Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002/05/14-Minutes-HEDC City of Fort Worth City Council Economic & Community Development Committee '3 Highlights of the Meeting Held May 14, 2002 Committee Members Present: Jeff Wentworth, Wendy Davis, Frank Moss, Clyde Picht City Staff Present: Eric Bundy, Teresa Carreon, Bette Chapman, Cindy Crain, John Garfield, Pat Hale, Vida Hariri, Chris Harmon, Randle Harwood, Tom Higgins, Jim Keyes, Christine Maguire, Elizee Michel, Reid Rector, Bob Riley, Robert Sturns, Jesse Torres, Peter Vaky, Jerome Walker, Ardina Washington, Marcia Wise Call to Order: Chairman Jeff Wentworth called the meeting to order at 1:12 p.m. He then welcomed the new Committee Members, Ms. Wendy Davis and Mr. Clyde Picht. Approval of Minutes of the Meeting held on April 16, 2002: Committee Member Frank Moss made the motion to approve the minutes. Ms. Davis seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously. Status Report on the Cultural District and Will Rogers Memorial Center Master Plan: Mr. Chris Harmon, Assistant Director for Public Events, presented the update. He said that the intersection of Burnett Tandy and Gendy is eighty percent completed. Concrete is being poured for sidewalks and the new intersection and should be finished by next Wednesday. Mr. Harmon added that the irrigation system and the odding of the area should be completed by this Friday, and the street should be ready for opening by May 28. Contractors are now working on clean up in preparation for the opening of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame during the first week in June. Mr. Harmon also said that contractors have surveyed the west side of the Amon Carter parking lot up to Lancaster in preparation for the next phase, which will be the continuation of Gendy Boulevard to Lancaster Street. Work on that project should begin around June 17. Finally, a meeting is being scheduled with the museums to discuss the demolition timetable and access issues. Mr. Wentworth asked about the timeframe for the expansion of Gendy to Lancaster. Mr. Harmon said the expansion should be finished by September 14. Ms. Davis asked about the funding commitment to the Master Plan. Mr. Harmon said that only the street projects and the parking lot on the west side of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame were in the Master Plan. Ms. Davis then asked if there was something in the Master Plan that addressed the parking facility for the Science Museum. Mr. Harmon said the plan stated that if money was left over, there could be consideration of other projects, such as the paving of the grass lot between the two museums. Ms. Davis then asked how the Science Museum redevelopment plan fit with the Master Plan. Mr. Harmon said that the redevelopment plan was considered when the Master Plan was developed, and the lines of their proposed expansion were included in the parking lot plan. If there is money left over, these can be funded. Mr. Wentworth asked if there was space available for expansion. Mr. Harmon said that space was available, and the storm sewer had been moved to solve the infrastructure problem in preparation for the museum expansion. to Page 1 of 5 Discussion and Consideration of Additional Development Standards for Accessory Buildings in Residential Zoning Districts: &r. John Garfield, Development Services Administrator, made the presentation concerning the regulation of Accessory Buildings in residential areas (presentation attached). He defined the term Accessory Building as a building that is part of a piece of property, usually residential, that has a primary use on the property. Examples are garages, pool houses and workshops. Mr. Garfield then presented a chart showing the Accessory Buildings policies of some adjacent cities. The current City of Fort Worth policy states that all structures on a piece of residential property cannot cover more than fifty percent of the property. As long as the five-foot setback standard is met, Accessory Buildings can be built up to thirty-five feet high. Mr. Garfield cited Mansfield's policy, which limits the square footage of Accessory Buildings to two hundred square feet on a standard small residential lot, four hundred square feet on a medium residential lot and up to two percent of lot coverage on large lots. Mr. Garfield also said that the City of Mansfield has a sliding scale on building heights and setbacks. The taller the building, the more it has to be set back; however, Mansfield still limits the height of Accessory Buildings to twelve feet. Mr. Garfield expressed concern that such a height restriction might create a problem in the older residential areas of Fort Worth, since it could affect living quarters and residential uses on second floors and garages. Mr. Garfield then showed a photograph of a structure in Wedgwood that has created some concern about Accessory Buildings. He said that although the building met all the requirements for Accessory Buildings, it is still very large and rather unsightly. Mr. Garfield then asked if the Committee would like for staff to bring possible regulations for Accessory Buildings before them at a future meeting. Ms. Davis asked if the fifty percent lot coverage equaled both the primary use and secondary use combined. Mr. Garfield said that it did. Ms. Davis suggested a possible regulation concerning the percentage that the Accessory Building could comprise or using a sliding scale relating to the size of the lot. &r. Moss asked Mr. Garfield to explain the problems that might be caused