VOL 5 No. 41
Phone: 281-980-6745
www.fbindependent.com
FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012
P.O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
“Show Me City” Parks Photo Contest Winning Entries
Cindy Cheng won first place and a $50 Amazon gift card for this colorful, creative picture she captured during Egg Palooza in March at Community Park. Photos courtesy of Missouri City The winners of the first “Show Me City” Parks Photo Contest have been selected: Cindy Cheng won first place, Jose Salas won second place and Alicia Blum won for the “Most Popular” Facebook photo. “A lot of pictures submitted were scenic and showed the beauty of our parks,” said Recreation Specialist Lauren McKinnis. The community competition was designed to highlight the year-round beauty and fun that can be found in the City’s 22 beautiful parks, in the new Alicia Blum won the “Most Popular” Facebook photo competi- Recreation and Tennis Center at tion and a $25 Amazon gift card for this breathtaking photo of 2701 Cypress Point Dr. and on scenic nature trails around the a sunset at Independence Park. area. The competition began in April and ran through Aug. 31. “I believe our winners, all of whom are residents, were out enjoying our parks with their pets or family and friends and saw the perfect photo opportunity,” McKinnis said. Left, Jose Salas won second place and a $25 Amazon gift card for this stunning picture “Reflection” taken at Independence Park.
Business signage splits Missouri City City Council By BARBARA FULENWIDER Missouri City councilmen spent a year discussing, deciding, tweaking their sign ordinance in order to get one that residents wanted but at least one councilman, Danny Nguyen, doesn’t think it’s lenient enough. At the council’s Oct. 1 meeting, council voted 4-3 to approve on first reading a request for architectural and sign deviations for a Raising Cain restaurant that will be built east of the intersection of Murphy Road (FM 1092) and Hwy. 6. The applicant, represented by Chris Ferrari, requested allowing Raising Cain to have fewer than the required amount of primary exterior materials, more flagpoles and flag signs, more wall signage and signage that does not consist of channel letters and logos flush mounted directly onto a building façade. Staff, in accordance with the city’s signage and architectural regulations, agreed to grant the first request to reduce the required number of primary exterior materials but not the other three. On the other hand, Missouri City Planning and Zoning Commission members were far more lenient and forwarded its final report to council with “a positive recommendation for consideration.” Councilman Jerry Wyatt was the first to question Ferrari and he asked, “Why do you need these things?” Ferrari said that without all the signage design and flags, Raising Cain doesn’t do as much business. He noted that the company’s more subdued Sugar Land store hasn’t done enough business to warrant
opening more Raising Cains in that town. The picture of the business’s namesake, a blond Labrador Retriever, didn’t cut the mustard because it’s made of a different material other than those allowed in the city’s sign ordinance. The number of flags was also an issue because Ferrari was requesting three on each side of the building. Councilman Don Smith suggested the company could comply by using three flags, the brand signage and not use the picture of the dog. “Could you put a picture of the dog in a window?” he asked Ferrari, who said, yes, if the company’s design staff approves. Smith said what he’s “trying to get at is to work something out so everyone feels good about it. If you put a picture of the dog in a window, then you’ve got everything.” But Councilman Bobby Marshall said, “He can’t have it all and follow the city’s ordinances. The mural is the maximum amount of signage one can have on this entire building. If you want the mural then you can’t have anything else or you can have everything else and not the mural.” Ferrari said, “Our No. 1 priority is having the oval sign over the door, then the mural, then the dog.” Wyatt said he looked on the web “at a lot of your stores and very few look like this. They don’t have a lot of flags or signs on them.” Ferrari replied that the picture of their store presented to council is “standard.” Wyatt continued to argue
his point and Ferrari said the company “ built 82 stores very similar to the one we want in Missouri City.” Mayor Allen Owen then said that approving the changes sought “aren’t fair when we’ve told others not to do it. We either rewrite the sign ordinance again or we live with what the citizens of Missouri city want to see. P&Z didn’t follow the ordinance and staff did, which is why P&Z approved far more than staff did.” Nguyen said, “I have to go with P&Z. I think it’s ridiculous that we over regulate signs. These are business people. I think it looks beautiful. We can’t over regulate business people. We’ve sent bad signals to the business community. We should respect P&Z. We must be flexible enough within the frame (of the ordinance).” Smith said he thought the council, city staff and applicant could make it work. “We’ve solved most of the problems (offered solutions) just by talking about them up here. Let’s ask staff to take it back and bring something to council that will work with the ordinances we have.” Owen agreed. He said, “Look at all the other businesses in that center in front of Lowe’s. They are living with the ordinance we put in place and I bet Cains will do the same thing. I think there is a compromise.” Wyatt’s motion to approve it only with staff recommendations allowed staff to make changes on it. Owen said, “If something different comes back (to council) we have the ability to vote on it” at the Oct. 15 meeting.”
A team of national assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) will arrive on Nov. 4 to examine the Sugar Land Police Department’s policy and procedures, management, operations and support services. The site visit is part of a re-accreditation assessment that occurs every three years. SLPD was first accredited by CALEA in March 2001, one of the highest law enforcement recognitions. As part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and
members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public information session on Nov. 5, at 6 p.m., in the Council Chambers at Sugar Land City Hall, 2700 Town Center Blvd. North. Comments may also be provided by phone at (281) 2752909 on Nov. 5 from 2-4 p.m. All comments will be limited to 10 minutes and must address SLPD’s ability to comply with CALEA standards. Contact Sgt. Yolanda Davis, Accreditation Manager, at (281) 275-2615 for a copy of the standards.
Written comments should be sent to CALEA, 13575 Heathcote Blvd., Suite 320, Gainesville, Va., 20155. The assessment team will include law enforcement professionals from out-of-state agencies that are similar in size to Sugar Land. The assessors will review written materials, conduct interviews and conduct site visits. Accreditation is for three years, during which the agency must submit annual reports attesting continued compliance with those standards under which it was initially accredited.
Accreditation Assessment Team invites public comment
HRBACEK & GANDHI, P.C.
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
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