Planning Commission

TOWN OF FORT MILL PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING July 16, 2019 112 Confederate Street 6:30 PM AGENDA CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Regular Meeting: June 18, 2019 [Pages 2-4] NEW BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Text Amendment: Institutional Zoning [Pages 5-10] An ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance for the Town of Fort Mill; Article I, In General; Section 5(A), Establishment of Districts; so as to add a new zoning district to be called the INST Institutional District; and Article II, Requirements by Districts; so as to add a new section to be called Section 29, INST Institutional District; to invoke the Pending Ordinance Doctrine; to provide for a public hearing; and, to provide for other matters relating thereto. ADJOURN The following press was notified of the meeting by email or fax in accordance of the Freedom of Information Act: The Herald; CN2; WRHI; Fort Mill Times and WBTV. The agenda was also posted at the entrance to Town Hall the required length of time and on the Town website. The Town of Fort Mill is committed to assuring accessibility with reasonable accommodation, of Town services and facilities for all individuals, in compliance with federal law. Please contact the Town Manager’s Office at 803-547- 2116 if you need assistance. 1  MINUTES TOWN OF FORT MILL PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING June 18, 2019 112 Confederate Street 6:30 PM Present: James Traynor, Hynek Lettang, Matthew Lucarelli, Ben Hudgins, Tom Petty, Assistant Town Manager Chris Pettit, Planning Director Penelope Karagounis, Assistant Planner Nick Cauthen, Planner Zach Driggers Absent: Chris Wolfe and Andy Agrawal Guests: David Buist (Applicant), Elliott Hamilton, Carmen Hamilton, Bret McNabb, Rick Hayes, Madison Shugart, and Scott Watson. Chairman Traynor called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Mr. Lettang made a motion to approve the minutes from the May 21, 2019 Planning Commission meeting. Mr. Lucarelli seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by a vote of 5-0. NEW BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Commercial Appearance Review: Ferrara-Buist LLC. Assistant Planner Cauthen provided a brief overview of the request which was to amend a previous Commercial Appearance Review approval. The applicant changed the layout and size of the building closest to Williams Road (Building 1), while also amending the playground location. Chairman Traynor asked about the new location of the playground. Staff pointed out the area labeled on the site plan which was in the side yard facing Williams Road. Mr. Hudgins asked about the reasoning for the changes. The applicant (David Buist) responded that the daycare has a prototype rectangular shaped building that was required. The playground would be of a high standard with turf on the ground. He originally depicted an L-shaped building, but the client preferred the rectangular option. Mr. Traynor asked about the elevations. Staff showed depictions of the previously approved buildings. The applicant stated those would remain and the materials will consist of brick with precast stone. Mr. Lucarelli asked what exactly is under review with the new revision. The applicant described they were simply changing to a rectangular building and placing the playground area on the south side of the property. 2  Mr. Lucarelli asked about the buffer yard between the playground and the road. Mr. Buist stated a streetscape will be provide around the perimeter of the property facing Dobys Bridge Road and Williams Road. Mr. Hudgins made a motion to grant the commercial appearance review revision based upon the size and layout of Building 1. Mr. Petty seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0. 2. Text Amendment: COD/COD-N Corridor Overlay District Assistant Town Manager, Chris Pettit provided a brief overview of what the proposed text amendment would primarily be: • Amend the district’s design requirements to not require buildings to be oriented towards the street within the COD-N; • Strengthen the language relating to building architecture for those buildings that are oriented towards the street so that any façade visible from the street has the appearance of being the front facade; • Removes the requirement for parking to be located primarily to the sides and rear of the buildings, which allows for buildings to not have to be oriented towards the street; and, • Allows for an administrative review and approval of an amended commercial appearance review request for any project that received approval by the Planning Commission prior to June 1, 2019 and had not been issued a building permit as of June 1, 2019. Discussion was made about the COD/COD-N Corridor Overlay District—zoning map Mr. Petty expressed his concerns that a lot of effort was made during the planning stage of developing the COD/COD-N Corridor Overlay District with Town Council, Planning Commission and the public. There were concerns that the proposed text amendment was premature and that it was necessary to allow more development to occur before having discussions on how well the design concept was working. Mr. Hudgins asked if developers were complaining about requiring building to be oriented towards the street. Mr. Pettit responded that they