HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 7139 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7139
Boa 5 OP To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 5, 1986
Subject:
GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE
The following is a summary by department of the City's progress this fiscal
year in developing, refining, and implementing the Growth Performance
Management Program.
WATER DEPARTMENT
Capital Recovery Fees (System Access Fees)
Since August, 1985, the Water Department has been working closely with our
consultant, David M. Griffith & Associates and CH M Hills, and an Advisory
Committee to develop a schedule of system access fees and an implementation
strategy. Two public hearings and many meetings with the committee have been
held in an attempt to resolve philosophical matters prior to submission of a
final report. The report of the Advisory Committee was presented to the City
Council and reviewed in workshops on May 27 and June 3, 1986.
Watershed Management/Protection
Staff members working with the North Central Texas Council of Governments
played an important role in drafting a regional policy statement for the
protection of water supply reservoirs. In the near future, we will recommend
that the Fort Worth City Council adopt the policy position previously
endorsed by the NCTCOG Executive Board. In addition, the Fort Worth City
Council had adopted two resolutions related to the protection of water
quality in Lake Benbrook, Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth. The Water
Department, working closely with other organizations, was instrumental in the
adoption of a Texas Water Commission order which limits approval of new
wastewater discharges into Eagle Mountian Lake until further water quality
studies are performed.
Water and Wastewater Master Plan
The firm of Camp, Dresser and McKee has been retained to conduct master
planning efforts for the utility. The first meeting of the Master Planning
Advisory Committee was held on April 17, 1986. A questionnaire has been
prepared to elicit comments from area leaders and the preliminary findings
were reviewed by the Committee on May 22, 1986.
Contracts with Customer Cities
Over the course of the past 18 months, discussions have been ongoing with
elected and administrative officials of the customer cities concerning the
renegotiation of the wholesale wastewater contracts.
The Tarrant County Mayor's Council has decided to retain an independent rate
consultant to evaluate the work previously done for Fort Worth by Black &
Veatch. A subcommittee of staff persons has been selected by the Mayors to
work with the Water Department on draft contract provisions as the rate
matter is being reviewed by the rate consultant. Mayor Bolen has suggested
ell
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7139 - p.?
�;_,f�oj?,-_,' To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 5, 1986
Subject: GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE
to the Mayors that failure to reach an agreement may result in the contracts
not being renewed upon expiration in about 15 years.
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS
"Streets Only" Plats
TFe staff of Iransportation and Public Works became concerned as the number
of "streets only" plats submitted by developers increased substantially.
In the past, the normal procedure for developing land in the City has been to
preliminary plat an area and then construct the proposed improvements as
final platting occurs. This procedure is advantageous to the City as it
allows for the proper design and review of street networks and overall
drainage systems along with the corresponding water and sewer systems, not
only for the development involved, but also for the surrounding areas. This
method allows the City to control the quality and future impact of a particu-
lar development and also provides a higher return in tax base for City dol-
lars invested.
Street plats pose problems in terms of street, drainage, water and sewer
review and also with the investment of City funds. The City does not
receive any additional tax dollars - or other revenues in return for public
facility expenditures required by a Community Facilities Agreement until
final platting and development of adjacent property occurs. In this case,
there could be a significant period of time before the City receives any
return on its investment.
In an effort to control this trend, the City Council approved accepting
street plats for processing provided the following conditions are met:
1) The developer submits a written justification for review by City
2) The City staff determines that there is overwhelming justification to
proceed and recommends to City Council that the plat should be
3) The City Council concurs with staff's recommendation; or,
4) The developer agrees to proceed with construction, with no City
financial participation whatsoever.
Select Committee on Street and Drainage Infrastructure
On January 10, 1984, Mayor Bolen and the City Council appointed 17 citizens
and property owners to the "Select Committee on Street and Drainage Infra-
structure". The charge of the Committee was to review how street and
drainage systems are built and maintained in Fort Worth; to investigate what
practices are being used in other cities; to look at the latest theory and
recommended practices and to recommend actions and policies necessary to
improve the construction and maintenance of Fort Worth facilities.
LISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 713c) - p-1
lop To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 5, 1986
Subject: GROWTH KAMGEMENT UPDATE
,a 73
On July 29, 1985, the Select Committee formally presented their Final Report
and Recommendations to the Mayor and City Council , discussed their findings
and responded to questions.
After several months of discussion, the City Council , on October 8, 1985,
,appointed the "Citizen Study Committee" and asked this committee to review
the findings of the Select Committee. Specifically, the Citizen Study Com-
mittee was asked to address the following issues:
1 ) Uses of concrete and asphalt for street construction and standard
street profile.
