* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. RIGHT ON. [00:00:04] OKAY. UM, WELCOME [1. Call to order and roll call of members ] TO THE, UH, ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS, BILLING AND STANDARDS COMMISSION. UH, SPECIAL MEETING FOR, UH, FEBRUARY 13TH. UM, ITEM NUMBER ONE TODAY IS CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS. SO WHEN I SAY YOUR NAME, JUST SAY HERE OR PRESENT. UH, KATHLEEN BEIR HERE. TAMER GANG. CURRY IS NOT HERE. UH, MICHAEL ISHA IS HERE. RUSSELL MILLER. HERE. MR. KLEIN'S NOT HERE. UH, DAVE PERSON HERE. HERE. WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND ACTIVATE MR. PERSON, UH, FOR THE, UH, REMAINDER OF THE MEETING. ITEM [2. Approval of January 9, 2025, minutes ] TWO, APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR, UH, THE JANUARY 9TH MEETING. HAS EVERYBODY HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THE MINUTES? AND DID ANYBODY HAVE A ANYTHING TO ADD OR DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? I MOTION TO APPROVE MR. MILLER. I'LL SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES AS, AS WRITTEN, SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED HEARING NONE. UH, MINUTES ARE APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. OKAY. ITEM THREE, CITIZENS COMMUNICATION. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE INVITED TO GIVE COMMENTS AT THIS TIME LASTING NO LONGER THAN THREE MINUTES. DO WE HAVE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WOULD LIKE TO COME UP? LOOKS LIKE NONE. OKAY. WE'LL MOVE ON. NUMBER ITEM FOUR, [ 4A. Hold a public hearing and take action on a Zoning Board of Adjustments Application, VA-24-0014, (Pecan Park Plaza), a variance request to increase the maximum area of a pylon sign from 200 square feet to 290 square feet in accordance with Table #3 of Article 8 entitled Signs in the League City Unified Development Code (Chapter 125 of the League City Code of Ordinances), located on approximately 8.66 acres, legally described as Abstract 3 SF Austin Survey, part of Lots 49 & 50 (49-1) and part of Lots 49, 50, & 51 (49-3) Braskora Gardens, generally located north of Farm to Market Road 518 (FM 518), along the eastern side (northbound) of the frontage road of Interstate Highway 45 with the address of 100 North Gulf Freeway in League City, Texas. ] PUBLIC HEARING AND ACTION ITEMS. HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING AND TAKE ACTION ON A ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS. APPLICATION VA DASH 24 DASH 0 0 1 4 PECAN PARK PLAZA, A VARIANCE TO INCREASE THE MAXIMUM, THE MAXIMUM AREA OF A LON SIGN FROM 200 SQUARE FEET TO 290 SQUARE FEET. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TABLE NUMBER THREE OF ARTICLE EIGHT ENTITLED SIGNS IN THE LEAGUE CITY UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE CHAPTER 1 25 OF THE LEAGUE CITY CODE OF ORDINANCES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 8.66 ACRES, LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS ABSTRACT THREE SF AUSTIN SURVEY PART OF LOTS 49 AND 50, AND PART OF LOTS 49 50 AND 51. UH, BRASCO GARDENS GENERALLY LOCATED NORTH OF FARM MARKET ROAD FIVE 18 ALONG THE EASTERN SIDE, NORTHBOUND OF THE, OF THE FRONTAGE ROAD OF THE INTERSTATE. HIGHWAY 45 WITH THE ADDRESS OF 100 NORTH GULF FREEWAY IN LEE CITY, TEXAS. TAKE IT AWAY. . . GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. UM, MY