To: Mark Hafner, City Manager
From: Sarah Hensley, Director of Community Development
Subject:
Title
Consider an ordinance approving a Planned Development (PD) amendment for Milestone Church, being 54.28 acres on the north side of Mount Gilead Road, approximately 1,000 feet east of U. S. Hwy. 377, zoned Planned Development 1724-Single Family Residential-15,000 square foot minimum and Planned Development 1724-Patio Homes 6,500 square foot minimum, on the property legally described as Lot 1R, Block A of the Milestone Church Addition and addressed 201 Mount Gilead Road. Andrew Oxley, Oxley Architects, Applicant. Milestone Church, Owner. (Z-23-0007)
Background:
City Council conducted and closed the public hearing on this item on January 16, 2024, then tabled the item to February 20, 2024 to allow the Applicant additional time to work with adjacent property owners on their concerns related to screening.
Action Requested:
Consider a request to amend an existing Planned Development (PD) for Milestone Church to allow the steeple on a proposed new chapel to be as tall as 53 feet in height when setback 60 feet from a residence or residentially-zoned property.
Current Zoning:
PD 1724-Single Family Residential -15,000 square-foot minimum and PD 1724-Patio Homes 6,500 square-foot minimum
Proposed Zoning:
PD 1724-Single Family Residential -15,000 square-foot minimum and PD 1724-Patio Homes 6,500 square-foot minimum
Future Land Use Plan:
High-Density Single Family - 8,000 to 14,999 square-foot lots (HD-SF)
Background:
Milestone Church submitted a Planned Development application in 2014 that included a request to allow the maximum height for non-residential uses to be 53 feet. This proposed development standard deviated from the Unified Development Code (UDC) guidelines that would have allowed a maximum height of only 35 feet. City Council approved the PD on December 16, 2014, with the following condition after several people expressed concerns regarding building height during the public hearing:
The height of a non-residential structure may be as tall as fifty- three feet (53') provided that any structure over thirty-five feet (35') in height is setback a minimum of two hundred feet (200') from a residence or residentially-zoned property.
The church is now requesting to modify this condition to include language what would allow a “single architectural feature, a steeple” to be 53 feet tall and 60 feet from residences/residentially-zoned property in order to build a chapel on the east side of their property. The height of the steeple is to be measured from the finished floor elevation of the proposed chapel. As proposed by the Applicant, the modified development standard would apply to any steeple constructed within the PD.
Site Design:
City Council approved a Site Plan with variances for the main church building in 2015, and a Site Plan Amendment with additional variances in 2020. The most recent site plan showed an expansion of the main church structure and the future locations of several additional church buildings, including the proposed chapel.
The proposed chapel location matches the 2020 site plan. The Applicant has provided a topographic exhibit indicating the chapel will sit approximately 10-15 feet below the grade of the property directly adjacent to the residential properties to the east. The chapel is also separated from the residential properties to the east by the 50-foot conservation easement established in March 2020 as part of the church’s Tree Board appeal.
The Applicant will be required to submit site and landscape plans prior to receiving a building permit for the proposed chapel.
Elevations:
The chapel elevations are a combination of brick and stone with stucco accents. The Applicant proposes cast stone and composite shingles for construction of the steeple.
Request:
To amend the existing PD to allow a single architectural feature, a steeple, to be 53 feet in height when setback 60 feet from a residence or residentially-zoned property.
Citizen Input:
On November 30, 2023, the City mailed out 67 Letters of Notification for this Public Hearing and the associated planned development zoning change to all property owners within three hundred feet (300’) of the subject site. A public hearing notice sign was posted on the site.
Staff received signed opposition letters from 13 properties within the 200’ buffer around the subject property prior to the public hearing on Jan. 16, totaling 22.1% of the property within that buffer. Since then, 4 properties have withdrawn their opposition, bringing the opposition total to 11.3% within the 200’ buffer.
Three additional letters of opposition came from properties outside the 200’ buffer.
Summary:
Section 8.02 (D.1.e) of the UDC states that when considering a zoning change request, which includes a request for a PD amendment, the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council shall consider the following factors:
1) Whether the uses permitted by the proposed change will be appropriate in the immediate area concerned and their relationship to the general area and the City as a whole, and in compliance with the Future Land Use Plan.
2) Whether the proposed change is in accord with any existing or proposed plans for providing streets, water supply, sanitary sewers, and other utilities to the area, and shall note the findings.
3) The amount of vacant land currently classified for similar development in the vicinity and elsewhere in the City, and any special circumstances which may make a substantial part of such vacant land unavailable for development.
4) The recent rate at which land is being developed in the same zoning classification as the request, particularly in the vicinity of the proposed change.
5) How other areas designated for similar development will be, or are unlikely to be, affected if the proposed amendment is approved.
6) Any other factors which will substantially affect the health, safety, morals, or general welfare.
Planning & Zoning Commission Recommendation:
At the December 12, 2023, Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, Commissioners recommended approval of the Planned Development Amendment request as presented by a vote of 4-3.
Alternatives:
The City Council has the following options when considering a Planned Development amendment application:
- Approve as submitted
- Approve with modifications or additional condition(s)
- Table the agenda item to a specific date with clarification of intent and purpose
- Deny.