Minutes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosewood Neighborhood Contact Team Church Re-zoning Special Meeting May 4, 2006 Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center Present ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Rivera, Dusty McCormick, Angela Miller, Gilbert Rivera, A.J. Ghaddar, civil engineer, Marco Castendeda, asst engineer, Stanley Wilson, Faith Cathedral COGIC, Rev. Dennis Watson, Faith Cathedral COGIC, Deb Norris, Mocha Jean Herrup, Richard Weiss, Richard Govt. At the meeting 5/4/06 with the Church of God in Christ, the church's engineers presented a different plan than what we had seen at the last meeting. Due to budget constraints, they now plan to renovate the old church building, possibly adding square feet to the front of it, and make impervious parking lots around it. They plan to leave the house on the 5th lot, and possibly remodel it. They plan to use this house for educational activities, a meeting hall, or something related to the church business. They also clarified that they had had an active church in this location since the 1940s, but in the late 1990s, the church pastor mismanaged the property and church funds and in fact tore down much of the existing structure. That pastor was removed from authority and some legal action was taken against him. Now the church leadership has installed a new pastor and charged him with rebuilding the church. We talked about the plans and went over the questions people had submitted. The final conclusion is that they would send us language of the zoning change request and conditional overlay, as well as any pictures or drawings they had of the old church or the planned one (to give us an idea of how the completed structure might look on the lot.) We will vote whether to support their zoning change request at the next meeting. Here are their answers to the questions: 1. Is the Faith Cathedral of God and Christ Church an inclusive congregation that welcomes everyone to join? * Yes. Their congregation consists of about 125 members, 85-90 who regularly attend services, from all over the City of Austin and outside the city. 2. Would this church allow neighborhood and community groups to hold meetings and use their facilities for events and activities, as space and availability allows? * Yes, if the space were available. 3. The pastor noted that the congregation currently meets at 4700 Loyola Lane. Are most of your current congregation from that area or from the Harvey/12th Street area? * We don't know what proportion are from the neighborhood. 4. There are already 5 active churches in McKinley Heights, likely the most churches per capita in such a small area. Have you ever driven up Harvey on a Sunday? The church traffic is very thick, and the new church would add to this. Have you considered that impact? * Yes. We were in the neighborhood continuously from the 1940s until the late 1990s. We were the first church in the neighborhood and feel that the building is a historical landmark in the community, although we would not be pursuing designation as a historic landmark through the city. While the church was active, the major entrance and exit was off 12th Street, not Harvey, so we anticipate the same traffic pattern. 5. If you will be serving primarily the Harvey/12th Street area, how much parking will you really need? * We don't know what proportion is from the neighborhood, but since most of the local congregation members are the elderly who would not walk to church, we'll need the full parking. 6. Would you consider making the parking lots gravel or other pervious cover, as opposed to cement or asphalt? * City parking requirements are for impervious cover to permit emergency vehicles to access the property. The engineers feel that concrete or asphalt with curb and gutter would be used the most. If the only way Rosewood would support the project would be to add in "pavers", they would consider putting in pavers in some percentage of the parking. 7. Why set the church to the back of the property rather than the front? Are you planning to start with the existing structure? You might not require the setbacks if you put the building on the front of the property. * The plan presented on April 20 assumed used of a portion of the existing structure; the plan presented on May 4 assumed renovation of the existing structure. The existing structure is on the back of the property. They would not have as much space for parking if they relocated the structure to the front of the property, as a building requires a 25 foot setback while parking requires less. They are now proposing renovation because it's cheaper. They expressed concern that they have a limited budget. 8. When Mr. Castaneda first contacted us, he noted that the church would like to change zoning on lot 5. Yet at the meeting, he noted that all 5 lots would need to be changed to Retail with a conditional overlay allowing civic only use. All the lots are currently zoned Single Family Residential. Were you unaware of the need to rezone all 5 lots? * They say they were aware that all 5 lots needed rezoning, but the City showed them a future land use map that showed civic use on the 4 lots, and they believed they would not have to worry about those lots. However, Dusty and Richard confirmed that even the future land use has to be requested, and is not automatic. 9. In addition, your land use plan that was dated the same day as the presentation to our group would have required a request for a variance from the required setbacks for parking on the north and east sides of the property. Were you unaware of this need prior to that date? * They say they were aware of the compatibility setbacks needed. 10. Do you anticipate additional needed amendments to our approved plan in order to carry out your planned development? We would like to have a complete presentation of everything that you anticipate you might need. * They need rezoning, possibly unified development agreement, compatibility setbacks, a restrictive covenant, and parking agreements for additional close-by parking. The rezoning they want is GR, community commercial. This allows building heights of 60'. 11. What is the exact language you propose for the zoning change and conditional civic use overlay? * They did not provide any language, but agreed to email us something. 12. Will you proceed with the project even if you don't get a variance of the north and east setback reductions? * Yes, we'll keep working to complete our project no matter what. If they did not include lot 5 in their project, they believe they would not have to put in 40 parking spaces, but they would if they added it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. Would you consider developing this property for any other use and using the rent/sale price for this property to purchase a larger site that has more space for parking and other needs? * No. The property is owned by the National Church of God in Christ, and they have charged this pastor to rebuild the church on this property with a set budget and timeline. (They did not disclose either to us).