Hello Friends!
First of all, I want to take a minute and wish you all a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours! (We have a pug-bulldog mix, hence the pug t-shirts. lol)
There aren't a lot of meetings on the city calendar for this week, but the ones we do have are going to be pretty important. You can refer back to the city's calendar to see if any meetings are added after this newsletter goes out (but I really don't expect that to happen). https://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
So let's dive in!
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Monday, December 20, 2021
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6:00 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
We have a pretty lengthy meeting agenda, so this briefing will start at 6:00 PM. Residents are welcome to attend this briefing where items for the 7:00 PM regular meeting are discussed amongst staff and Council. (While residents are welcome to attend this briefing session, and I highly encourage it, they are not able to address Council during this time period. Residents can, however, address Council during the Public Comments section or Public Hearing sections of the 7:00 PM Regular Meeting). The briefing session is generally highly informational, but is not live-streamed at this time.
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
Agenda Packet: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/150641/12-20-21_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf
The Consent Agenda has multiple items on it, but I would like to point out one of those. Item 5 L - Set City Council meeting of Tuesday, January 18, 2022: Please note on your calendars that due to Dr. Martin Luther King Day on Monday, January 17, 2022, we will not have our regularly-scheduled Council meeting that evening. In this week's consent agenda, we will be voting to approve rescheduling that meeting date to Tuesday, January 18, 2022.
** If you are following any P&Z cases, we have several that have been continued to the January 3, 2022 City Council meeting, so we will not hear or take action on the following zoning cases at the 12/20/21 meeting:
6 & 7: ANX-DNX-178-2021
8 & 9: ZDC-162-2021: Located off 823 Ovilla Road
10 & 11: ANX-DNX-200-2021
12 & 13: ZDC-188-2021: Located West of 2374 W Highway 287 Bypass
14 & 15: ZDC-146-2021: Located along Broadhead Rd, adjacent to Howard Jr. High
21 - 23: Continue Public Hearing: regarding the proposed Starbucks located 1,500 feet South of Butcher Rd and East of Hwy 77. P&Z recommended approval of this project 7-0, using the 3rd elevation option and staff recommends approval per comments as well.
24 - 25: Public Hearing: regarding an indoor firearms training and shooting facility, located at the NW quadrant of Butcher Rd. and West of I-35S. P&Z approved this project by a vote of 7-0 and staff recommends approval per comments as well.
26 - 28: Public Hearing: regarding a request for a Car Wash located South of North Grove Blvd. and East of Hwy. 77. P&Z was split on this vote, with 4 commissioners voting for denial and 3 against that. Staff is recommending denial for the proposed development, mostly based upon the belief that a proposed car wash is not the highest and best use for the property based on surrounding uses. Staff believes that the use of retail or a dine-in restaurant would be the best use of the property. Multiple objections to the proposed project, the Crape Myrtle Express Car Wash, cite that there are too many car washes in close proximity to the location for this to be a good use of the site. There are a couple of items to keep in mind. One, whenever a business decides on a site for development, they put in a lot of research to make sure that it will be a good investment. Second, for this particular project, the owners are local and incurring additional expenses to make this the "biggest and best" around because it is their hometown. Am I a fan of car washes? No, not really, but this could actually be a good project for our town and the property owner should have the right to develop their property. We (Council) will have to make a decision Monday. I am undecided at this point.
** 29 - 31: Continue Public Hearing: regarding a request by Michael C Jackson for an Industrial Complex located on 341 acres, just West of Solon Rd. and East of Patrick Rd. P&Z voted 5-1 for approval of this project at Tuesday's meeting and staff is recommending approval per comments as well. This was a tough one for P&Z and will be, without a doubt, a hard one for Council as well. Some things going through my mind. For one, when my husband and I bought our house in Waxahachie, we had fields around our neighborhood. We were told (not by the city, since we had no idea what zoning was at that time and didn't know to contact them) that those fields would remain fields. We knew enough to ask that much, but not much more and we believed what we were told. Within about 3 years, I believe, we had a 3 story apartment complex spring up on part of the land... We now have ANOTHER apartment complex (senior one this time) currently under construction and I'm seriously not kidding... ANOTHER apartment complex that I think has already been platted and will be starting construction probably within the next year. My wallpaper on my phone is a picture of the sunset from next to the pond near our house and as soon as that construction is finished on the senior complex, I will never get to see the same picturesque sunset again. We didn't want those to go there, but there they are. What I can say though, is that we have not had any decrease in our property value or rising crime due to these buildings. In fact, during our comprehensive plan meetings, the advisor has asked us - "Who here has ever lived in an apartment?" I'm pretty sure every hand went up. Apartments are a really necessary item for cities because not everyone can afford a house - especially at the prices they are going for these days. That doesn't make them bad people. Almost all of us have lived in them at one time or another. There is one difference in this case compared to the Wynne Jackson Industrial Complex and that's the land around us was zoned for apartments. We just had no idea that that was the case.
Now, fast forward to this proposed development. There is a subdivision adjacent to this proposed project. This development was built next to an already existing distribution center - Walgreens. Be that as it may, Council and staff heard the residents' concerns loud and clear and worked with the developer to get things that don't benefit any other residents in this city, but Settler's Glen. Some of those are:
1) There will be "no direct access or curb cuts to Patrick Rd. south of Marshall Rd. in order to limit truck traffic there.
2) In addition, the developer has agreed (and apparently this caused a lot of issues for them, but they were able to make it work) to not have any loading docks facing Settler's Glen.
3) There will be a 100' landscape buffer along Patrick Rd. adjacent to Settler's Glen which includes a 6 foot earthen berm. I have never seen this large of a landscape buffer agreed to by a developer.
4) Included will also be an 8' wide concrete trail and a 6' high wrought iron fence. Some have asked about a masonry wall, but there is no need for that and if it were my house, I'd much rather look out at trees and a wrought iron gate than a concrete wall.
5) All trees shall be 6" minimum caliper diameter at breast height (dbh) AT THE TIME OF PLANTING. I have NEVER seen this concession from a developer. Usually, they will do 3" and MAYBE 4", but the developer has agreed to 6".
6) All parking area lighting shall be designed and operated so as not to reflect or shine on adjacent residential properties.
7) The City will provide signage restricting truck trailer traffic usage of Patrick Rd.
Another point to think about with regards to this project is the impact to WISD. This project will NOT increase enrollment at WISD, whereas if a residential development went in there, that would most definitely add students to the school district. The largest part of your property tax bill goes to WISD and if we need more schools, you can expect that to go up more. The taxes generated by this proposed project will help not just the city, but also the school district while not causing any additional stress to WISD.
If a residential development went in this location instead, there would be significant traffic increases in that area. This particular project is going to actually pave and make any necessary improvements to the portion of Marshall Rd. from Patrick Rd to IH-35. This will most likely reduce traffic flow through the Settler's Glen development as currently folks residing outside of Settler's Glen are known to cut through that development. Marshall Rd. will be a much more appealing thoroughfare, once constructed.
There is still a lot to consider, but my personal opinion is that this developer has done a very good job of mitigating any negative impact of their development on surrounding properties. You could look out your back door at a wooden fence and someone's shed or a scenic trail. I would prefer the scenic trail. This development, if approved, will be SO much nicer than the Walgreen's Distribution center and could possibly help keep the tax rate in Waxahachie and WISD from going up. I've always been upfront and honest with y'all and this is no different. I understand this may be an unpopular opinion, but I genuinely believe (although in the beginning I didn't feel this way before the developer did the things we were asking for) that this is a good development and the developer's concessions that have been made for the sake of the adjacent neighborhood have been immense. This development could help all of Waxahachie and WISD. That being said, I always refrain from making my final decision until after I have heard all input from citizens at the public hearing. Even with what seem to be numerous benefits, for me, this will be one of the hardest decisions I've been tasked with since being on Council. I do not enter into it lightly.
33 - Convene into Executive Session for deliberation regarding real property as permitted under section 551.072, Texas Government Code.
This meeting will probably be fairly long, but that's to be expected with the gravity of the matters before us. It is an open meeting, but will also be live-streamed, if you are not able to attend in person. You can watch it at this link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
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Again, I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a wonderful week ahead!
Your Friendly Councilmember,
Melissa Olson, CMO
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com
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