This month’s lead story, in view of the size of the site and its potential impact on the surrounding area, has to be the recently filed request to rezone the Cowboys night club property at Gaston and East Grand.
The request is to rezone the site from community retail (CR) to regional retail (RR) zoning. CR zoning tends to apply mostly to medium-sized shopping centers serving particular areas. RR zoning typically is for “regional malls,” such as Valley View or Prestonwood Mall, which are destination shopping areas for people throughout the region.
The zoning change request appears to be due to the ordinance passed last spring by the City Council that requires businesses deriving 75 percent or more of their gross revenues from alcohol sales to obtain a Specific Use Permit. The Council adopted the ordinance as a way to gain some control over poorly run liquor-related businesses and their impact on neighborhoods.
However, the SUP requirement applies only to CR zoning, not RR zoning. Therefore, if a business’ zoning is changed from CR to RR, it avoids the SUP requirement.
While Cowboys has worked well with Gastonwood/Coronado and other nearby neighborhoods, the owners may still be concerned that an SUP could carry certain conditions and a limited time period, which is turn can sometimes affect things such as obtaining financing for a property.
On the other hand, a potential concern for adjoining residents is that if Cowboys closed or moved, the underlying zoning would still be RR, which could result in a more intensive use.
The case is scheduled for a Sept. 22 hearing at the City Plan Commission, and notices should go out in early September. Most likely, the applicant will meet with area neighborhoods before the hearing.
THINGS LOOK GOOD FOR LUBY’S: The prospects for a zoning change requested by the First Community Church appear to be much improved.
The request was made to allow a Luby’s Cafeteria to be built on vacant land owned by the Church at the northeast corner of Mockingbird and Norris. After some initial opposition surfaced in the neighborhood, others in the area organized and began a letter-writing campaign to the City Plan Commission advocating the change.
The Commission first heard the case July 21, but took it under advisement until Aug. 18 to allow more negotiation time for the involved parties.
While the church and Luby’s have offered a number of things such as screening and landscaping to mitigate the impact on the neighborhood, some opposition is still likely. Overall, however, the request appeared likely to be approved as the hearing date approached.
EAST GARRETT PARK REVITALIZATION: Recently, the Council unanimously turned down an applicant’s appeal for parking lot zoning at 5509 Bryan Parkway.
The Plan Commission denied the request May 26, also by a unanimous vote. The request was viewed by many as a potential intrusion into the East Garrett Park neighborhood.
Because of the looming zoning change and some other actual and rumored rezoning activity in the area, the East Garrett Park Neighborhood Association has revitalized itself and elected Angie Parra as its new president. East Garrett Park is the location of many recently built Habitat For Humanity homes, as well as SMU’s Inter-Community Exchange program.
Councilman Craig McDaniel also announced at the neighborhood’s most recent meeting that over $500,000 in funding has become available for curbs, sidewalks and other improvements.
Thanks to the efforts of the residents and their City representatives, East Garrett Park appears to be on a definite upswing.
PARKING RECOMMENDATIONS MADE: A recent public meeting was held to discuss the proposals of the Greenville/Henderson Parking Study Task Force.
After a long series of meetings, the joint business and neighborhood task force is making several recommendations to improve the parking situation along Lower Greenville and upper Henderson Avenues.
Among the recommendations are that paved-over, head-in parking spaces must be replaced on a one-for-one basis, plus one extra space for each 300 square feet of new outdoor seating must be provided.
The task force also proposes to remove the Board of Adjustment’s power to grant a 25 percent reduction in required parking in the area and tighten up the “extreme cirumstances” definition under the Lower Greenville Modified Delta Ordinance when a use has been vacant for 12 months. (“Modified Delta” was intended to cut back on the previously widespread use of “delta” parking credits, essentially a parking variance for older buildings).
Other recommendations include increasing the distance and number of spaces allowed for remote parking and considering a “modified delta overlay” for Henderson Avenue.
Next will come Plan Commission and Council action.
NO COMPROMISE IN SIGHT: The still-controversial Collett and Reiger intersection is coming up Sept. 15 at a Plan Commission public hearing to determine how the area should be zoned.
Many Munger Place Historic District residents, at the south edge of the intersection, want to retain the underlying single-family zoning. The non-conforming businesses there are looking for a zoning change that would permit them to continue operation, perhaps in combination with some multifamily residential units.
After many meetings among residents, buisness owners and others, little genuine progress appears to have been made. The situation, which has been either simmering or at a rapid boil for years now, is made more complicated by the simple fact that many of the folks don’t like or trust each other.
It’s doubtful that some consensus will miraculously appear by the afternoon of Sept. 15, although Dr. Samuel Johnson once said that “when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
If no agreement is reached, the sense here is that the City planning staff will recommend no change in the zoning. Further delay would be considered reluctantly, if at all, because of all the months of meetings and years of acrimony that have already gone into this controversy.
The business owners and their supporters, however, will likely not go down without a fight. A difficult time is anticipated for all.
LIQUOR STORE PASSES: As was expected last month, the Specific Use Permit for the liquor store on Lower Greenville between Lewis and Hope passed easily at the Plan Commission, and should be approved by the Council.
Most area residents, businesses and neighborhood groups took a “hands-off” stance on the application, which many saw as a plus for the neighborhoods because of the store’s 9 p.m. closing time, added parking and other improvements.
Moreover, the SUP was granted for a two-year time period. This means that the permit can be renewed after two years, but another public hearing has to be called and public notice sent out.
