TIMETABLE FOR PLANNING ITEMS

[updated 04/08/04]

1. 6^th Street and SLT nodal plan [project completed]

• The Plan has been presented to both CC and BOCC.  The County deferred action until a joint study session with CC on 12/4/03.  At this joint session, it was agreed that the entire node should be within city limits.  BOCC agreed to not act on any development requests while the City pursued annexation of lands west of the interchange.  
• Resolution No. 6508 adopted this plan as a land use policy for the City Commission in November 2003.

2. Chapter 20 (Zoning Regulations)

•  Planning Commission revised and approved new Zoning Codes [Chapter 20 of City Code] on February 11, 2004.
• Staff presented the new zoning codes to the City Commission in a joint study session held with the Planning Commission on February 27, 2004.
• Staff is preparing an implementation report for consideration by the City Commission at the same time as they consider the new zoning codes. This will be on the Commission’s agenda in April 2004.

3. Chapter 21 (Subdivision Regulations)

• The Zoning and Codes Subcommittee has completed their review of the draft regulations.
• A presentation on the UGA and revisions to subdivision regulations was presented to the City and County Commissions on October 16, 2003.
• The County Commission has staff working on a subsection of the Subdivision Regulations changes having to do with Article 1, Exceptions and Exemptions, specific to clustering rural development within the UGA in preparation for urban expansion.
• The draft subdivision regulations will be posted on the Planning Dept. website in May and the public listening sessions will be scheduled by the Planning Commission in May.

4. 6^th Street and Wakarusa Drive

• The 6^th & Wakarusa Area Plan was approved by the City Commission on 12/02/03 by Resolution No. 6497.
• Rezonings of the NW and NE corners of 6^th and Wakarusa went through public hearings at the Planning Commission meeting in March and were forwarded with recommendations for approval of the NW corner rezoning and denial of the NE corner rezoning.
• The City Commission approved the rezonings for both the NE and NW corners of 6^th and Wakarusa.
• The Commission deferred reading of Ordinance No. 7755  on March 30^th for staff to contact Planning Commissioners to gain clarification on the point of whether the use of “department store” should or should not be included in the allowed uses with the new PCD-2 zoning on the NW corner of 6^th & Wakarusa.
• Staff has drafted a memorandum in response to the City Commission’s concern and this will be transmitted to the Commission with their April 13, 2004 agenda packet.

5. 23^rd Street Corridor Study

• A staff presentation on the final document is preliminarily scheduled to occur at the quarterly City/County/USD 497 meeting on September 10^th.  Printed copies of the final report and a slide show overview of the document will be presented to both commissions at this time. [Presentation was made to CC on November 9, 2003.]
• The Planning Commission as the MPO [Metropolitan Planning Commission] has adopted this corridor plan. It would be appropriate for both Governing Bodies to also endorse the plan through Ordinance or Resolution action. [A resolution has been prepared for CC action.  BOCC chose to take no further action than to receive the plan.]
• The City Commission adopted the 23^rd Street Corridor Study by Resolution No. 6509  on November 11, 2003.

6. North of North Street Area Plan

• The Area Plan draft will need new maps and several sections rewritten to address any drainage and sanitary sewer issues.  Staff will propose a recommendation in the Area Plan that any significant development of the area should be preceded by a detailed drainage plan to document and address issues that exist today and would be exacerbated by urban development in the area. [Plan will be coordinated with Stormwater Master Plan and land use recommendations reviewed and updated in February ’04.]
• Finalizing recommendations for land use changes and potential land uses is delayed until the stormwater study for north Lawrence can provide additional information about the carrying capacity of the land.  [Anticipated date for Planning Commission consideration is in 3^rd quarter of 2004]

7. Adequate Public Facilities/ City Development Policy

• The final study and the immediate and long-range implementation steps were discussed by the City Commission at a study session on July 21^st.  Staff was directed at this study session to prepare a memo responding to specific immediate and long range implementation steps in the APF report.  The Commission also established the need for a Mayor’s Task Force to discuss the staging of public improvements in relationship to the pulling of building permits for future development. City Commission initiated two text amendments to the subdivision regulations at 09.02.03 meeting to implement recommended actions regarding park service area requirement for neighborhood parks, and analysis of waste water capacity at preliminary plat stage.  Text amendments approved by CC 12/09/03.  Joint Ordinance/Resolution will be drafted and placed on CC agenda in January.
• Staff has been working with the Mayor’s Public Improvement Task Force (PITF) in the study of recommendations for implementation of the Adequate Public Facilities report.
• Staff made a PowerPoint presentation of the APF report and its recommendations to the County Commission on March 1, 2004.
• A Joint/Ordinance Resolution has not yet been adopted by the City/County Commission to endorse the recommendations in the APF report.

