Item 6CM E M O R A N D U M
July 15, 2009
To:
City Council
From:
Ken Baker, AICP – Director of Planning & Development Services
Subject:
Ordinance No. 480-ZZZ, Amendment to the Comprehensive Zoning
Ordinance No. 480, Section 44.12 (1) as amended, Special
Exceptions Use, as it pertains to the regulations for servants or
family quarters.
Action
Requested:
1. Conduct a public hearing.
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2. Consider 2 reading approval for proposed changes to Section
44.12 (1) as it pertains to the Special Exceptions Use regulations
for servants or family quarters. Staff recommends increasing the
maximum allowable area for a servant or family quarters from 1,000
square feet to 2,000 square feet.
Background
Information:
Servants or family quarters are a Special Exceptions Use that may
be permitted by the Board of Adjustment provided that the quarters
do not exceed 1000 square feet. Over the past eight years, nine of
the last 23 requests for family quarters exceeded the 1,000 square
foot floor area limitation. Although the Board of Adjustment has
granted waivers of the maximum floor area up to 1,700 square feet
in the past, it is the city attorney’s recent opinion that the Board of
Adjustment should not grant a waiver of this requirement as it is
currently written. If there is need within the community to allow
larger family or servant quarters, the regulation should be changed.
Two requests for family quarters over 1,000 square feet are
scheduled to go before the Board of Adjustment on July 30, 2009
pending the outcome of the proposed ordinance amendment. Given
the large size of the typical principal home within the city, the recent
increase in the permissible accessory building area and height
allowed in the SF-1 and SF-2 districts and the desire of many
residents to have a secondary dwelling unit for family members
proportional to the size of the lot and principal home, staff believes
that the current limit of 1,000 square feet is inadequate. Staff is
recommending that the maximum floor area be increased to 2,000
square feet.
Please be aware that the current regulations for accessory
dwellings prohibits the rental or use as separate domicile other than
for servants or family members of the principal residence. It also
requires that all utilities be on the same meter as the principal
residence.
At the direction of Council, staff has created exhibits (see slide
show) that demonstrate the effect of the ordinance amendment on
lot coverage. The first two exhibits show the maximum lot coverage
and maximum accessory building coverage in relation to the
minimum lot size allowed in SF-30 and SF-1A zoning districts. The
remaining six exhibits show the lots with family quarters over 1,000
square feet that have been approved to date. These exhibits show
that increasing the maximum floor area for family quarters does not
increase the lot coverage over the area that would be allowed for
additions to the principal residence or additional accessory
buildings that are not classified as dwelling units. In effect, the
current 1,000 square foot limit on family quarters only limits the use
within buildings and not the overall size of buildings allowed on the
lot. None of the properties in the exhibits comes close to exceeding
the 20% maximum lot coverage allowed even after the family
quarters were added. For a property owner to exceed the maximum
20% lot coverage, the Zoning Board of Adjustment would have to
grant a variance.
Lots zoned SF-30 are allowed up to twenty percent (20%) lot
coverage for all buildings combined, except the sum total of
accessory buildings shall not exceed 750 square feet. Ord. No.
480, Section 34.2.e limits the height of accessory buildings in this
zoning district to fourteen (14) feet, which has the effect of limiting
the buildings to one story, perhaps with a small loft area. Therefore,
it would be difficult to construct a family quarters building that is
separate from the main house in this district with 1,000 square feet
of floor area. Ord. No. 480, Section 44.12(3) allows construction of
accessory buildings of a size greater than permitted only with
approval of a Special Exception Use from the Zoning Board of
Adjustment. Staff could not find an example of a property with SF-
30 zoning that currently contains a separate family quarters.
Lots zoned SF1-A are allowed up to twenty percent (20%) lot
coverage, including all principal and accessory buildings, except
that the sum total of all accessory buildings shall not exceed three
percent (3%) of the lot area or 4,000 square feet. Accessory
buildings over five hundred square feet are allowed a maximum
height of twenty (20) feet. Three percent of the minimum one acre
lot area required in SF1-A zoning districts is approximately 1,306
acres of lot coverage, although a two-story building could be built
that meets the maximum allowed height of twenty (20) feet.
Financial
Considerations:
None.
Strategic Link:
Quality Development.
Citizen Input/
Board Review:
A public hearing was held for this item at the Planning & Zoning
Commission meeting on May 21, 2009.
Legal Review:
This ordinance will be reviewed by the City Attorney.
Alternatives:
Recommend modifications to the proposed amendment or move
forward with the amendment as presented.
P&Z Action:
May 21, 2009; Approved (5-0) approving the change from the
maximum allowable area for servant or family quarters from 1,000
square feet to 2,000 square feet.
st
Council Action:
June 2, 2009; 1 Reading Approved (7-0) limiting the square
footage to 1,000 S.F. for SF-30 and to 2,000 S.F. for anything
above; prohibiting any rental property; and requiring utilities to be
part of the principle residence.