NAME IS ANN WILLIAMS. I'M A PLANNER WITH THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT. THIS VARIANCE REQUEST IS, UH, FOR A SIGN THAT WILL BE LOCATED AT 1 0 1 GULF FREEWAY NORTH, UM, AT THE PECAN PARK PLAZA. IT IS LOCATED ON THE CORNER OF INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 45 AND WEST MAIN STREET. THIS IS THE LOCATION OF THE EXISTING SIGN. UM, AND HERE WE'LL SEE THE LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED SIGN. THE REPLACEMENT OF THIS SIGN IS PART OF A, A BIGGER BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT AT THE SITE. HERE IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE SIGN. IT IS 36 FEET, SIX INCHES TALL WITH AN AREA OF SIGN AREA OF 290 FEET. WHEN YOU COMPARE THE EXISTING SIGN TO THE PROPOSED SIGN, THE HEIGHT OF THE EXISTING SIGN IS 64 FEET. OUR SIGN ORDINANCE ALLOWS FOR A MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF 42 FEET. THE PROPOSED SIGN IS 36 FEET, SIX INCHES. THE SIGN AREA OF THE EXISTING SIGN IS 650 SQUARE FEET. THE SIGN ORDINANCE ALLOWS FOR 200 SQUARE FEET, AND THE PROPOSED SIGN IS FOR 290 SQUARE FEET. HENCE THE VARIANCE REQUEST. OUR STAFF FINDINGS ARE THAT THE PROPOSED VARIANCE EXCEEDS THE CITY SIGNS REQUIREMENTS BY 45% IN AN AREA WHEN COMPARED TO THE EXISTING SIGN. THE OVERALL SIGN'S HEIGHT WOULD BE REDUCED FROM 64 TO 36 FEET, AROUND 44% REDUCTION, AND THE SIGN AREA WOULD BE REDUCED FROM 650 TO 290 SQUARE FEET TO ABOUT A 55% REDUCTION. THE APPLICANT CAN CONTINUE TO UTILIZE THE EXISTING NON-CONFORMING SIGN ON SITE INDEFINITELY. AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'M AVAILABLE AND THE APPLICANT IS AVAILABLE AS WELL. THANK YOU. UH, DID THE APPLICANT HAVE ANYTHING THEY WANTED TO COME UP AND, OKAY. HI, GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS BEN BROWN. I'M WITH BAKER KATZ. THANKS [00:05:01] FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE TODAY. THANKS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION ON THIS MATTER. JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU JUST A, A, A QUICK THOUGHT ABOUT, UM, WHO WE ARE AND THE PROJECT AND THE ASK THAT WE MAKE TONIGHT. SO I WORK FOR A COMPANY BY THE NAME OF, OF BAKER KATZ. WE PURCHASED THIS SHOPPING CENTER, UH, ROUGHLY TWO YEARS AGO. UM, WE, WE, WE SEE THIS AND WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT REAL ESTATE, WE'RE LOOKING AT SHOPPING CENTERS. WE LOOK AT COMMUNITY, WE LOOK AT REAL ESTATE INTEGRITY FIRST. WHEN WE BOUGHT THIS SHOPPING CENTER, WE LOOKED AT IT, THERE WERE SOME KEY FUNDAMENTALS WITH THE SHOPPING CENTER THAT WEREN'T UP TO OUR STANDARD PARKING LOT. WASN'T IN VERY GOOD SHAPE. THE FACADE OF THE BUILDING WAS WORN. IT HADN'T BEEN PAINTED IN YEARS. THE PARKING LOT LIGHTS WERE OLD AND NOT WORKING APPROPRIATELY AND CANDIDLY. AND IT JUST WASN'T A VERY GOOD, IN OUR OPINION, VERY, WASN'T VERY GOOD REFLECTION OF THE QUALITY OF THE REAL ESTATE WHERE IT SAT. AND, UM, WE JUST STARTED A, A PROJECT REDEVELOPMENT. WE'RE GOING TO INJECT ROUGHLY $2 MILLION TO IMPROVE THIS SHOPPING CENTER. PART OF THE IMPROVEMENT IS GONNA BE A COMPLETE RETROFIT OF THE PARKING LOT AREA. WE STARTED ON THAT PROJECT LAST MONDAY. WE'RE GONNA REPLACE ALL OF THE PARKING LOT LIGHTS. WE'RE GONNA INSTALL NEW PARKING LOT LIGHTS. UH, WE'VE PAINTED THE SHOPPING CENTER AND, UH, WE'RE GONNA DO A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT LANDSCAPE INSTALLATION PROJECT. WE'VE WORKED