Oakbend Addn-CS 980820CASE NO.,,;
CITY OF COPPELL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
PD-109R, OAKBEND ADDITI ! N
P & Z HEARING DATE:
C.C. HEARING DATE:
LOCATION:
SIZE OF AREA:
CURRENT ZONING:
REQUEST:
APPLICANT:
HISTORY:
TRANSPORTATION:
August 20, 1998
September 8, 1998
Located at 146 Oakbend Drive in the Oakbend subdivision.
.Approximately 10,500 s.f.; approximately 3,100 s.f. residence.
PD-SF-9
Amend conditions of the Planned Development.
Brett and Tammy Hoist
146 Oakbend Drive
Coppell TX 75019
972-304-4199
Fax 972-401-4091
The property was rezoned from LI to PD-SF9 in 1990 and platted
in 1991.
Oakbend Drive and Post Oak Drive are residential 2-lane
undivided streets in 50'-wide rights-of-way.
SURROUNDING LAND USE & ZONING:
Single-family residential development; PD-SF9
Single-family residential development; PD-SF9
Single-family residential development; PD-SF9
Single-family residential development; PD-SF9
North-
South -
East-
West -
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
The Comprehensive Plan shows the property as suitable for
medium-density residential development.
Item # 6
DISCUSSION:
The circumstances which brought about this request give emphasis to a
long-standing problem the City has had in the treatment of corner lots.
When other houses front on the street which serves as the side street to a
corner lot, a difference in neighborhood appearance standards results,
unless the corner lot observes front-yard standards along both street
frontages.
The planning staff is correcting the problem for future development by
requiring that fences observe at least a 15' setback on the sidestreet side,
the same as buildings. However, there are hundreds of existing corner
lots which were developed under the old standards. This is a case in
point.
Houses on the south side of Post Oak Drive face the sides of lots which
front Oakbend Drive and Branchwood Trail. While there is a 15' building
line along the north side of Post Oak Drive, the back-yard fences along
Post Oak Drive are on the property line (that is, at the street right-of-way
line). After the applicant purchased 146 Oakbend Drive last year, he
decided to building a storage building. The location he chose was the
southeast corner of the lot, within the fenced area of the back yard, but
beyond the 15' building line as shown on the recorded plat of Oakbend
Addition. This was done without a building permit and resulted in a
neighborhood complaint.
The fence conceals 75 % or more of the storage building from the street.
And, in actuality, because it is new, the building looks better than the
fence. However, the planning staff is taking a longer and broader view.
There are those in this community (not meaning this applicant) who
believe that the best way to get what they want is to do what they want
until they get a citation, and then appeal to the City Council or Board of
Adjustment for relief. Granting those requests merely proves their point
and encourages others to do the same.
The plat for Oakbend Addition clearly delineates and clearly states that
corner lots have a 15' building line. Even with a change in zoning the plat
will still govern (unless the lot is replatted). Therefore, the owners of the
houses on the south side of Post Oak Drive have every right to be
concernned about building encroachments within the 15' side yards opposite
their front yards. What they face already is bad enough since, as a rule,
owners of corner lots simply do not provide the same standard of
appearance along their side street that they provide in the front of their
houses. Fences deteriorate, and the only landscaping between the street
curb and the fences is grass. Therefore, the addition of utility buildings
within the yard area furnishes opportunity ten years from now for just
more deteriorating structures in highly conspicuous locations. Even when
Item # 6
concealed by a solid wood fence, there is no assurance that at some time in
the future the fence will remain.
The solution is to remove the building, or to relocate it elsewhere within
the builclable portion of the lot. This will mean that the cost of the
concrete slab cannot be recovered. If there were no other suitable location
on the lot, it would mean that most of the building materials would have to
be scrapped. However, the building can be relocated on the site. The
fenced-in area of the back yard is over 3,600 square feet, two to three
times the size of the neighboring back yard on the north, for example.
Admittedly the labor required to dismantle the shed and to reconstruct it
will be significant. Nevertheless, it is feasible to do, and in the opinion of
staff, appropriate to do.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION:
The planning staff recommends denial of the request.
ALTERNATIVES:
1) Recommend approval of the request
2) Recommend disapproval of the request
3) Recommend modification of the request
4) Take under advisement for reconsideration at a later date.
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Site plan
2) Photos
Item # 6