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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. nd 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: 1 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, 2 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 3 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... ________________________________ MAYOR ATTEST: ________________________________ CITY SECRETARY PASSED AND APPROVED on the 2nd reading the ... ________________________________ 4 MAYOR ATTEST: ________________________________ CITY SECRETARY APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: _________________________________ CITY ATTORNEY DATE:___________________________ ADOPTED:_______________________ EFFECTIVE:______________________ 5