PD166-CS 980316 Coppell. Texas 75019
The City With A Beautiful Future 972-462-0022
~ PO. BOX478
COPPELL TEXAS 75019
March 16, 1998
Mr. and Ivlrs. Byron Hardin
153 Simmons Drive
Coppell TX 75019
re: PD-166 Request, Proposed Westbury Manor
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Hardin:
Thank you for your letter. The City Council, Planning and Zoning Commission, and staff
encourage residents to participate in the decisions that Council ultimately is called upon to make.
Before answering your questions, however, we thought you should know that the Planning
Department staff position differs from yours.
The planning staff considers it reasonable to develop the property west of your home with lots
sizes of approximately 7000 square feet in area. The property adjoins land to the south and west
that is within an SF-7 zoning district. The property also adjoins a neighborhood that is classified
PD-SF-7 (Planned Development, Single-Family-7) on the east. This is the neighborhood in
which you live. The staff bases its conclusions on the surrounding zoning as opposed to the
surrounding lot sizes, which exceed the minimum requirements for the districts in which they are
located.
The Planning and Zoning Commission may not agree with the staff position. City Council may
not agree. They even may not agree among themselves. None of us will know until after the
public heatings have been held, motions have been made and hands raised.
Having furnished this background, I now will answer your six questions in the order in which
they were posed:
1 ) Why would the City want to permit the development of 7000-square-foot lots adjacent to
larger sized lots?
Whether or not the City wants to permit them remains to be seen. This is not a City
proposal. The property owners and prospective purchaser have submitted the proposal.
Each year the City processes scores of requests of this nature. We take them to public
hearing whether staff supports them or not.
Mr. and Mrs. Byron Hardin
March 16, 1998
Page 2
2) How will the developer have room to build an 1,800 square foot home on a lot smaller
than 7,000 square feet?
A development of Grand Homes called Grand Cottonwood Creek is located at the
northeast comer of North Coppell Road and West Sandy Lake Road. It provides an
example of a neighborhood of new housing on lots approximately 7000 square feet in
area. On each lot the area of land available behind the required yards is usually at least
3000 square feet. This is an area adequate for building an 1800-square-foot, single-story
home with a 2-car garage.
3) With respect to the alley easement, what will become of the property lines? Is the area
going to be condemned by the city or will the developer purchase this land from the
affected property owners? Who will bear the cost of providing us with corrected property
surveys?
The westernmost 20 feet of your property is within a public easement. This means that
the public has the right to use it for certain purposes. The public has the right to walk
across it and to drive vehicles across it. In the public interest, the City has the right to
maintain and repair the concrete pavement that is in place there, and to install and
maintain public utilities there. The City would not have the right, however, to build an
office or storage building there, for example. Even though you own the land, you do not
have the right to impede the public's use of it as I have just described. If at some time in
the future the City Council should decide to abandon this easement, you would continue
to own the land, it would no longer be encumbered by a public easement, and you could
fence it for your sole use. For this reason nothing will become of the existing property
lines. The City has no need to condemn the area, the developer has no need to purchase
it, and there is no need to correct the property surveys. They are correct.
4) Are drainage issues being addressed? If so, what axe the corrective actions?
The City Engineering Department is responsible for seeing that developed property drains
properly. The City accepts the responsibility of making sure that additional drainage
does not adversely impact adjoining properties. It is too early to tell you exactly how. If
a preliminary plat is approved, the developer will have 9 months in which to submit
drainage plans for review by the Engineering Department.
Mr. and Mrs. Byron Hardin
March 16, 1998
Page 3
5) Is there a tree commission which closely regulates the removal of 3" or greater diameter
trees? Does the recently passed tree ordinance protect the indiscriminate removal of
existing trees?
There is a tree board which is proposing new, more stringent regulations for tree
preservation. The existing ordinance was passed 5 years ago. It requires tree
replacement, caliper inch for caliper inch, if trees are removed from the required front,
side or rear yards of proposed building lots. The replacement trees must be at least 3" in
diameter. If, for example, four 18"-diameter trees were removed, twenty-four 3"-
diameter trees would have to be planted. However, this does not apply to land to be
dedicated as street right-of-way, nor does it apply to the approximately 3000 square feet
of land upon each lot where home construction is to take place.
6) What will become of the current alley access onto Sandy Lake Road? Who will be
required to repair the deteriorating existing alley and provide continued maintenance?
The City staff is proposing that, if the property to the west of it is developed, the existing
alley be terminated south of its current entrance from Sandy Lake Road. Access to the
alley would be from the street in the new development instead. The City will continue to
have the responsibility of alley repair and maintenance.
Our goal is to provide excellent service to our citizens. For this reason you will see professional
staff support at all our public meetings. You also will see citizens like yourselves who devote
their time freely over many months and years in the consideration of land use issues such as this.
We hope that we have covered adequately each issue that you raised in your letter, that you will
find the information useful and that you will take advantage of the two public forums that are
available to you. The Planning and Zoning Commission meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. on
Thursday, March 19, 1998. If the Commission makes a recommendation that evening, the City
Council will hear the case on Tuesday, April 14, 1998.
Sincerely,
Pert Virtanen
Assistant Director of Planning and Community Services
cc: Jim Witt, City Manager
Gary Sieb, Director of Planning and Community Services