WITH THE CITY AS IT RELATES TO GOING THROUGH AND GETTING ALL OF OUR PERMITTING FOR THE WORK AND REALLY APPRECIATE THEIR PARTNERSHIP. SUCH A CORE PART OF LEASING SPACE IN A SHOPPING CENTER, WHICH IS OUR CORE BUSINESS BUSINESS, IS MAKING SURE THAT TENANTS IN OUR SHOPPING CENTER CAN PROMOTE THEMSELVES AND THEY PROMOTE THEMSELVES BY WAY OF VISIBILITY TO THEIR SIGN, THEIR SIGN ON THE BUILDING, AND THEN SIGN ON ANY TYPE OF ADDITIONAL MONUMENT PYLON SIGNS IN THIS SHOPPING CENTER BEING ON I 45, THE CORE PART OF THE SHOPPING CENTER IS THE TRAFFIC THAT IS GENERATED ON I I 45 IN THE I I 45 MAIN LANES IN THE I 45 FRONTAGE ROAD. AND WE WANT TO TRY TO GET THE RIGHT TENANTS TO BE IN OUR SHOPPING CENTER. AND A KEY INGREDIENT FOR THE TENANTS IS MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE THAT ARE DRIVING DOWN I 45 CAN SEE THEM. AND SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE AN APPROPRIATE CAMPUS. SO THE EYEBALLS OF THE DRIVERS ALONG I 45 CAN SEE OUR TENANTS. AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO HAVE AN APPROPRIATELY SIZED, UH, MULTI-TENANT PYLON SIGN TO, TO, TO HOUSE THEM. SO WE UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE THE CODES. WE LOOK, WE, WE, WE, WE, WE LOOK AND SEEK SOME FLEXIBILITY TO GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE SIZE AND WIGGLE ROOM SO WE CAN FIT THE AMOUNT OF TENANTS THAT WE'D IDEALLY LIKE TO FIT ON OUR SIGN. WE'VE GOT A FAIRLY LARGE SHOPPING CENTER, ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE FEET. WE HAVE ABOUT 10, 10 20 TENANT SPACES, AND WE'D LOVE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACCOMMODATE AS MANY OF THOSE TENANTS ON THIS SIGN AS POSSIBLE. SO ANYWAY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MAY HAVE. AND, UM, WE'RE EXCITED TO BE A PART OF LEAGUE CITY AND EXCITED TO BE STEWARDS AND OWNERS OF THE SHOPPING CENTER. THANK YOU. DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR APPLICANT? NOPE. OKAY. I'LL GO AHEAD AND OPEN THE, UH, PUBLIC HEARING AT 6 0 9. AND I'M GONNA ASSUME JUST BY LOOKING AT THE FACT THAT THERE'S NOBODY HERE STANDING UP GETTING READY TO DO A PUBLIC HEARING, WE CAN CLOSE IT AT 6 0 9. SO THE PUBLIC HEARING IS CLOSED AT 6 0 9. OKAY. UM, FIRST ITEM, UH, TO DO IS TO, UH, SEE IF WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE, UH, THE VARIANCE, AND THEN WE CAN DISCUSS IF THERE'S ANY DISCUSSION. I IS, SO MOVE. I'LL SECOND. OKAY. ANY, UH, ANY DISCUSSION? YEAH, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A FEW, FEW COMMENTS IF I MAY. UM, I KNOW WE CAN GO BY STRICTLY LOOKING AT WHAT THE ORDINANCE SAYS, BUT WHAT I SEE HAPPENING HERE WITH THIS PARTICULAR REQUEST IS THAT WE'RE TAKING OUT AN OLD SIGN, WHICH IS OVER THREE TIMES THE ORDINANCE SIZE AND ONLY THEY'RE ASKING ONLY FOR BASICALLY A 50% INCREASE. IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT THEY'RE DESIGNING OF THE SIGN, IT'S MORE IN KEEPING WITH WHAT THE INTENT OF THE REGULATION OR ORDINANCE IS IN IN MIND. THIRD OFF, IT, IT NOW MEETS THE HEIGHT REQUIREMENT, WHICH IS THERE. AND I BELIEVE THAT THESE BOARDS, WHETHER IT'S THE PLANNING, UH, ZONING AND PLANNING OR WHETHER IT'S THIS, THIS PARTICULAR BOARD OUGHT TO ALSO CONSIDER, UH, THE COMMERCIAL APTITUDE OF WHAT THEY'RE ASKING [00:10:01] FOR. UH, IN THIS CASE WHERE THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN, SAY LAST MONTH'S REQUEST. LAST MONTH'S REQUEST DIDN'T, WAS A MUCH SMALLER