Ordinance determines Taco Bell outcome despite majority vote

The Navasota City Council held a regular meeting Monday, Aug.

12. A rezoning request by Jon and Janice Crouch, 1539 E. Washington Avenue, that would have allowed development of a Taco Bell failed to receive the required number of votes to pass.

Council members voted 3-2 in favor of the Crouch’s request with Josh Fultz and Geoff Horn voting nay. While it appeared that the motion passed, according to city attorney Carey Bovey, Chapter 19.4 of the Navasota Zoning Ordinance authorized by Chapter 11 of the Texas Local Government Code states that if there is a negative recommendation to the city council from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), “an affirmative vote to approve something with a negative recommendation needs three-fourths affirmative votes from the council.” Lacking the required fourth vote, the motion failed.

After repeating his overview of the preliminary site plan presented at the Aug. 8 P&Z meeting, Dwayne Kostiha, Vice-President of Tacala Austin Corporation/Taco Bell responded to residents’ concerns aired at that meeting about late hours. (See related article Planning & Zoning article on page 1)

Kostiha said, “Typically, in the more rural settings like LaGrange, Giddings, Uvalde, etc., most of our Taco Bells usually close between 10 p.m. and midnight. Whatever the business and community warrants, we can adjust our hours accordingly.”

Kostiha also responded to questions from councilmen Grant Holt and Fultz about location choice. Addressing the future SH 105 East/SH 249 intersection, Kostiha said that statistical data must be past, or present.

He replied, “Could we sit on the sidelines and wait for more time to pass to see if the traffic generation changes the traffic pattern? Absolutely. Could it happen? Possibly. But today, these (SH6/Washington) are your two busiest streets.”

Fourteen residents testified Monday and six repeated their Aug. 8 concerns about noise, loitering and criminal activity, littering, exacerbation of drainage issues, increased traffic on N. Post Oak and the inability to sell their homes.

A statement issued by the Two Rivers Heritage Foundation proposed that approval would lead to more similar zoning demands, “defacing Washington Avenue’s historical significance.” Additional comments included the Comprehensive Plan’s intent to leave the area residential and Navasota’s charm.

P&Z commissioner and Navasota native James Harris expressed his gratitude at being one of a few who had a job growing up in Navasota. He spoke of past growing pains and the “inconvenience” of change.

Harris said, “I have never stopped at a Taco Bell, never spent any money at a Taco Bell. This man is talking about investing $1.5 million in our community and adding 25-30 jobs to this community.”

Before voting Mayor Bert Miller, councilmen Bernie Gessner and Holt who favored approval, pointed out possible site plan changes, tax revenue “to fix the potholes,” jobs, the “big picture,” and balancing development and preservation.

Reflecting on the impact Taco Bell would have on the entrance to Navasota, dissenting councilman Fultz said, “What we have is who we are.”

Horn said creation of the Historic Overlay District was “not to preserve historic homes but to preserve the character along Washington Avenue. We were all opposed to this five years ago and I couldn’t stand myself now if I supported changing it.”

Resident notification revised

Council voted 4-1 to approve the first reading amending Ordinance 894-19, Chapter 3, Building Regulations related to notification and public hearing requirements. Councilman Geoff Horn voted nay.

The amendment provides for an 18 x 24-inch sign to be placed within 15 feet of the property line of a property for which a variance has been requested. The sign will include city contact information, the place, date and time of the public hearing.

P&Z commissioner Dia Copeland suggested the sign be larger and be used for sign and zoning changes as well, and that resident notification letters should be easy to understand and include the property’s physical address. Copeland also requested the notification area be enlarged to 500 feet instead of the current 200 feet because of Navasota’s large lot size.

Verbiage was discussed with City Attorney Carey Bovey who advised adding government notification signs to the city’s sign ordinance. Copeland’s requests will be considered before the upcoming second reading.

AMI to prevent revenue

loss

Following an audit of the city’s utility structures for possible energy and revenue savings, council approved authorizing the Mayor to sign the Energy Services Agreement with Ameresco pending approval of the city attorney, third party review and obtaining financial options for a meter replacement project that will cost $3,687,352.

Stafford told council, “These projects were already on our list to bring to you. Our metering system is out of date. When the SCADA system goes down, it’s down for hours because we have to wait for someone from Victoria to fix it.”

Other council action:

•Approved rezoning two properties totaling 7.09 acres at Sangster at Thane and S. Post Oak at Sangster from Agriculture Open Space District to R-1A High Density Single Dwelling Unit, Residential District.

•Approved the continuation of a $200 per month utility bill credit for the Christian Community Services Center.

•Tabled action after a presentation from The Goodman Corporation about grant opportunities for transportation projects.

•Approved Resolution 656-19 authorizing the Mayor and City Manager as authorized signatories for contractual documents and the Director of Finance and City Secretary as authorized signatories for requesting funds for the 2016 Flood Allocation Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program contract.

•Approved Resolution 657-19 adopting the following policies required for participation in the 2016 Flood Allocation CDBG-DR Program: Citizen Participation Plan and Grievance Procedures; Sec. 3 Policy; Excessive Force Policy; Limited English Proficiency Standards Plan; Sec. 504 Policy and Grievance Procedures; Code of Conduct Policy; Fair Housing Policy.

•Approved a proposal to adopt a tax rate of $0.5693 per $100 valuation for the tax year 2019. (See related article).

•Approved the appointment of Layla Perez to the Keep Navasota Beautiful Commission.

•Approved Consent Agenda items that included minutes and expenditures for the month of July.

•Tabled the budget workshop until the Aug. 26 meeting.

Staff, board & commission

reports:

•Head Librarian Gloria May gave a quarterly report on activities of the Navasota Public Library.

•Director of Streets and Sanitation Jose Coronilla reported that work on the first phase of the Foster Street Drainage Project is 80% complete.

•Utilities Director Jeff Greer reported the repairs to the 1-million-gallon groundwater storage tank are complete and bacterial testing results were clear. Two new aerators will be installed in approximately 12-14 weeks.

•Mayor Bert Miller read a proclamation recognizing April as Fair Housing Month.

•Councilman Josh Fultz gave an update of the Aug. 8 Planning & Zoning meeting.

•Councilman Grant Holt gave an update of the Aug. 1 Keep Navasota Beautiful meeting.

Mayor’s dates to remember:

•Aug. 17, Saturday, “Brotherhood Ride,” 8 a.m., Best Western Motel parking lot.

•Aug. 17, Saturday, “Clear the Shelter,” Navasota Animal Shelter, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

•Aug. 24, Saturday, “Navasota Has Talent” Talent Show, Brosig Auditorium, 6 p.m.