing the need to regulate such activities. To this end, the city of Southlake does not specifically identify oil or natural gas drilling and production as a use in any zoning district. While the uses permitted under “petroleum operations” include some flexibility, it is mainly intended for storage and distribution of petroleum. This proposed amendment: 1. Clarifies the definitions of petroleum operation, gas drilling and production and oil drilling and production; 2. Proposes “gas drilling and production” as a use permitted with a specific use permit (SUP) in the I-2 Industrial district; and 3. Adds standards for review and approval of such SUP requests under Section 45. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS: None LEGAL REVIEW: Currently under review by the City Attorney. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: Attachment A-Draft Ordinance No. 480-YY. 2 Attachment A Proposed Changes in Ordinance 480-YY SECTION 4 DEFINITION Red/Underlined text indicates additions, strikethrough text indicates deletions, and normal text indicates text that is unchanged. Add the following definitions under Section 4.2, Definitions: Petroleum Operations: means and includes all activities in connection with the storage, pipeline transfer, distribution, blending, loading and off-loading of petroleum products in a non-retail setting. This definition shall not include oil or natural gas well drilling and operations. Gas Well Drilling and Production: Any digging or boring of a well to extract and/or for the production of natural gas from the earth as classified by the Texas Railroad Commission or the Texas Natural Resources Code. Drilling also means and includes the re-entry of an abandoned well. This definition does not include oil well drilling and production. Oil Well Drilling and Production: Any digging or boring of a well to extract and/or for the production of oil or petroleum from the earth as classified by the Texas Railroad Commission or the Texas Natural Resources Code. Drilling also means and includes the re-entry of an abandoned well. This definition does not include gas well drilling and production. 3 SECTION 45 SPECIFIC USE PERMITS Red/Underlined text indicates additions, strikethrough text indicates deletions, and normal text indicates text that is unchanged. Amend the Specific Use Permit table under Section 45.1 (25) as follows: SPECIFIC USE DISTRICT WHERE PERMITTED 25. Petroleum Operations. The City Council may grant this use as a specific use permit, subject to compliance with the following provisions: a. In granting or denying a use in this category, the City Council must bear in mind that these sites are not to be located contiguous to residentially zoned properties and should be located in such a manner as to preclude the necessity to travel through residentially zoned areas to reach these sites. Petroleum operations should never be placed in an environmentally sensitive area and should be allocated only to those areas appropriately supported by public utility infrastructure and major arterial thoroughfares. Environmental impacts of this use should be carefully considered in determining whether to grant or deny an application. b. The City Council may permit the following uses within this category. (1) On-site storage of petroleum products. (2) Pipe line transfer or servicing operations relating to the delivery of petroleum based products. (3) Petroleum distribution points of a wholesale nature designed to allow the loading or off-loading of truck facilities in a non-retail setting. (4) Petroleum blending operations. (5) Any or all other petroleum related uses which in the opinion of the City Council appear to be in character with the permitted uses for this district. c. Petroleum operations shall not include oil or gas drilling and production. cd. No specific use permit shall be granted unless a site plan as set forth in Section 27.8 is submitted to, and approved by, the City Council. (As amended by Ordinance No.480-M.) I-2 SITE PLAN REQUIRED Add the following under Section 45.1 (43): SPECIFIC USE DISTRICT WHERE PERMITTED 43. Gas well drilling and production, subject to the requirements of Section 45.15 I-2 SITE PLAN REQUIRED 4 Add the following as Section 45.15: 45.15 SPECIFIC REGULATIONS FOR GAS WELL DRILLING & PRODUCTION The purpose of this section to establish reasonable and uniform standards for the review of applications for the location and development of gas well drilling and production. Gas well drilling & production activity shall be approved by City Council through the Specific Use Permit process, however, other city regulations that establish technical, safety, and environmental standards shall also apply. a. A site plan is required with the Specific Use Permit application for gas well drilling and production and must include all information required by Section 40, Site Plans and the following additional information: 1. The total number of wells to be drilled. 2. The location of the drill site and a layout of the site showing all related facilities, including, but not limited to, drilling rig, pipe rack, water and sanitary sewer facilities, electrical supply, camper/office trailers, reserve pit, and fracturing pits. 3. The location of the operation site and a layout of the site showing all related facilities, including but not limited to wellheads, separators, dehydrators, tank batteries, compressors, and metering stations. 4. Size, location and purpose of any shared facilities, including, but not limited to, centralized tank batteries or fracturing pits for multiple wells or drill sites. 5. The design, location, and arrangement of all access roads. 6. A map of the public streets to be used by truck traffic to the drill site. 7. The location of any floodplain, drainage or flowage easements. 8. A pipeline easement map indicating the location of the nearest gathering station and the alignment of the pipeline(s) connecting the operation site to the gathering station. b. In addition to the standards established in Section 40, a site plan application for gas well drilling and production shall meet the following standards: 1. Provision for adequate public facilities, as determined by the Director of Public Works including water supply, access roads, drainage, erosion control and other necessary supporting facilities identified on site plan. 2. The design, location, and arrangement of all driveways and parking spaces shall provide for the safe and convenient movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic without adversely affecting the general public or adjacent developments/properties. 5 3. All operations shall be visually unobtrusive and limit noise, vibrations, and odors. 4. A tree survey if required by the Landscape Administrator for compliance with the City’s Tree Preservation Ordinance.