SIGN DID, HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH AERIAL FOOTAGE, AND THEY WERE LOOKING AT INCREASING SIZE AND EXCEEDING THE HEIGHT. THIS ONE, WE, IT'S ALREADY BEEN SAID THAT THE CITY HAS SAID THAT THE EXISTING SIGN CAN STAY. AND I THINK BY HAVING THEM COME IN AND WILLING AT THEIR COST TO PUT IN A SIGN MORE IN LINE WITH THE, WITH THE REGULATION, THE KEY IS WAS WHEN THEY COME BACK AND ASK FOR ANOTHER VARIANCE AT SOME TIME, OR THE NEW NEW OWNER, IF THEY SELL THE PROPERTY, THEN I THINK THEN THEY, THIS BOARD OR THE PLANNING AND ZONING CAN LOOK AT GETTING FULLY IN LINE WITH THE, WITH THE ORDINANCE. UH, THOSE ARE MY POSITIONS AND WHY I AM IN SUPPORT OF THE VARIANCE FOR THIS SIGN. THANK YOU. YEAH. IF YOU LOOK AT THE AESTHETICS ON IT, UH, COMPARED TO WHAT THEY HAVE NOW, YOU KNOW, WE ARE REDUCING, UH, THE SIZE OF IT TO GET IT BACK IN. WITHIN REGULATIONS, THEY'RE ONLY ASKING FOR 90 SQUARE FEET, UH, VERSUS THE ONE WHERE WE HAD BEFORE WHERE WE'VE HAD OTHER ISSUES WITH IT. SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK TO KEEP IN LINE WITH THE, THE WAY LEAGUE CITY'S WANTING TO ENHANCE OUR, OUR CAPABILITIES AND ENHANCE THE LOOKS OF THE CITY, I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THAT. ANYTHING ELSE? I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION OF STAFF. SO THEY COULD HAVE TWO SIGNS, BUT THEY'RE ONLY DOING THIS ONE CORRECTS BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THE SHOPPING CENTER? THAT'S CORRECT. OKAY. UM, YEAH, I HAVE TO SAY I AGREE WITH, UM, I LIKE THAT IT IS MEETING THE HEIGHT REQUIREMENT. I GET THE SQUARE FOOTAGE, BUT IT IS A VERY LARGE SHOPPING CENTER. UM, I THINK JUST IN THE BIG PICTURE OF THE CODES, UM, THEY WERE DEVELOPED TO ENHANCE THE, THE LOOKS ALONG MAIN STREET AND HELP THE BUSINESSES. AND I THINK THIS DOES MEET THE SPIRIT OF THE ORDINANCE. UM, I TEND TO AGREE. I THINK, UM, ONE THING THAT MAYBE COULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE FUTURE MIGHT BE, UM, A MODIFICATION TO THE ORDINANCE OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES TO ALLOW FOR, UM, BIG LARGE SHOPPING CENTERS WITH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT'S A SQUARE FOOTAGE, YOU GET X NUMBER OF SQUARE FEET OF SIGN PER, YOU KNOW, SQUARE FOOT OF AREA OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BECAUSE 200 SQUARE FEET, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, DIVIDED IN 20, IS FAIRLY SMALL, UM, CONSIDERING THE SIZE AND THE, AND THE NUMBER OF TENANTS. SO, UM, I THINK IN THOSE WAYS, I THINK, UM, I THINK I, I COULD SEE MAYBE A ROUTE TO MODIFICATION THAT MAYBE MAKES THESE VARIANCES MOOT. UM, BUT I TEND TO AGREE. I THINK THAT THE SIGN IS A STEP UP AND, AND IN A WAY, YOU'RE, YOU'RE THE SIGN'S LESS THAN HALF THE SIZE OF WHAT'S THERE NOW. SO I THINK IT'S A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. SO THERE'S NO ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. UM, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE VARIANCE AS, AS STATED SAY, AYE. AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED HEARING NONE. MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UH, STAFF COMMENTS? DO YOU HAVE ANY STAFF COMMENTS? WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TONIGHT. NONE. OKAY. ITEM SIX IS ADJOURNMENT. UH, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED AT SIX 14. THIS IS THE. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.