all right call to order the meeting for the Austin City Planning Commission for Tuesday July 9th 2024 two items on the agenda tonight both open public hearings but before we get to that we need to approve the
minutes from our last meeting which was Tuesday June 11th Commissioners have any corrections or additions to those minutes is written if not I need a motion and a second to approve I'll make a motion to approve the
minutes from last month's meeting second thank you I have a motion from commissioner swensson and a second from commissioner Stewart to approve the minutes from Tuesday June 11th as written all in favor of the motion please say I I I I all oppose no motion
carries 70 and those minutes are approved first first up we have an open public hearing for the petitioner this is the one that we uh tabled from last meeting at 1111 7th Street Northwest on
a fence appeal for the setback yeah um that was technically continued but um we didn't send out notices on the fence appeal uh anyway um
the scrolling down most of you were here for this one um a few of you are not see that must be they're just flipped yeah end just going to scroll down here all right oh no there we
go uh nothing really has nothing has changed uh since our last meeting um the only addition was a letter from Holly Flanders um I'll just I'll just quick read it for you um so
there's some question at our last meeting about the reason for the fence um and then maybe some question about why they didn't attend um she says thank you for allowing me to write something in in to answer some of your questions I wish I could be there in person recently
started a new job at Meo Clinic Rochester as a bedside nurse du this I have zero time to take off I'm planning or hoping to put up a vinyl 6 foot privacy fence 14 ft from the alley so she confirmed that she was 14 ft from the alley I am choosing to do this type of fence for a few types of reasons the
home does not have a backyard uh not even much of a front yard this home is a corner lot so every part of the yard uh of this home is viewable by everyone there is absolutely no privacy when you're Outdoors so one reason is privacy the second reason I have two large dogs
I want them to have space to run freely um Outdoors um and she gives their names um they're highly active strong dogs uh currently she has to let them out on retractable leashes um and then she notes that
they're extremely hard to control with those types of leashes um and then she said she chooses to let them out uh let's see in order for them to just do their business along with being able to play but if people are walking biking Etc it's hard to
control them um she has one dog that will bark and Pace um and gets tied uh caught up in his leash when when he sees people um so to just avoid any injuries or any interactions the fence is a better option um and then she talks about her
other dogs um uh demeanors and then set ATI six foot tall privacy fence would allow the dogs to be outside freely while avoiding seeing people embarking um she notes that her husky
can jump uh very easily over things and that a 64 put um or so that a short so a chain or shorter fence wouldn't uh be effective and for her safety and peace of mind uh fence of that of a six foot uh has that
has height would be needed um and then she notes that some people don't like dogs uh even if they're friendly um and may be surprised by them jumping up on the fence uh a shorter fence um
uh she said she met with the owner of Rolling Green to talk to him about options would have it professionally installed um and then she just asked that she hopes you see her point of view why the fence would be beneficial
um just to let her dogs out to be able to roam freely again we did talk about a little bit uh that I mean the purpose of the fence isn't really a huge issue because anyone who
lives at that residence can use it for any purpose I mean so the exact purpose isn't really relevant um but her comments about here I'll go to the aerial actually I think actually maybe I have a map in
here um her comments about the yard um are accurate I mean it's a very small yard I mean most of these houses do have uh pretty uh pretty limited Green
Space um being small Lots uh with the house and garage and drive taking up a great deal of of the Green Space um again this is 12 to 16 ft here she noted in her uh letter that she
would have uh that it would be 14 ft from the alley um and again we talked about the fact that there's no drive in this area um or uh even though there's a sidewalk
we do allow uh like chain link fences to go right up to the sidewalk um the issue is usually more of a uh like a visual obstruction concern but um is there anything any questions or
anything you want to revisit from the last meeting anything that I'm missing that I went and looked at it since the last meeting and I drove down the alley going mhm west to
east coming from behind the house and out with the 14ot to me the key is that 14t setback from the alley as long long as she has that I think it's fine visibility wise I think you could see a kid walking on the sidewalk or oncoming
traffic pretty easy with that 14 foot yeah this is a recommendation to council so you could make a motion if you were to to make a motion to approve you could add that as a condition got anything any other questions or comments
Commissioners anybody ready to make a motion I I'll make a motion to recommend approval um to the Austin city council with the um stipulation that the fence is 14 ft back from the alley I'll second
that Bley second okay all right thank you so we have a motion from commissioner Lindberg and a second from commissioner Bartley to recommend the council to approve the request with the condition that the fence be 14 ft from the alley any further
discussion if not we go ahead and vote all in favor of the motion please say I I I I'll oppose no motion carries 70 we recommend the council to approve that request next up is an open public
hearing as well the petitioner this is for a sign at the backside I believe of the games people play building ol yeah that address is 7018 Avenue Northwest uh there
are there's three separate businesses in that location uh two of them face 18th Avenue and one faces the rear of the property uh their adjoining neighbors
um uh that and that's the hormell Brand store uh I can't remember the address is 71 18th AV Northwest the uh across the street to the North or across the 18th Avenue to the north is a multif family residential
area um but on the same block as that location um everything is zoned community business district um the petitioner wishes to add a lighted sign to the rear of the building facing again facing 17th Avenue
uh they wish to make people aware of the horal Brand store espe uh as that area is becoming more developed uh the city sign code limits the number of signs in a B2 District to one wall and one freestanding and requires that they be oriented to a public
RightWay uh as opposed to the neighboring parcel the proposed sign is uh 10 ft wide and 4 ft tall and is internally lit uh the only advertisement on the rear of the store is a small sign uh indicating
the horal Brand store um and then I just provided the applicable ordinance provision here and um and then some comments on this particular
request uh so for uh so the standard for a sign code appeal is listed um below the two section 2.55 um the board of appeals May Grant variance if the partitioner proves that their except exceptional or