2) City participation in community facilities contracts .
3) Assessment paving for the reconstruction of streets adjacent to sin-
gle family and duplex homes.
On November 19, 1985, the Citizen Study Committee formally presented its
recommendations to City Council .
As a result of the work of these two committees , the following four recommen-
dations were formulated and presented to City Council for approval on January
7, 1986:
1) Adopt a goal of reaching a condition where 70 percent of Fort Worth
streets are classified as either "Good" or "Fair" condition by the
year 2005 and use this goal as a guide during the preparation of the
annual budget and during establishment of future Capital Improvement
Programs;
2) Adopt a policy to reach a level of funding for the maintenance of
streets by fiscal year 1987-88 whereby at least 777 lane miles of
streets can receive maintenance each year;
3) Adopt a policy that preventative maintenance be applied only to
streets classified as "Good" or "Fair" whose economic lives can be
substantially prolonged, with streets classified as "Poor" receiving
only sufficient repairs to keep them reasonably safe; and,
4) Adopt a policy to shift, over a period of not less than ten years,
from the current procedure of financing street and storm drain recon-
struction from the sale of general obligation bonds to budgeting for
these construction projects in the annual budget.
Changes to Community Facilities Policy ,
, anuary 7, 1986, City Council approved changes to six of the twelve sec-
tions of the Policy for Installation of Community Facilities. While the
changes include a multitude of things, they all follow a few basic premises.
These are:
LISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7139 - p.4
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
sot. August 5, 1986
Zi
Subject: GROWTH MAKAGEMENT UPDATE
�U.-.x
1 The street sections to be constructed must be ' properly designed to
give long service with minimized maintenance.
2) The developer shall pay the full cost of designing and constructing
all drainage systems up to and including a pipe size of 60" in dia-
meter. The City's participation is again limited to paying for con-
struction inspection and any oversizing that may be required. (The
prior policy results in City participation in pipe sizes greater than
3) The developer shall pay the entire cost of street lighting installed
within the development and 1/2 the cost of street lights installed
adjacent to the development. (The prior policy provides for the City
to pay one-half of the cost of street lights on collector and arteri-
al streets and up to three-fourths of the cost on border streets .)
4) The loophole that existed for open border streets is eliminated.
(The prior policy resulted in the City paying 75-85 percent of border
streets as compared to 10-20 percent for interior streets. The
proposed policy eliminates that loophole.)
It is the staff's belief that these changes will result in significant
improvements in the quality of our roadway system, and the City will have ac
improved balance between encouraging quality development while - requiring the
development industry to pay an equitable share of the development cost.
Plan Commission Rules and ReWations
The Transportation and Public Works in a combined effort with the Planning
Department initiated numerous revisions to the Plan Commission Rules and
Regulations. The changes which were approved by the City Council on January
7, 1986, were necessary to update the document and recognize organizational
and policy changes which have occurred.
t1ost of the revisions and changes pertained to new street classifications,
minimum radii for horizontal curves, and new easement requirements for flood-
plains, floodways, storm water, dams, lakes and levees.
Development Policy Advisory Committee
In addition to the formal recommendations made by the Citizen Study Committee
on Streets in their report to City Council , the Committee identified a need
to create a Community Facilities Policy Committee which would be a sounding
board for any proposed changes to the community facilities policies and would
afford all parties the opportunity to discuss and resolve mutual problems.
In the mid-1970's, the City of Fort Worth Plan Commission established a com-
mittee made up of five City staff persons, five development industry repre-
sentatives, and five business community representatives, that met regularly
to consider community facilities policy changes. This committee stopped
meeting after the 1982 community development policy revisions were approved
by City Council .
- ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7139 - D.5
loRr,0 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 5, 1986
Subject: GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE
The Citizen Study Committee recommended that a reformatted community
facilities policy committee be established that would include five members
from the City staff, five members from the development industry, five members
from the construction industry and five members from the citizens-at-large.
The first meeting of the Development Policy Advisory Committee was held on
May 21, 1986.
DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Revision of Citx Plan Commission Rules and Regulations
The revisir"o—nof the Plan Commission Rules and Regulations (PCRR) recommended
by staff, adopted by the Plan Commission and approved by City Council , up-
dates the existing ten year old document and improves its usability.