June 16, 2009;
Approved to Table (6-0) until July 21, 2009.
Supporting
Documents:
Ordinance No. 480-ZZZ.
Link to PowerPoint Presentation
ORDINANCE NO. 480-ZZZ
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 480, AS AMENDED,
THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF
SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS; AS IT PERTAINS TO THE SPECIAL
EXCEPTION USE REGULATIONS FOR SERVANTS OR FAMILY
QUARTERS; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE
CUMULATIVE OF ALL ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY
CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS HEREOF;
PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION IN
PAMPHLET FORM; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL
NEWSPAPER; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
.
WHEREAS
, the City of Southlake, Texas is a home rule city acting under its
charter adopted by the electorate pursuant to Article XI, Section 5 of the Texas
Constitution and Chapter 9 of the Local Government Code; and
WHEREAS,
the city has adopted Ordinance No. 480, as amended, as the
Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance for the city; and
WHEREAS,
the City Council has determined that it is appropriate and in the best
interest of the city to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of its
residents by amending Ordinance No. 480 as provided herein; and
WHEREAS
, the City Council has given published notice and held public hearings
with respect to the amendment of the zoning ordinance as required by law.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS:
SECTION 1
Section 44.12 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance No. 480, as amended, is
hereby amended to read as follows:
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44.12 SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS USE POWERS - The following special exceptions may
be permitted by the Board of Adjustment in the district specified, subject to full
and complete compliance with any and all conditions required in this section,
together with such other conditions as the Board may impose (as amended by
Ordinance No. 480-D, 480-SS, 480-NNN, and 480-ZZZ):
District Where
SPECIAL EXCEPTION USE
Permitted
AG, RE, RCS, SF-1A,
1. Servants or family quarters for domestic servants employed on the
SF-1B, SF-2, SF-30,
premises or family members of the owner of the premises and shall not be
DT*
rented or otherwise used as a separate domicile provided the gross
CONCEPT PLAN
inhabitable square footage of the floor area shall not exceed one thousand
REQUIRED
(1,000) two thousand (2,000) square feet except that the gross inhabitable
floor area in SF-30 zoning shall not exceed one thousand (1,000) square
feet. Such quarters may be housed within the principal residential dwelling,
above a residential garage, or be part of an accessory building on the same
premises, and shall comply with minimum standards for light, health, safety
and occupancy in conformance with other applicable City Codes and
Ordinances. If the quarters exist as a separate accessory building to the
principal dwelling, such quarters must be located at a distance of at least
thirty (30) feet behind the principal dwelling, or not be visible from the street;
in addition, such quarters must share a common street access with the
principal dwelling. All utilities must be on the same meter as the principal
dwelling. A separate septic system from the principal dwelling is required if
the quarters are housed other than in the principal dwelling.
* Shall apply only to approved single-family residential uses in the DT zone
SECTION 2
This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances of the City of
Southlake, Texas, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict
with the provisions of such ordinances, in which event the conflicting provisions of such
ordinances are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the phrases,
clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance are severable, and if any
phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared
unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction,
such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses,
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sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been
enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such
unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
SECTION 4
Any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses
to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this ordinance
shall be fined not more than Two-Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) for each offense. Each
day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.
SECTION 5
All rights and remedies of the City of Southlake are expressly saved as to any
and all violations of the provisions of Ordinance No. 480, as amended, or any other
ordinances affecting zoning yard regulations which have accrued at the time of the
effective date of this ordinance; and, as to such accrued violations and all pending
litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under such
ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until
final disposition by the courts.
SECTION 6
The City Secretary of the City of Southlake is hereby authorized to publish this
ordinance in book or pamphlet form for general distribution among the public, and the
operative provisions of this ordinance as so published shall be admissible in evidence in
all courts without further proof than the production thereof.
SECTION 7
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The City Secretary of the City of Southlake is hereby directed to publish the
proposed ordinance or its caption and penalty together with a notice setting out the time
and place for a public hearing thereon at least ten (10) days before the second reading
of this ordinance, and if this ordinance provides for the imposition of any penalty, fine or
forfeiture for any violation of any of its provisions, then the City Secretary shall
additionally publish this ordinance or its caption and penalty in the official City
newspaper one time within ten days after final passage of this ordinance, as required by
Section 3.13 of the Charter of the City of Southlake.
SECTION 8
This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and
publication as required by law, and it is so ordained.
PASSED AND APPROVED on the 1st reading the...
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MAYOR
ATTEST:
________________________________
CITY SECRETARY
PASSED AND APPROVED on the 2nd reading the ...
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MAYOR
ATTEST:
________________________________
CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:
_________________________________
CITY ATTORNEY
DATE:___________________________
ADOPTED:_______________________
EFFECTIVE:______________________
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