were discussions relating to the difficulties of making the rear facades of buildings along the corridor as a high quality as the primary/front facades. Mr. Traynor stated it is much more challenging to have two fronts of a building. Mr. Traynor discussed the example of Ballantyne and how the overlay district was intended to create a similar design. He acknowledges the difficulty of making this example work along the bypass. Some members recognized the difficulty of making the current design concept of pedestrian 3 walkability work, and work well, along the bypass. Mr. Lucarelli mentioned how the Kingsley development allows a better pedestrian experience internally and their buildings do not front on the main street. He cannot imagine the bypass to be able to have an easy pedestrian experience by having the buildings to the front of the bypass. Pettit mentioned that this text amendment allows the opportunity to create those internal urban environments than focus on the requirement to be on the bypass. While others had some concerns of allowing more flexibility to the text amendment would allow developers to take advantage of the flexibility of the code. The Planning Commission’s primary concern was the deletion of the requirements that parking be primarily located to the sides and/or rear of buildings along the corridor. Discussions occurred as to whether there was a need to defer their recommendation as staff worked through an alternative to deleting this requirement. Staff requested that the PC make their recommendation to Town Council based off the current amendment language, noting that staff would provide Town Council with a summary of the concerns of the Planning Commission. Mr. Hudgins made a motion to recommend denial of the proposed amendment to the COD/COD-N Corridor Overlay District and Mr. Lettang seconded the motion. The Planning Commission recommended denial by a vote of 5-0. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:34pm. Respectfully submitted, Penelope G. Karagounis, MA Planning Director June 26, 2019 4  Meeting Information Meeting Type Planning Commission Meeting Date 7/16/19 Request Summary Action (Old Bus.) X Action (New Bus.) Info/Discussion Request Type Public Hearing Executive Session Other Case Summary Annexation Rezoning X Text Amendment Case Type Subdivision Plat Appearance Review Other Title An ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance for the Town of Fort Mill; Article I, In General; Section 5(A), Establishment of Districts; so as to add a new zoning district to be called the INST Institutional District; and Article II, Requirements by Districts; so as to add a new section to be called Section 29, INST Institutional District; to provide for a public hearing; and, to provide for other matters relating thereto Background Information Background / Council has asked staff to develop a text amendment that would create a Discussion new zoning district to encompass all current and future school sites within the Town. The designated purpose in establishing the district would be to: 1) Provide consistency in the zoning regulations across all school sites as opposed to have schools zoned to a variety of residential and commercial districts; and, 2) Eliminate the need to annex/rezone large tracts of land to a residential zoning classification when schools are proposed, which could create an unanticipated consequence of creating large, by- right residential developments in the event that a school is not built. Staff has drafted the INST Institutional District, which will be a district that initially will cover school sites but will also be established in such a way that the district’s purpose/scope can be expanded to encompass 5  institutional uses other than schools. Those future uses may include other public or semi-public facilities such as government uses, utilities, arts/cultural/civic uses, hospitals, daycares, and places of worship. Each type of use will be permitted within the district under specific use criteria, which will be designed to ensure that the particular use fits into the surrounding neighborhoods and/or districts by minimizing any adverse impacts to adjacent properties or to the specific uses themselves. Recommendation Staff recommends in favor of approval of the proposed text amendment. Suggested Motion List 1. Recommend approval of the text amendment 2. Recommend approval of the text amendment with modifications 3. Recommend denial of the text amendment Staff Recommendation Recommendation Staff recommends in favor of APPROVAL of the text amendment Name & Title Penelope Karagounis, Planning Director Department Planning Department Legislative History Planning Commission 07/16/2019: Scheduled First Reading 08/12/2019: Tentative Public Hearing 08/12/2019: Tentative Second Reading 08/26/2019: Tentative Effective Date Upon adoption Attachments • Draft Text Amendment Ordinance 6  STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TOWN COUNCIL FOR THE TOWN OF FORT MILL ORDINANCE NO. 2019-__ AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR THE TOWN OF FORT MILL; ARTICLE I, IN GENERAL; SECTION 5(A), ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTRICTS; SO AS TO ADD A NEW ZONING DISTRICT TO BE CALLED THE INST INSTITUTIONAL DISTRICT; AND ARTICLE II, REQUIREMENTS BY DISTRICTS; SO AS TO ADD A NEW SECTION TO BE CALLED SECTION 29, INST