Prior to being adopted by the Plan Commission, the revision went through a
series of reviews by the affected departments, the Development Review Commit-
tee, and the Department of Law. In addition, the development community was
notified in July of the technical criteria changes to be included in the
revision. Copies of the revised document have been made available to
developers and consulting engineering firms since that time. It was neces-
sary to update the Rules and Regulations because many departments, policies,
and procedures had changed, causing some of our platting and technical
requirements to become outdated or Ansufficient. The revisions will make it
possible to improve the management of growth in Fort Worth.
"PD" Planned Development District
The "PD" Planned Development District is intended to provide for greater
flexibility and discretion in the application of non-residential zoning and
for increased compatibility and more effective mitigation of potentially
adverse impacts of growth on adjacent land than is possible under conven-
tional district regulations. It is recognized that as part of growth manage-
ment, it is desirable for certain areas of the City to be developed in accor-
dance with site plans prepared and approved as a part of the ordinance
authorizing the zoning necessary for the proposed development. The ordinance
was developed by staff, recommended for approval by the Zoning Commission and
adopted by the City Council in April , 1986.
Computer Assisted flapping
New geoprocessing technology recently has been introduced that will signifi-
cantly improve the City of Fort Worth's capability, productivity, and service
to the public in producing and maintaining City maps. In April , the City
Council authorized the City Manager to execute a contract agreement with
C.A.D. Associates, Inc., for digitizing City base maps and preparation of
water and sanitary sewer as-built maps in an amount not to exceed $226,220.
Areas that will initially be computerized will be base maps, zoning, annexa-
tion, water lines, sewer lines, and street light maps. Maps produced from
the system will be on the State Co-ordinate System and will be totally compa-
tible with water and sanitary sewer line mapping which already has been par-
tially automated. This mapping system is uniform across the State and will
enable the City to interface with most of the maps of other agencies and uti-
lities.
LISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7139 -2.6
Vol?.to To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 5, 1986
4
X Subject: GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE
1873
The Water Department currently is revising its mapping system by using the
Tarrant Appraisal District maps as base maps. Existing City facilities will
be overlaid on these base maps which are on the State Co-ordinate System as
used by the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation, the Corps
of Engineers, North Central Texas Council of Governments and others.
Community Facilities Policy Changes
On November 26, 1985, the City Council approved M&C G-6500 which stated an
agreement with certain changes to several sections of the City of Fort Worth
"Policy for the Installation of Community Facilities", authorized the staff
to make appropriate notification per the Subdivision Ordinance, and autho-
rized the staff to return the Community Facilities Policy revisions to the
City Council at its January 7, 1986 meeting for formal adoption.
The action that was taken on these proposed changes culminated a process that
began almost two years ago. On January 10, 1984, the City Council appointed
the "Select Committee on Street and Drainage Infrastructure". The committee
delivered its final report to the City Council on July 29, 1985. After
several months of discussion, the City Council asked a second citizens com-
mittee, the "Citizens Study Committee" to review the recommendations of the
first committee. On November 19, 1985, the Citizens Study Committee pre-
sented its final report to the Cit Council . Following that report, the City
y
Council discussed the various recommendations and suggested further refine-
ment. In addition, the City Attorney reviewed the recommendations and noted
that some of the proposed revisions were contrary to law. The City staff
then suggested modifications that would carry out the intent of the citizens
committee and would be lawful . The result was the document presented to the
City Council on November 26, 1985 that covered six of the twelve sections of
the policy. The sections changed included:
1) Definitions
2) General
3) Storm Drainage Facilities
4) Streets
5) Assessment Paving, and
6) Street Lights
These changes will result in significant improvements in the quality of our
roadway system and the City will have an improved balance between encouraging
quality development while requiring the development industry to pay an equi-
table share of the development cost.
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Comprehensive Planning
Staff has indicated the planning process for the development of a Growth Per-
formance Management System. It is designed to accommodate and re-direct
growth based on specific documented service level standards and criteria in
accordance with approved District and Sector Plans. The system will rely on
a wide spectrum of inducements and disincentives as a means for encouraging
LISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
'
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No.
0A To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 5, 1986
oel GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE
and promoting development in accordance with local goals, objectives and
development policies. A key task in the development of the system will be
the delineation of functional and geographical sub-areas within the overall
planning area. The delineation will permit the identification of localized
goals and objectives and the development of individualized implementation
techniques based on the market forces and growth trends in each subarea.
The following is a list of general guidelines which will be used to direct
the development of the Growth Performance Management System:
To minimize the fiscal consequences for local government due to growth.
To encourage the full utilization of existing and proposed utilities,
streets and community facilities.