in older residential areas by regulating the height of the buildings. Mr. Garfield said that some older residential areas have garages with second floors, which are used as an extra room for the family. Mr. Garfield said that these are found in existing structures, and sometimes applications are submitted to build such structures. Mr. Wentworth said that sometimes these second-story structures are used as apartments for older family members, and in an attempt to solve an infrequent problem, he did not want to pass regulations that might create issues with these needed structures. Mr. Picht said that while he did not want to restrict people from putting outbuildings on their property, he felt some limits needed to be placed on very large and perhaps unsightly Accessory Buildings. Mr. Moss suggested that it might be possible to limit the height of each floor level. The Committee then agreed to ask Mr. Garfield and staff to look at what can be done to solve the problem within a limited scope and to return with their findings at a future meeting. Discussion and Consideration of Reallocating Funds for the Fairmount Model Block Street Reconstruction: Mr. Jerome Walker, Director of Housing, presented the request by the Fairmount Model Blocks Neighborhood to reallocate $40,000 from its Home Improvement Program account to its Street Reconstruction account (presentation attached). Mr. Walker explained that the street reconstruction project was originally estimated at about $312,000, but bids have come back at $78,750 higher than the estimate. Mr. Walker added that the 'T ;40,000 is available for transfer, and the Neighborhood is satisfied that all householders who are interested have taken advantage of the home improvement program. The Neighborhood is thus recommending the transfer of the $40,000 to the Street Reconstruction account. This, along with the $38,750 provided by the Transportation Page 2 of 5 and Public Works Department, would provide the necessary funding to move forward with the project. Mr. Walker then asked the Committee to move the recommendation forward to the Council. s. Davis said she supported the recommendation, but she expressed concern about the time delay between the odel Block Grant's approval in 1996 and the building of the street, which resulted in the rise in its construction costs. She pointed out that if the street had been built in 1996, then the Neighborhood would have the $40,000 for other projects. She requested a response from T/PW addressing a more immediate expenditure of such funds in order to prevent the recurrence of this type of situation. Ms. Davis made a motion to submit the item to Council. Mr. Moss seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Discussion and Consideration of a Multi-family Tax Abatement Agreement with WP South Acquisitions, LLC and J. Kline LLC as a Neighborhood Empowerment Zone (NEZ) Incentive: Staff requested this item be delayed until a future Committee meeting. Discussion and Consideration of Expanding Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Number Two, City of Fort Worth, Texas (Speedway TIF): Economic and Community Development Director Tom Higgins began the presentation by explaining that at the April 2002 ECDC meeting, the Beechwood Development Corporation made a similar presentation, requesting the expansion of TIF 2 and soliciting City participation in that expansion. A number of questions were raised by the Committee during that discussion. Therefore, Mr. Higgins said, the intent of today's presentation was to respond to those questions and to solicit the Committee's comments on the proposal. Mr. Higgins added that once Hillwood Development Corporation had become aware of the contemplated expansion of the TIF, they *ad requested that some Hillwood property be considered as part of the TIF 2 expansion. Mr. Higgins then introduced Mr. David Farmer, Chief Financial Officer for Beechwood Development Corporation, who made the presentation to expand TIF 2. (Presentation attached. However, Mr. Farmer mentioned that two slides are in error. Slide 5 shows that Fort Worth and Denton County would be asked to participate in the proposed TIF 2C plus the 1999 expansion. The City and Denton County are no longer being asked to participate in the 1999 expansion. The third item on Slide 6 is also in error. Fort Worth and Denton County would not be added to TIF 2B.) Mr. Farmer said that the built-out value of Beechwood Business Park would be approximately $616 million dollars, and this would occur within nine to ten years. He also said that Beechwood Business Park would be responsible for the front-end expenses on development of the infrastructure. Mr. Farmer then stated the base value of the proposed TIF 2C as $428,851, and said that using the development schedule presented, Beechwood would be totally reimbursed in 2013. Ms. Davis asked if a dollar amount is being put on the infrastructure improvement projects, or would the City be committed to particular pieces of infrastructure, even if the costs should rise. She then asked how the City could be assured that the estimate for the infrastructure today is reasonable. Mr. Higgins said that once the TIF board develops a project plan, T/PW will be asked to validate the infrastructure costs before the plan comes before the Council. If the projects are adopted by the TIF and endorsed by the City Council, they then become obligations of the TIF. Mr. Higgins added that while increased costs are a possibility, funds generated by the tax increment would be pledged to the approved projects until 2035. At that time, the TIF's authority to adopt Uiew projects would end, but it could be obligated beyond that to finance outstanding projects. Page 3 of 5 Mr. Wentworth added that the obligation is to the funded project, whatever that amount is, not to a pre-set amount. r. Higgins said that a dollar limit could be put on the City's participation in the TIF, if the Council so chose. ssistant City Attorney Peter Vaky concurred. Mr. Moss asked for clarification of the areas located in TIF 2B and the proposed TIF 2C. Mr. Farmer pointed out the designated areas. Mr. Moss then asked if under the proposal, Beechwood would be reimbursed from TIF 2C for already-constructed roads in TIF 2B. Mr. Farmer said that although it was possible that Beechwood would request reimbursement for these roads from the TIF board, they are not on an approved project plan, and they have not been approved for reimbursement by the TIF board. Both Mr. Moss and Ms. Davis asked if the City would be required to spend TIF 2C funds in the TIF 2B area south of highway 114. Mr. Vaky clarified the issue, saying that, to the extent the City's contributions to the TIF Fund from TIF 2C were limited to TIF 2C projects, revenue from TIF 2C could be used for projects in TIF 2B only to the extent that the TIF board determined that said projects benefited TIF 2C. Mr. Wentworth asked if the TIF board's project plan would be submitted to the Council for final approval. Mr. Vaky said that the project plan must ultimately be approved by the City Council, and the manner in which TIF funds are spent would be controlled by the participation agreements that are in place. Mr. Wentworth said that Beechwood's next step was to present their proposal to the TIF 2 board on Wednesday, May 22, 2002. After the TIF board has made its findings, the Beechwood proposal will be returned to the Committee for further deliberation and/or recommendations. Status Report on the 2001 Tax Abatement Audit: r. Higgins began the presentation, saying that while many companies have met their goals, there are some companies that have not met the commitments of their abatement agreements. He said the purpose of the report was to inform the Committee of the audit results and to allow the Committee to consider the staff recommendations. Ultimately, if the Committee's recommendations impact any of the agreements, M & C's will be prepared for consideration by the full Council. Business Development Coordinator Ardina Washington presented the report on the annual audit(presentation attached). Ms. Washington said that because of the recent downturn in the technology industry, staff recommended no modifications of the agreements with Motorola, Nokia and Tech Data. However, staff recommended modifications to the agreements with Blackstone Hotel and Southwest Office Systems. Ms. Washington said staff recommended that the abatement for Blackstone Hotel be reduced from one hundred percent to ninety percent because they were deficient in their MWBE commitment both this year and last year. It was recommended that the Southwest Office Systems abatement be reduced from seventy-five percent to fifty percent because they were deficient in their employment commitment for this year, as well as the past three years. Mr. Picht asked for clarification of the recommendation concerning Southwest Office Systems, since their percentage of Fort Worth employees still seems fairly high. Ms. Washington said the company is also having problems meeting the requirements of the MWBE component. Mr. Higgins added that the company has yet to meet their employment commitment during the four years of their agreement, and in two of those four years, they have not met their MWBE commitment. Mr. Moss suggested that the Southwest Office Systems abatement be reduced by only ten percent, rather than twenty-five percent. The Committee agreed and recommended to staff that the abatement be reduced from seventy-five percent to sixty-five percent, rather than from seventy-five to fifty percent. Page 4 of 5 Mr. Wentworth asked the Committee to act on accepting or changing staff's recommendation concerning Motorola, Nokia and Tech Data. Mr. Picht moved to support the staff's recommendation. Mr. Moss seconded e motion, which was approved unanimously. Mr. Wentworth asked the Committee members to express their opinions concerning staff s recommendation of the modification to the Blackstone Hotel agreement. Mr. Moss asked for clarification of why Blackstone was not meeting their MWBE requirement. Ms. Washington said that staff was told that because of an apparent miscommunication, the company that Blackstone was using had not become MWBE certified. She added that a similar situation occurred last year, and there was no reduction in the agreement. Therefore, this year staff felt that the reduction was warranted since Blackstone was aware of the concerns. Ms. Davis moved to support the staff recommendation. Mr. Moss seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously. Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Moss asked staff to contact the Blackstone Hotel, reminding them of their responsibility to be sure the firms were MWBE certified. Requests for Future Agenda Items: Mr. Picht requested a presentation from the Housing Authority and the Housing Department explaining the programs and services offered by each entity. Mr. Wentworth concurred. Adi ourn The meeting was adjourned at 2:26 p.m. The next regular meeting will be on June 11, 2002 at 1:00 p.m. Approved by: Jeff Wentworth, Chairman Page 5 of 5