City Development Policy:

• Another outcome from the July 21^st Study Session was a request for a draft update to the City’s Development Policy.  Specifically, staff will be adding language regarding the developer/City costs for traffic calming and bike lanes, the deferral of public improvement benefit district costs, the ability to follow staff recommendations regarding the 25% up front costs for public improvements, and the ability to include certain waterline costs in benefit districts.  Additionally, staff will be recommending wording changes to the policy that will allow for the Utilities Director to establish the sanitary sewer post-construction video tape fees and charges for water service connections. ACM currently drafting language for staff review.  Departments will work together to renew draft amendments to current development policy.
• A draft revised City Development Policy has been reviewed twice by staff.

8. Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan (CHPP)

• The Historic Resources Commission (HRC) received a copy of the final draft of the Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan at their July 17^th meeting.   
• The Historic Resources Commission has had multiple workshops and training sessions on the draft CHPP.  The HRC will consider adoption of the Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan, with revisions, at their meeting on May 20, 2004. The document will then be forwarded to the City Commission for consideration and action. 
• The Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan is a County wide document. The Executive Summary of this report is written as a revision to Chapter Eleven, HISTORIC RESOURCES, in Horizon 2020.   
• Staff will recommend a joint City/County/Planning Commission workshop for discussion and presentation of the revisions to HORIZON 2020’s Chapter 11 in June or July 2004. This could precede or be coordinated with the Planning Commission’s consideration of a text amendment to the Comprehensive Plan on their June or July PC agenda.
• An annual work plan for the Historic Resources Administrator and Historic Resources Commission is being developed to coordinate with the adoption of the Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan.

9.   Historic District nominations| National Parks Service Grants

• 2002 Historic District nomination grant:  This Grant’s work is complete. The Kansas Historic Sites Board reviewed at their February 2004 meeting the five (5) historic district nominations submitted by the City.  The district nomination for Pinckney I was revised based upon public comment received prior to the Sites Board meeting and at the Board meeting. All five districts have been forwarded to the National Parks Service. The City anticipates action on the KS Historic Sites Board recommendations in six to eight months.
• Oread Neighborhood residents enlisted the help of the Planning Department to work with a consultant hired by the neighborhood to develop an historic district nomination for the area near 12^th & Oread. This draft district nomination is known as the Hancock District. It has been forwarded to the State Historic Preservation Office and is scheduled for consideration by the KS. Historic Sites Board at their May 2004 meeting.
• 2003 Historic District nomination grant:  Staff has been working with the County and with Kanwaka Township on this application which is a survey of historic properties in Kanwaka Township. An RFP for consultants will be sent out in May 2004 for this project.
• 2004 Historic District nomination grant: The City has received approval of a grant for development of an historic district nomination for Breezedale neighborhood. The Historic Resources Administrator is working with the neighborhood on this nomination application.

 10.     Implementation of Transportation 2025 [T2025] recommendations

· Staff presented to the City Commission at their January 13, 2004 meeting draft documents for Transportation Impact Studies and for Access Management Standards.

· Staff met with local consultants to discuss concerns they had with the draft documents, the results of which were presented along with the draft documents to the City Commission at a study session on February 25, 2004.

· Staff is currently working on applying the draft regulations to existing commercial and residential developments to analyze the impact of these draft policy documents on development. The information from this analysis will be ready for presentation to the City Commission in late April or early May.

11. Traffic Modeling/Analysis Studies

· Staff has been working with Kansas Dept. of Transportation to model the impacts of commercial and residential development at the intersection of 6^th and Wakarusa on the surrounding street system.

· A report on the results of this modeling will be ready for presentation to the City Commission in April.

