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Friendswood planning commission reviews proposed changes to design criteria manual, including wider sidewalks and downtown amenities
Summary
City planning staff outlined updates to the Design Criteria Manual that would raise minimum sidewalk widths, reconcile parking-distance conflicts, reorganize the qualified tree list to discourage Class 4 plantings, and restrict new decorative light poles in the downtown district; staff said the manual will move to public hearing and ordinance readings at council.
Aubrey, planning staff for the City of Friendswood, presented proposed updates to the city's Design Criteria Manual at the Planning & Zoning Commission's June 11 meeting, saying engineering will update the manual and that state law now requires the manual be adopted by ordinance following a public hearing and two council readings.
The changes targeted several sections that affect development review, Aubrey said. Staff recommended moving regulatory language from the manual into the subdivision or zoning ordinances where appropriate and cleaning up conflicting text. Aubrey identified a specific conflict in off-site parking allowances: one provision limits off-site parking to 500 feet while the downtown district language allows up to 200 feet, a discrepancy staff intends to reconcile.
Aubrey said the manual proposes increasing sidewalk minimums to better align with the recently adopted regional guidance: "Our minimum sidewalk width is four feet currently and they're proposing to change our minimum to five feet," Aubrey said, and the comparable driveway/texted roadway minimum would shift from five feet to six feet. Staff attributed those changes to recommendations in the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) Active Transportation Plan, which the council adopted June 1.
The proposal also reworks Appendix D, the qualified tree list. "Class 4 trees are not recommended," Aubrey said, and staff added an introductory paragraph and reorganized the list so that the document makes clear which trees are not preferred and how tree-mitigation credits apply when invasive species are removed.
Appendix E, the downtown district amenities, drew detailed discussion. Aubrey said the city wants to avoid installation of additional black decorative poles now that new downtown lighting has been installed by FDEC (agency name not specified in the transcript), and staff are attempting to remove legacy poles installed under prior programs. "We've reached out to the property owners to request them to take them down," Aubrey said, but several poles remain because staff could not secure easements from some owners. Commissioners asked whether the city or CEDC would replace or install poles; Aubrey said the new brown fixtures are already installed and that the legacy poles will be removed where possible.
The draft downtown-amenities language would retain only a few site-level requirements: staff said the manual would continue to require a minimum of two benches per new downtown development and would provide criteria for voluntary trash receptacles but make property owners responsible for servicing them.
Commissioners generally reacted positively to the draft. Commissioner William Anderson said the materials "flowed well," and Commissioner Bounds urged removal of certain elm entries from the tree list. Aubrey said engineering will continue revisions and return the manual to the commission; staff will hold a public hearing and then the city council will consider two ordinance readings required by state law.
The commission did not take a formal vote on the manual at the June 11 meeting; the item was presented for review and will return for further action in a later agenda.