To maintain or improve levels of community services .
To minimize environmental problems and preserve limited areas of open
The following existing and planned capacity factors have been mapped and will
be used to determine the appropriate* mix of inducements and disincentives for
guiding development in each subarea and for evaluating specif.ic development
proposals and requests:
0 Water supply and distribution system.
' Sanitary sewer collection system and treatment facilities.
0 Off-site drainage facilities .
0 Fire protection facilities and response time.
0 School facilities and service areas.
0 Street system.
0 Park and recreation facilities.
Additional factors that will be used to guide development decisions would be
environmental conditions (soils, topography, hydrology, etc.) , cost/revenue
data, consistency with plans , and compatibility issues .
Transportation Planning
conjunction with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and the
U. S. Army Corp of Engineers , the staff has completed a draft of the updated
Master Thoroughfare Plan. These plans provide the basic skeleton framework
for land use development and is a critical element in the Growth Performance
Management System.
LISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
'
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7139 - p.8
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 5, 1986
GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE
Staff also has established a transportation planning micro-computer system
that is being used for sub-area windowing and traffic impact analysis in the
processing of subdivisions and rezoning applications. This expanded
technical capability will make it possible to more effectively predict and
monitor the traffic impact of growth and development.
Regulatory Improvements
The subdivision regulations were revised to required subdividers to submit
common scale (800 feet to the inch) plans for every concept preliminary and
final plan. These plans are being added to a series of 12 boards covering
Fort Worth and the E.T.J. so the City will have a map showing all plats
approved at the concept , preliminary or final stages of Development Review.
This information is very useful in assessing growth and in viewing compatibi-
lity of patterns of proposed development and has been praised by the Plan
A report on the Regulatory Processes was prepared by staff and presented to
the City Council . It contained written step-by-step descriptions and dia-
grams of the procedures followed in processing plats, zoning amendments , com-
munity facilities agreements, annexation requests, thoroughfare plan amend-
ments, and board of adjustment applications. Staff also submitted a series of
proposed regulatory revisions that -were intended to improve processing proce-
dures and aid in the implementation of the Growth Performance -Management Pro-
gram. Significant upgrading and modernization of the Plan Commission Rules
and Regulations and the Zoning Ordinance will be an essential step in the
development and implementation of an effective Growth Performance Management
Neighborhood Conservation and Economic Development
The Sunbelt ffe-velopment Corporation has adopted an inner city target area in
which to encourage economic development and staff involvement in this year
has resulted in the issuing of industrial revenue bonds (IRBs) for four busi-
ness expansions that will create 450 jobs. This demonstrates the "perfor-
mance It concept that is being emphasized in the Growth Performance Management
Staff has assisted in the marketing and administration of the EDA Revolving
Loan Fund for the development of small businesses which is operated by the
Fort Worth Economic Development Corporation (FWEDC). Six loans have been
reviewed for compliance with City regulations and development policies and
approved by FWEDC.
The City almost has completed the implementation of Phase II of the Magnolia
Avenue Commercial Revitalization Plan and has incorporated Phase III into the
recently approved Capital Improvements Program. Initial work has been com-
pleted on the East Rosedale Commercial Revitalization Plan. Inner City com-
00P11* mercial revitalization is an important element in neighborhood conservation
and a significant priority in the Growth Performance Management Program.
L-ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
_
�NFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. .7139 - p.9
To the Mayor August 5, 1986
and Members of the City Council
Subject: GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE
Staff assistance was provided to the City's Housing Task Force on issues
involving the purchase, rental and maintenance of housing for lower and
moderate income residents. Interim reports on "Housing for the Elderly" and
on "Housing Affordability" have been completed. The recommended programs and
development policies will encourage development and redevelopment in
established high priority city areas and have a major influence on the
implementation of the Growth Performance Management Program.
Research and Development
A report on the "evaluation of Fort Worth's Growth and Development :
1980-1990" was prepared and distributed in May-June 1986. The report
examines and analyzes recent growth trends and provides short-range
projections for population and housing units by sub-areas. The information
in the report reflected the latest revised population estimates developed by
the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
Staff prepared a report on the "Selection of a Geography for Monitoring
Growth" which includes a series of recommendations that would more
effectively link and integrate the geographical ly-based information system
(GIS) into the Growth Performance Management Program. The GIS is critical to
the organization and analysis of information which is needed to develop,
implement and monitor the Growth Performance Management Program.
If Council desires additional information, it will be furnished upon request.
26 U�g 1 a�4sa r Zma�n
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS