Planning commission approves All Out Off Road expansion at 303 N. Friendswood Drive with added landscape screening

The Planning and Zoning Commission on July 24 approved a site plan amendment for 303 North Friendswood Drive to allow All Out Off Road to enlarge its existing building, add garage bays, increase parking and construct a detention pond. Aubrey (planning staff) told commissioners the property contains an existing metal building formerly occupied by an automotive business and that the applicant proposes roughly to double the building's size, add garage bay doors and add a glass frontage along Friendswood Drive. The site plan includes new parking and a detention pond at the rear, an 8‑foot opaque fence and a landscape buffer along the rear property line. Aubrey said the applicant met landscaping requirements and noted an existing dense tree line on the adjacent residential property provides a natural buffer. To accommodate overhead power lines along the street, the plan shifts a trio of front trees so they can grow without repeated pruning; the landscaping buffer in front was moved slightly closer to the building so trees will be planted nearer the facade. Commissioners asked whether screening would obscure signage and whether parking islands met the city's landscape‑island requirement. Troy Kennedy of Kennedy Architecture, representing the applicant, said the three proposed front trees (identified in the plan as crepe myrtles) can be pruned and that the proposed sign program includes three sides of signage so visibility would not be blocked. One commissioner asked whether a low shrub screen was required at the front of the parking lot. Aubrey confirmed two‑foot shrubs are required under the community overlay district to screen parking; a commissioner moved to approve the site plan with the explicit addition of two‑foot shrubs across the front to meet that standard. The motion received a second and the commission approved the site plan by voice vote. What was decided: The commission approved the site plan amendment with the added condition that two‑foot shrubs be installed to screen the front parking area. The transcript records approval by voice vote; no roll‑call tally is given. Details the transcript records: the plan includes an 8‑foot opaque fence, trees in parking islands, a rear detention pond, and relocation of the front landscape buffer nearer the building to avoid conflicts with overhead power lines. The applicant told staff and commissioners the existing tree line on the neighboring residential property would remain and provide screening. The approval is a site plan amendment; no zoning change, variance or ordinance amendment was requested or recorded during this agenda item.