Applicant Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District Presentation

1. SOUTHSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD
CONSERVATION OVERLAY
PRESENTATION
College Station City Council
February 14, 2019

2. HEART OF SOUTHSIDE NCO
• The Process David Shellenberger
• The Application Hays Glover

3. HISTORY
• Organic
• 2012 Southside Neighborhood Plan
Committee made up of representatives from TAMU, the city, realtors
and business persons. The study took over a year to complete
• UDO Sec 12-5.11 allows for 3 Single Family Overlay
options
• Neighborhood Conservation Overlay
Applicability-only applied to neighborhoods zoned and
developed for single-family homes

4. THE PROCESS
• General Provisions based on findings of Conservation Study by the city in
conjunction with the stakeholder committee
• Options for Inclusion:
Minimum Front Setback Minimum Side Setback
Minimum Lot Size Maximum Building Height
Tree Preservation Landscape Maintenance
Maximum Lot Coverage Garage Access
Garage Connection Garage Location
Off-Street Parking Building Materials
Fencing
• Community Meeting

5. NEIGHBORHOOD STAKEHOLDER COMMITTEE
• Melina & David Shellenberger Oakwood
• Robin & Hays Glover Oakwood
• Linda & Hugh Stearns Oakwood
• Angela Hindman Dulaney
• Kathy & Bob Richers Dulaney
• Jenice & Ken Matthews College Park
• George Dresser College Park

6. PROCESS
• 1200 - 1500 volunteer hours by over 20 people over the
past 18 ½ months
• 5/31/17 - group of 13 owners met with Justin Golbabai
and Molly Hitchcock of the CS Planning Dept to discuss
the process of obtaining a NCO
• Informal conversations conversations with residents and
absentee owners to determine the level of interest
• What items from the pick list could garner 50+1 approval

7. PROCESS, CONT’D
• 11/4/17 All owners were notified by mail of the overlay
effort and invited to the community meeting
• 12/4/17 Community mtg at St. Thomas Episcopal
Church
6 hours of manned presentations for input
City staff was on hand the entire time to answer ?s.
Modifications-Map, Height & removed impervious
coverage requirement

8. MAPS

9. THE MAP
The only portion of CP that wasn’t included was
the east side of Montclair that backs up to the west
side of Fairview
According to the UDO “Boundary lines are drawn
to include blockfaces on both sides of the street”
and since the west side of Montclair is located in
the 2012 Urban zone (West Park I) it could not be
included

10. PROCESS, CONT’D
• 5/19/18 All owners mailed a petition ballot including a
cover letter form the city and a leadership letter, self-
addressed envelope
• 5/22/18 Volunteers began door knocking to answer
questions and gather signatures
• 5/23-29/18 Collected undeliverable letters, researched
and re-mailed

11. PROCESS, CONT’D
• 6/3/18 All owners who had not responded and who did
not clearly oppose were mailed a 2nd petition (100+)
• 6/10/18 Began a second round of door knocking to local
owners
• 6/21/17 All owners who had not respond or who did not
clearly oppose were mailed a 3rd petition
• 7/12/17 Petition submitted to the city with approximately
52% approval

12. MAP-FOR & AGAINST

13. TALLY SHEET
Over 40 Investor/Owners or approximately 15% of the total

14. PROCESS CONCLUSION
• All letters sent to the 262 owners ended with contact
information and a request that they get in touch if they
had concerns sosoverlayinfo@gmail.com
• The NCO committee has followed every requirement
for this process as outlined by Planning &
Development

15. CONCLUSION
I don’t believe that this effort has been a fight
but rather a showing of citizens being engaged,
proactive and willing to work together to create
a positive future for their neighborhood as
defined in the stated purpose of a single-family
overlay district.

16. • Tree Preservation
Just 90 years ago the Southside area
was a bald prairie, today the area is replete
with beautiful, grand stands of trees
representing one of the most endearing
qualities of Southside

17. 1932 AERIAL

18. CURRENT

20. PRESERVE THE CHARACTER
Require barricading outside the buildable area

21. EXAMPLES OF ABUSE

22. BUILDING HEIGHT
• Building Height
The 33’ height restriction is intended to
prevent construction of three story houses.
Originally proposed as 30’, but after the
community meeting adjusted to 33’ in order
show flexibility towards the desires of rental
owners

23. INCOMPATIBLE HEIGHT

24. MINIMUM LOT SIZE
• 8500 sf minimum
Because the existing restrictions for older
neighborhoods go away when you obtain an
overlay, it is necessary to restate the lot size
restriction. This does NOT represent a change
just restating what is already in the code

25. IN A NUTSHELL
• Protect Trees outside the buildable area during
construction to preserve what has been described
as one of the most valuable assets of Southside
• In keeping with the character of the neighborhood,
limit roof height to 33’ to prevent 3 story buildings
• Keep the minimum lot size requirement as is

26. We’ve heard a number of concerns and
I think Justin has addressed those that are tied
to simply being misinformed regarding the UDO
and the required overlay process

27. • Our efforts are a “gateway” to imposing a “two
unrelated” rule on the neighborhood
FALSE
• We hate students
FALSE

28. OUR REQUEST
We are not asking for something that is not
allowed. The City has provided a mechanism for
this overlay application and has supported and
guided us every step along the way. Those of us
who have worked on this the past 18 months, and
nearly 160 of our neighbors, a substantial number
of which are rental property owners and absentee
investors agree that the NCO is desirable.

29. We respectfully ask that you
recommend to City Council that it
approve this NCO