Updated 8.22.2018
City Council Meeting 8/14/2018: Frequently Asked Questions
Following the 8/14/2018 Georgetown City Council Meeting, social media sites have been active with comments, concerns and suggestions. The Georgetown Neighborhood Alliance (GNA) has observed that there are several questions and some mis-information. The goal of this posting is to help answer the questions and clarify. GNA is committed to providing accurate information. If you have any additional questions, please leave a message below.
- What does COA/ETJ/GNA/HARC/Preservation Georgetown/UDC mean?
- How do we overturn the City Council vote on the HARC ordinance?
- Where can I find the video of the City council meeting?
- Who is my City Council Representitive and how do I contact them?
- Who appoints the members of HARC and Planning & Zoning? Who are they?
- What are the responsibilities of: HARC, Planning & Zoning and the UDC Advisory Committee?
- How do we recall a city council person?
- UPDATE: What are the next steps regarding HARC and the proposal to change the authority level of HARC?
- What does ___ mean?
- COA – Certificate of Appropriateness – A certificate documenting approval by the Historic and Architectural Review Commission (HARC) or the Historic Preservation Officer (HPO) to construct, reconstruct, alter, restore, remove, relocate, or demolish a building or structure that is designated as a historic landmark or located in a historic overlay district.
- ETJ – Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction – ETJ’s are outside of the formal Georgetown limits. Residents in the ETJ’s receive limited city services, don’t pay city taxes, and are not able to vote in City elections, including for City Council representatives. Rather, they are represented by the Williamson County Commissioner. https://maps.georgetown.org/city-limits-and-etj-map/
- GNA – Georgetown Neighborhood Alliance – http://www.alliancegeorgetown.org/about/
- HARC – Historic and Architecture Review Commission – a Mayoral appointed commission responsible for the approval or denial of Certificates of Appropriateness (COA). HARC also makes recommendations to City Council on the designation of historic sites or districts, acts and assists the City Council in formulating design guidelines and other supplemental materials relevant to the historic preservation or design review. Additionally, the Board renders advice and guidance upon the request of property owners or occupants on new construction or the restoration, alteration or maintenance of any historic resource or other building within the District, and performs any other functions requested by the City Council per UDC Section 2.03. https://government.georgetown.org/historic-architectural-review-commission/
- Preservation Georgetown – http://preservationgeorgetown.org/
- UDC – Unified Development Code – The UDC is the primary tool used to regulate land development in Georgetown. The Code was adopted to promote the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizens, and to regulate orderly and healthy development of the city. The Code was originally adopted in 2003 and contains zoning and subdivision regulations along with related development standards. https://library.municode.com/tx/georgetown/codes/code_of_ordinances
2. How do we overturn the City Council vote on the HARC ordinance?
- During the City Council meeting 8/14/18, the City Council voted to draft an ordinance replacing the existing ordnance regarding HARC. City Council did NOT pass an ordinance replacing HARC. The next steps are: 1) City Staff will conduct a workshop for City Council regarding HARC, its authority, process, etc. 2) Based on City Council’s guidance during the workshop (expected to take place in late October), the City Attorney will draft language updating the current ordinance. 3) the new ordinance will be reviewed by City Council during a City Council meeting. Public comment will be heard during this meeting. 4) A second City Council meeting (with public comment) will occur during which a vote will be taken by City Council to pass or deny the new ordinance. It is possible to repeal the 8/14/18 City Council vote (to draft a revised ordinance regarding HARC). However, GNA recommends following the steps of the process outlined above.
3. Where can I find the video of the 8/14/18 City council meeting? http://georgetowntx.swagit.com/play/08152018-772
Item P. City Council discusses HARC Denial of the Wish Well Event Center development at 511 S Main St.
Item AD. City Council discusses the removal of the Certificates of Appropriateness (COA) from HARC responsibility and transfer it to Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) to recommend COA approval or denial to the City Council.