INSTITUTIONAL DISTRICT; TO PROVIDE FOR A PUBLIC HEARING; AND, TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO Pursuant to the authority granted by the Constitution and the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, BE IT ENACTED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL FOR THE TOWN OF FORT MILL: SECTION I. The Zoning Ordinance for the Town of Fort Mill; Article I, In General; Section 5(A), Establishment of Districts; is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 5. – Establishment of Districts A. For the purpose of this ordinance, the areas under the jurisdiction of the Fort Mill Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Historic Review Board, and the Town Council are hereby divided into 28 districts: R-25 One-family residential R-15 One-family residential R-12 One-family residential R-10 One-family residential GR General residential GR-A General residential-A MHP Mobile home park LC Local commercial HC Highway commercial GI General industrial PCD Planned cluster development SHPD Scenic highway planned development HP Historic preservation PND Planned neighborhood development RC Resource conservation TC Transitional commercial LI Limited industrial MXU Mixed use development MID Municipal improvement THCD Tom Hall Street corridor UD Urban development R-5 Residential COD/COD-N Corridor Overlay District RT-4 Residential district 7  RT-8 Residential district RT-12 Residential district TCP Transportation Corridor Protection Overlay District INST Institutional District SECTION II. The Zoning Ordinance for the Town of Fort Mill; Article II, Requirements by Districts; is hereby amended to create a new section, Sec. 29 – INST Institutional District, to read as follows: Sec. 29. – Institutional District 1. Purpose and Intent: a. The Institutional district is intended to provide specifically defined areas for the development of cultural, educational, medical, governmental, religious, and other institutional facilities or campuses. The purpose is to promote the many varied uses associated with such institutions while providing specific use requirements designed to integrate the uses into the surrounding neighborhoods and community. 2. Permitted Uses: The following uses shall be permitted in any Institutional zoning district, provided that specific use requirements are met: A) Schools (K-12): 1. Minimum lot area shall be two (2) acres. 2. Minimum lot width shall be 200 feet. 3. Maximum building height may be up to 55 feet. 4. At least one (1) property line, meeting the minimum width requirement, shall abut and have direct access to an arterial or collector street 5. All buildings, parking areas and outdoor activity areas (ball fields, tennis courts, playgrounds, bleachers, etc.) shall have a minimum 35-foot front yard setback and shall be setback 50 feet from any side or rear property line. Expansions or modifications to facilities constructed prior to the establishment of this district shall not be subject to the preceding setback requirements, provided that the expansion or modification is constructed so that it is no closer to any property line than the existing facility. 6. Lighting for night-time activity areas shall be directed and shielded so the light source is not visible from any surrounding residential use. All lighting, including 8  building and security lighting shall be located to prevent glare and adjacent properties and streets. 7. A 35-foot buffer shall be required along the perimeter of the property line. At a minimum, the typical 100-foot section of this buffer, as measured along the property line, shall contain 2 canopy trees, 2 ornamental trees, 2 evergreen trees, and 4 evergreen shrubs. Existing vegetation may be used to meet these planting requirements, but only upon submission of a tree survey by the applicant showing that the existing vegetation meets or exceeds the intent of the buffer. 8. Sidewalks: In conjunction with new development or redevelopment, sidewalks shall be constructed across the width of the subject property. The sidewalk shall be located within the right-of-way or within the required setback area of all public and private streets to ensure current and future pedestrian connectivity. Where sidewalks are not located within the right-of-way, a public access easement shall be provided. Sidewalks shall be constructed in accordance with town specifications and standards. 3. Conditional Uses: RESERVED 4. Other requirements: RESERVED SECTION III. Severability. If any section, subsection, or clause of this ordinance shall be deemed to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the validity of the remaining sections, subsections, and clauses shall not be affected thereby. SECTION IV. Conflicting Ordinances Repealed. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed. SECTION V. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective from and after the date of adoption. SIGNED AND SEALED this _____ day of ___________________, 2019, having been duly adopted by the Town Council for the Town of Fort Mill on the _____ day of ___________________, 2019. First Reading: TOWN OF FORT MILL Public Hearing: Second Reading: ______________________________ 9  Guynn H. Savage, Mayor LEGAL REVIEW ATTEST ______________________________ ______________________________ Barron B. Mack, Jr, Town Attorney Virginia C. Burgess, Town Clerk 10