Item 11A LetterAT RS
4515 South Pinemont
Suite 21.6
Houston, TX 71242
Phone 713 , 939,9308
Fax 713 , 939.9348
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March 31, 2004
Mayor Andy Wambsganss
City of Southlake
1400 Main Street
Southlake, TX 76092
Dear Mayor Wambsganss,
Metroplex Community Services currently has several donation boxes in the City of Southlake.
ATRS provides donation boxes, staff, equipment and services for nonprofit organizations and
public schools in the Greater Dallas /Fort Worth area, the Austin area and Houston. Maintaining
over 400 donation locations each day gives us expansive experience in this field and our program
generates hundreds of thousands of dollars per year of funding for nonprofits and education.
I am in receipt of the amended zoning ordinance regarding the placement of clothing donation
containers in the City of Southlake and I wholly support your efforts to put such essential controls
in place. However I would like to draw your attention to several salient points:
By virtue of the SUP application and its process, the amendment effectively prevents
any nonprofit from placing donation containers in the City of Southlake. May I safely
assume that this was not the City's intent? Although property and business owners
have been gracious enough to authorize us to place these containers on their
properties, virtually no one will go through the process of finding legal descriptions,
producing blueprints of the proposed placement, posting public hearing signs and
appearing at such hearings. Also the cost of the SUP application is out of bounds for
a nonprofit.
Although we always get authorization to place a donation box from the property
manager, or business owner /manager, actual property owners are extremely difficult
or impossible to get in touch with, especially on this level. Many commercial
properties in the area are owned by large corporations located in other states, or
owned by individuals or entities that are in other countries. It would be very helpful to
allow the owner's designated property manager to authorize the placement of
donation boxes and relieve owners and property managers from the responsibility of
attending Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council meetings. We're asking
for 25 square feet of parking space which really has little effect on the intended
purpose and function of SUPs.
- The minimum lot size requirement of one acre is undefined. Is it parking lot size or
property lot size? A more useful guide may be to ensure that the box placement does
not usurp minimum parking requirements in any given parking lot which nearly
always precludes the possibility of placing a box at a small location.
Per 45.13.k of the amendment, a bin must be cleared of contents at least every two
weeks. I suggest that this is not nearly enough and will ultimately become a problem
for the City and its residents. ATRS services each location minimally five times per
week, which ensures that collections do not pile up in a parking lot and become
unsightly. Southlake is beautiful and I am certain that you want to keep it that way.
I believe it is important that anyone placing a donation bin should be operating as a
registered 501(c)(3) organization or have a similar public nonprofit status. There are
plenty of legitimate charities that need help and can contribute to the quality of life,
even in Southlake. Additionally I would suggest that each location be maintained with
a minimum level of $2,000,000 dollars of liability insurance. We believe that the City,
property owner and business owner should not incur any potential liability on behalf
of the charity, in the event that someone is injured.
I have successfully worked with a number of cities regarding the issue of clothing donation boxes
and would like an opportunity to present to you and /or your staff, specific language that would
benefit everyone involved. I will be in contact soon but in the interim please feel to reach me
anytime at 512 825 -2690 or via email at dboyer2 .austin.rr.com
Respectfully Yours,
David Boyer
Vice President, Business Affairs
ATRS
e.c. Mr. Rex Potter
Mr. Keith Shankland
Mr. Ralph Evans
Mr. Greg Standerfer
Mr. Tom Stephen
Mr. Carolyn Morris
Mr. Billy Campbell
Mr. Bruce Payne