extraordinary circumstances applicable to the property or the intended or to the intended use that do not apply generally to other properties in the same vicinity and Zoning District um in this one again the building is split uh with the front-facing games people play
and the rear-facing Hormel Brand Products which is rented by horal Foods uh the entrance to the horal shop is on the rear uh where again existing small sign on the door this is a separate business from games people play
and Turtle Creek Construction which is also on the 18th Avenue side uh that the variance is necessary for the preservation enjoyment of of substantial property rate possessed by other property in St vcinity and Zone but which is denied to the property owner in question orientation of the
building uh does not easily accommodate advertisements of multiple business on 18th Avenue um and that is uh unusual um we do have other instances where we've had
sign appeals um for uh multi-unit uh properties in that area uh for the same reason uh the site uh the strict application of the ordinance would constitute undo undo hardship um just the site is less
appealing without the ability to advertise um and just uh potential customers lack the awareness of that retail site and the sign would have visibility from 17th Avenue Northwest um if any of
you drove by there it's pretty visible I mean the back of the building is very visible from 17th Avenue at least right now um depending on future development that may change the granting of the variants would not be material materially detrimental to the public
welfare injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity or Zone in which the property is located uh the proposed sign will again face uh similarly similarly zoned properties um and the sign covers about 2% of the face of the building our limit is
15% and then I have a bunch of photos attached which are giant on here this is just from various angles I think this one was from the parking lot of the daycare can can you clarify is that the only entrance to that business that door
right here yeah yeah as far as I could tell yeah and that was my understanding talking to the the owner of the building as well did the Moose Lodge ever get a variance to put their painted name on um I doubt it I'm pretty sure they
didn't I didn't know why it still there is he gonna cover that up be a condition I'm pretty sure uh mhm was it really okay oh okay I did not know
that uh so again from the 17th Avenue this is be I just drove in behind the store here to take a picture of the sign oh actually I thought it said I guess it says horal give
sign um this is the front of the building on 18th AB and just their existing signs on the side Chic um this is just the this
is if the sign were're looking towards 17 Avenue this is behind the gotta games people play looking at 17th so it actually does look onto a empty lot right now directly but of course you can see it all directions
so this is just the the East looking to the East and to the west and this is the kind of the graphic of what
it might look like it sounds like yeah it's to the right of the door then so it's right where it says moose now um they did say you know they were flexible about you know how much of this could had to be on there if that was an issue but this is the graphic that they
are proposing and that's all I have you have any questions and the sign's going to be back lit correct yeah okay you said there's three businesses in there OE
technically yeah Turtle Creek Construction they have an office there I mean it's all I mean those two are both uh uh Turtle well pagonis is involved in
both of those so uh games people play in Turtle Creek Construction this is the Turtle Creek Construction right above that red truck kind of and game super play in the rest and then in the rear is the the horal Brand store which is
rented rented space they just cut a hole in the back back wall to create an entrance it's just the oddest design it's probably code cuz didn't I see in the ordinance that the the limit is one one fixed and one
freestanding sign per occupant right yeah now that I had Lauren get me all the permits for this and I forgot to do this bring them with me but if I but if I recall they do have permits for all of
these so J are you saying that that it's a non-issue sign per se if it but it is oversized so they need a variance for that anyway because it's over 30 square ft is that the limit right I didn't think it was um no
in a B2 it can cover it can cover um up to 15% of the face of the building oh we're good and this would only cover 2% of the building oh my God that would be huge lighted sign can be that big wow I mean to some degree even though
it's allowed it's not feasible yeah they go that big in a lot of instances oh looks better than what's there that's that's exactly right anybody ready to make a motion I just for the record want to point out
uh that that building has been condominium ised to create two separate tax parcels and so this would be the only entrance to one tax parcel that theoretically could be sold separately and so that
may lean in favor of of this request as well because there is no side of the building facing the the road for this particular tax parcel it's an interesting situation that I just identified interesting I'll make a motion to
approve as presented I'll second all right we have a motion from commissioner Norman and a second from commissioner swansson to recommend the council to approve the request for the sign any further discussion all right all in favor of the
motion please say I I I oppose no carry 70 we recommend the council to approve the request anything else Holly everybody get their homework in um no um I think there's a lot going on right now and as
soon as I get over there that hurdle there will be more hurdles I'm sure but we'll get something put together for you guys to review I just stay for the record I got my homework in you did I'm trying to remember you don't have to it was
today let the record show yeah it was a little overwhelming to try and figure out like what was I supposed to do but I got there oh all right good well if you have any questions just let me know um and then uh one thing we're doing this uh planning activity Tomorrow there's a
community Workshop from 4:30 to 6:30 at the cab building which is the PRC um um which will be um looking at the Oakland first AV Corridor and what kind of improvements or goals strategies we
might have in that area for future development um Jason is one of our steering committee members thank you um there's a lot of work for to kind of get to this point and then uh hopefully we'll get some uh kind of report at the
end uh that we can use as we update our Citywide comprehensive plan so this is kind of like a small area plan the uh city was awarded uh the project through the EPA and they just they they take care of all the framework of the whole
uh project um which is predetermined for the most part but they have some things that you can choose from um and then we just host a workshop uh as well as doing some activities with the steering committee um and then they their planners will put some things together
for us we'll have a visit from uh some of the EPA uh officials from various places but um Region 5 and in DC and then uh there'll be uh um some
planners from different parts of the country coming to Austin as well that's that's it I have nothing further anything else commissioners any else you want to discuss no no if not I'll entertain a motion to
adjourn all moved second right Commission vinberg in a second from commissioner Norman to adjourn all in favor of the motion please say I I I all
oppose no we adjourned