Planning & Zoning changes its tune about following codes

Last month, the Planning & Zoning Commission denied a conditional use permit to someone who wanted to build a retail center because plans for one side of the center — a side everyone acknowledged was largely hidden from public view — did not include the type of masonry required for buildings in what is designated as the I-35 Overlay District. They had no choice in the matter, the commissioners essentially said: "The code is what it is and we must follow the code."

Turns out that’s not true. They can defy codes if they feel like it. And tonight they felt like it.

But now the commissioners can argue that how they narrowly voted tonight to defy a code is different because the one a month ago had to do with design esthetics and the one tonight had to do with zoning. But, to reiterate what the commissioners said a month ago, "the code is what it is and we must follow the code." So now the question is, were the commissioners lying when they said that last month or were they lying tonight?

When you cut through all the red tape and developmental maneuvers, here, in a nutshell is what has transpired. Back in May, the owners of five acres of land located at 245 Lehman Road came before the Planning & Zoning Commission because they wanted to rezone that land from agriculture to warehouse. The city staff argued, however, that was not the "highest and best use" for that land and, as a result, that rezoning never happened. Tonight, they came back before the Planning & Zoning Commission to have the land rezoned retail services so that they could use it for warehouse purposes, namely storage facilities. This time, however, they accompanied their request with a "Development Agreement" that, according to three of the commissioners — chairman Mike Rubsam, Dex Ellison and Brad Growt — now made everything hunky dory. The Development Agreement, to them, served as a get-out-of-jail free card which made it perfectly acceptable in their minds to employ a double standard and claim now "The code is not really binding and we don’t have to follow it if we don’t want to."

This is how their thinking went, or at least how they professed on the dais they were thinking: "Sure, these folks want to use it for warehouse purposes now, but we believe that someday they’ll get around to putting some retail service uses on that property as well so that makes everything all right."

(Two commissioners, Allison Wilson and Irene Melendez, missed tonight’s meeting.)

The two who apparently felt applying a double standard was not acceptable were Lori Huey and Timothy Kay. Huey said after the hour-long meeting adjourned she voted against it because "I don’t feel warehouse use is acceptable in that area," noting that a goodly portion of the property is in the 100-year floodplain and that part of the parcel should be devoted to wildlife and park uses. "You don’t want to overlook a park and see warehouses," she said. (Kay, somewhat cryptically, refused to say why he voted against it. "You can write whatever you want to," was all he told me.)

Planning & Zoning’s actions do not bring an end to the matter. Tonight’s action was just its recommendation to the City Council which will have the final say.

Incidentally, Dennis Artale, the real estate service provider who wanted to build the retail center on I-35, also returned to the commission tonight and let the members know he was willing to add some paint and brushed concrete to that mostly obscured side of his building and that he also planned to erect a screen around all his outside utilities. The commissioners basically said "Okay. That works for us. Your request for a conditional use permit is now approved."

So those two applicants left City Hall happy tonight.

In other action tonight, the Planning & Zoning Commission:

Learned its planned Nov. 8 meeting was going to be moved up a day, to Monday, Nov. 7, because the day planned for the meeting is election day.

As expected, was forced to table until that Nov. 7 meeting requests for a conditional use permit from BioLife Plasma Services because of inexcusable actions from two members of the Board of Adjustments, which is statutorily required to act on the matter before P&Z can. As reported previously, the Board of Adjustments was unable to take the necessary action because those two members failed to attend the meeting, denying the board a quorum..

Approved a request from St. Antony’s Catholic Church to remove three heritage trees from its property, although Planning Director Howard Koontz said after the meeting the church must replace those trees on a one-to-one ratio, which amounts to approximately 17 to 19 new trees St. Anthony’s will be required to plant somewhere else on its property.

Was told it will have a work session meeting on Oct. 25 and a specially called meeting on Nov. 22, two days before Thanksgiving and the 53^rd anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination.