Planning Commission Q and A Report.pdf — original pdf

Backup

Planning Commission Q & A Report B-10: Commissioner Azhar/ Staff Response in blue. • Will the "H" Historic Combining District designation limit the ability to add housing/affordable housing to the site? Including, construction of such housing in the parking lots adjoining the historical structure itself? The H zoning will not affect the ability to add housing or affordable housing to the site. The Baker School is contributing to the Hyde Park Local Historic District already, so any new construction on the site will be reviewed pursuant to an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness to the Historic Landmark Commission. The H zoning does not impose additional restrictions over what is already in place on this site. • Is it possible to only designate the parcel containing the historical structure itself and not the surrounding parking lots? Would doing this allow construction of housing in the parking lots or would that still not be possible? Staff submitted a proposal to the Historic Landmark Commission to do just that, and that proposal will be in the backup for the Planning Commission meeting. The applicant preferred to have the entire parcel zoned historic, and that is what the Historic Landmark Commission eventually recommended. Staff believes that zoning the entire parcel historic is not necessary and would rather focus the historic landmark designation on the historic buildings on the site with an appropriate buffer around them. • According to Mr. Richard Weiss, applicant, regarding the "Baker Field" west of the site - "This area alone was originally zoned for a 5 story residential housing development with 25% affordability, but it was subdivided and purchased by the City in order to build a regional detention pond earlier this year. We believe the city should explore every option to incorporate affordable housing AND detention on this subdivided lot, because it is only area that is zoned for significant density without compromising the integrity of the original campus." Can staff please respond to whether the Baker Field site will include housing on it in the future or would this not be possible? If there is the ability to construct housing on this site in the future, how would that be funded? Historic Preservation Staff cannot answer this question as to the possibility of the construction of new housing on the site at the Baker Field. During the discussions at the Historic Landmark Commission, the applicant did offer removing the Baker Field from the historic zoning parcel as a potential compromise. Historic Preservation staff believes that the historic zoning parcel should be even more limited, eliminating the parking lots from historic zoning while still preserving the context and ambience of the school buildings and the site. • Can staff share the tax implications of this designation? What would be the potential loss in tax revenue from this site once it is designated? Zoning the entire site will result in an estimated $62.300 for the entire parcel. The amount of the tax exemption for the limited parcel will be reduced by whatever land is excluded from the historically- zoned area. For commercial structures, the tax exemption is calculated as 25% of the value of the land for the City and County, and 12.5% of the value of the land for AISD. The exemption for the buildings would not change, so there would be a reduction in the total exemption for the building that will be calculated when it is determined how much square footage on the parcel falls within the historic zoning tract.