Newest Google Failure to comply with City Codes
The Planning Commission is aware the City Manager’s office has placed construction of Google Fiber Huts on hold because Google failed to follow rules required by the UDC in Haskin Park and other City locations.
Google was issued permits that are invalid because they did not first obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness (“COA”-per Sec. 35-450) from the Historic Design Review Commission before being issued building permits.
At the December 21, 2016 Historic Design Review Commission Hearing Deputy City Manager-Peter Zanoni said because Google Fiber Texas, LLC is a “public utility” Fiber Huts can be placed in public right-of-ways and parks( although parks are not public right-of-ways).
Since the City Manager has determined that Google Fiber is a “public utility”- Privately owned- it is therefore necessary for Google Fiber Texas, LLC to comply with Article IX. Planning Commission-Sec. 123. Legal Effect of Master Plan in the Unified Development Code in order to construct facilities on city owned property. The Code clearly states:
“no public utility whether publicly or privately owned, shall be constructed or authorized in the city, nor shall any real property be acquired by the city, until and unless the location and extent thereof shall have been submitted to and approved by the commission.”
Citizen John Whitsett spent time reviewing Planning Commission Minutes from 2014 through 2017 and could not find any evidence of such an approval by the Commission. Therefore, it looks like another Unified Development Code (“UDC”) requirement (required before a permit could be issued) was “Inadvertently Missed” by the City Manager, the Development Services Department and Google.
On February 8, 2017 an Open Records request was submitted by John Whitsett, in part, to find any documents that might indicate that Google Fiber Texas, LLC, as a public utility, submitted to and received authorization from the Planning Commission to construct the Fiber Hut in Haskin Park and West End Park.
Because this requirement in Sec. 123. “UDC” was “Inadvertently Missed” the City Council, City Manager and the Fiber Deployment Team will need to immediately contact Google Fiber Texas, LLC and let them know they must submit to the Planning Commission for approval of the location of their Utility Fiber Huts in Haskin and West End Parks.
Of course this requirement may become un-necessary if Google, as requested, relocates the invalidly permitted Hut out of Haskin Park to an appropriate commercial location.
Google Fiber must submit to obtain approval by the Planning Commission before going back to the Historic Design Review Commission (“HDRC”) because neither the Ordinance 2014-03-13-0153 passed by City Council in March 2014 nor the Master Lease (executed August 2015) included any approval by the Planning Commission or any waiver by City Council of this requirement outlined in Sec.123.-Legal effect of master plan.