12. Southeast Area Plan

· A draft SE Area plan was presented to the Planning Commission in March 2004.

· A joint study session of the City and County Commissions to receive a presentation on the SE Area Plan is scheduled for May 5, 2004.

13. Southern Area Plan

· The Southern Development plan is a long-range goal of the Planning Commission and covers the entire area on the south side of Lawrence between the city limits and the boundary of the UGA.

· The Mayor and County Commission chair reviewed the information currently mapped and on file in the planning office for the Urban Growth Area to the south of Lawrence and requested staff develop a ‘four square mile’ area plan for sections 25, 26, 35, 36 [T13S, R19E] which surround the intersection of US Hwy 59 and N1000 RD [Douglas County 458]. This ‘model’ area development plan is scheduled for completion in Aug/Sept 2004.

14. Commercial Design Guidelines

· A subcommittee of the Planning Commission is working on a supplemental document to the new zoning code which would provide more definitive guidelines for commercial development, both infill and fringe area.

· A report from the subcommittee should be forthcoming in 60 to 90 days.

15. Industrial & Employment Related Land Use, Chapter 7, Horizon 2020 revisions

· Revisions to the Industrial sites recommendations, goals, and policies are being developed by staff.

· Draft recommendations will be available to the public in late June/July.

· A study session between the City/County/Planning Commissions has yet to be scheduled for presentation of staff recommendations.

16. Parks, Recreation and Open Space, Chapter 9, Horizon 2020 revisions

· Revisions to this chapter in Horizon 2020 will include incorporation of goals and policies in the Comprehensive Parks Plan adopted by the city.

· Review of this chapter’s revisions will be coordinated with the City’s Parks & Recreation department and the advisory parks board.

· There is no completion date scheduled for this revision.  It’s completion is anticipated this calendar year.

17. Community Facilities, Chapter 10, Horizon 2020 revisions

· Revisions to this chapter will include updating the locations of existing and proposed public facilities such as wastewater plants, water plants, fire stations and libraries.

· There is no completion date scheduled for this revision.  It’s completion is anticipated this calendar year.

18. Implementation update, Chapter 13, Horizon 2020

· This is the last step in completion of the five (5) year review and update of HORIZON 2020.

· There is no completion date scheduled for this revision.  It’s completion is anticipated at the end of 2004 or in January 2005.

19. Rural Development, new Chapter in Horizon 2020 for areas beyond the Urban Growth Areas of cities

· Staff is just beginning work on this chapter. It’s development will coincide with work being done by the Rural Development subcommittee of the Planning Commission.

· Development of this chapter was an outgrowth of many different public discussions including, revisions to county zoning and subdivision regulations,  ECO2 discussions, RWD expansion requests , and the UGA text amendment.

· This is not a part of the five (5) year update, as it is an entirely new chapter. Development of this chapter should also coincide with review of revisions to the zoning & subdivision regulations in the rural portions Douglas County.

20. Community Rating Services (CRS) application for property owners of Floodplain Insurance [project completed]

· City staff has completed application to FEMA and ISO for participation in the CRS program.

· The application has been received and approved by FEMA and DWR and the ISO representative is now determining the rating for which Lawrence residents/property owners qualify.

21. SmartGrowth Leadership Grant

· In the fourth quarter of 2003, staff relied to a request for applications for community assistance in development of Smart Growth standards. Lawrence’s application was for assistance with commercial development standards for both new and infill areas. The city was selected with eight other cities for participation in the 2004 Technical Assistance Program for Implementing Smart Growth Initiatives.

· A Statement of Work was executed in March 2004 with the SmartGrowth Leadership Institute which was followed by a site visit by consultants to view the commercial areas in the city. The site visit was on April 1 & 2.

· Deliverable from the SG Technical Assistance Team are:

§ a summary of  development patterns, policies and critical concerns in Lawrence in regard to commercial development

§ a position paper of the objectives to achieve smart growth principles in new and infill development, and a proposed checklist of design factors

§ the team’s findings & recommendations summarized into a PowerPoint presentation

· A draft of the deliverables will be submitted to staff in May 2004. The Smart Growth Technical Assistance Team will return to Lawrence in June to present their findings & recommendations to the City and Planning Commissions.