4. Who is my City Council Representitive and how do I contact them?
-
- District Map https://georgetown.org/gis/pdfs/CouncilDistrictOverall_Esize.pdf
- City Council Contact Information
Mayor – Dale Ross – Email: mayor@georgetown.org
District 1 – Anna Eby – Email: district1@georgetown.org
District 2 – Valerie Nicholson – Email: district2@georgetown.org
District 3 – John Hesser – Email: district3@georgetown.org
District 4 – Steve Fought – Email: district4@georgetown.org
District 5 – Kevin Pitts – Email: district5@georgetown.org
District 6 – Rachael Jonrowe – Email: district6@georgetown.org
District 7 – Tommy Gonzalez – Email: district7@georgetown.org
5. Who appoints the members of HARC and Planning & Zoning? Who are they?
A. The mayor appoints members of HARC and Planning & Zoning based on applications received from interested residents in January every year.
B. HARC (https://government.georgetown.org/historic-architectural-review-commission/ ) includes:
- Arthur Browner (Chair): Term Ends 02/2019
- Terri Asendorf Hyde: Term Ends 02/2020
- Lee Bain: Term Ends 02/2019
- Shawn Hood: Term Ends 02/2019
- Karl Meixsell: Term Ends 02/2019
- Catherine Morales: Term Ends 02/2020
- Lawrence Romero: Term Ends 02/2020
- Amanda Parr (Alternate Member #1): Term Ends 02/2019
- Kevin Roberts (Alternate Member #2): Term Ends 02/2019
C. Planning & Zoning ( https://government.georgetown.org/planning-zoning-commission/ ) includes:
- Josh Schroeder (Chair): Term Ends 02/2019
- Tim Bargainer (Vice-Chair): Term Ends 02/2020
- John Marler (Secretary/GTAB Rep): Term Ends 02/2019
- Ercel Brashear: Term Ends 02/2019
- Kayla McCord: Term Ends 02/2020
- Gary Newman: Term Ends 02/2020
- Ben Stewart (GISD Rep): Term Ends 02/2020
- Travis Perthuis (Alternate Commissioner #1): Term Ends 02/2019
- Roger Chappell (Alternate Commissioner #2): Term Ends 02/2019
6. What are the responsibilities of:
-
- HARC? https://library.municode.com/tx/georgetown/codes/unified_development_code?nodeId=UNIFIED_DEVELOPMENT_CODE_CH2REAU_S2.03HIARRECOHA
- Planning and Zoning? https://library.municode.com/tx/georgetown/codes/unified_development_code?nodeId=UNIFIED_DEVELOPMENT_CODE_CH2REAU_S2.05PLZOCOCOPZ
- UDC Advisory Committee? https://library.municode.com/tx/georgetown/codes/unified_development_code?nodeId=UNIFIED_DEVELOPMENT_CODE_CH2REAU_S2.08UNDECOUDADCO
7. How do we recall a city council person? City Council members can only be recalled by the registered voters in their district. It requires 15% of the registered voters in the district to sign a petition. These signatures must be verified – proof of signator and a witness. As such, petition signatures cannot be secured by e-petition alone. The signature must be verified/witnessed. https://library.municode.com/tx/georgetown/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=HORUCH_ARTIVINRERE_S4.07REOF
8. What are the next steps regarding HARC and the proposal to change the authority level of HARC?
- 8/28/2018 – 3 p.m. City Council Workshop to discuss the approach to the October City Council Workshop. Open to the public but there is NO PUBLIC COMMENT at the workshop.
- Timing: TBD – City Attorney will draft a new ordinance reflecting the guidance from the City Council at the 8/14/18 meeting.
- Timing: Target – October 2018 – City Council Workshop to review the draft/revised ordinance. Open to the public but there is NO PUBLIC COMMENT at the workshop.
- Timing: TBD – Draft/revised Ordinance will be sent to Planning & Zoning for review. Open to the public and public comment.
- Timing: TBD = Draft/revised Ordinance will be sent to City Council for the 1st reading. Open to the public and public comment.
- Timing: TBD = Draft/revised Ordinance will be sent to City Council for the 2nd reading. Open to the public and public comment.