The Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association
The Hillcrest Neighborhood Association
The Pinckney Neighborhood Association
TO THE LAWRENCE CITY COMMISSION:
The Hillcrest, Old West Lawrence and Pinckney Neighborhood Associations are writing to ask the City Commission not to approve the site plan recently submitted for the undeveloped lot at 7th and Wisconsin Streets. We do not object to a multifamily development on this site and, in fact, embrace it as part of an effort to encourage infill over greenfill and stimulate urban development. We are excited about the potential of a low or medium-density multifamily development to revitalize the neighborhood and contribute positively to this critically important part of Lawrence. Our concerns are rather that the plan as currently submitted is inappropriate for the site. The reasons for this are as follows:
1) The plan is not in character with the rest of the existing neighborhood. A 2 ˝ and 3 story maximum-density (21.4 units per acre) development placed directly across the street from the lowest-density development in the city undermines the fundamental principles of Horizon 2020. While zoning ordinances put in place in the mid 1960s technically allow 25 units to be built on this lot, the lot as situated nearly a half-century later cannot support this many. The developer suggests that the proposed plan would protect the neighborhood by placing a parking lot on 7th Street and locating the apartments closer to 6th Street. Needless to say, we do not consider a minimally landscaped parking lot—even while below grade -- fronting a residential neighborhood to be a “buffer” for a single-family low-density residential neighborhood.
2) The development will severely burden a local street already made dangerous by traffic to and from Highpointe apartments. Seventh Street is a backbone of Old West Lawrence, and the difficulty of turning onto 6th street inevitably channels the daily traffic directly down 7th past the Community Nursery School and into a historic and residential district.
3) The development will jeopardize the health of potential historic resources and sites. The neighborhood directly across the street and to the east of the proposed maximum-density apartment building, dating back to the founding of Lawrence and only minimally developed in the early 1900s, is home to a number of historically significant structures. This includes the Williams/Walter stone house (1871); the Bowersock/Hill homes and renovated stone barn (1914); the Sudlow home (mid 1800s); and the Whitenight home (1920s).
We strongly believe that the proposed development would set an unfortunate precedent for a neighborhood in transition. As we pointed out before the City Commission on June 29, the area between our three neighborhoods is in urgent need of an “area plan” that will guide its development in the future. The current proposal for a high-density apartment complex on the corner of two local side streets, if allowed to go through, would critically undermine the area plan’s fundamental purpose. Neither the current neighborhood residents, the residents of the proposed apartments, nor the City of Lawrence as a whole, would benefit from the plan as currently submitted.
Due to these concerns, we respectfully ask the City Commission not to approve this site plan and to call for a revised proposal that would provide for:
1) Lower-density multifamily living
2) Improved screening and buffering to protect the existing neighborhood (Landscaping proposed by the current plan meets only the minimum standards.)
3) Neighborhood input into building elevations. A site plan alone is insufficient demonstration of whether or not this development will meet the neighborhood concerns delineated above.
We hope that you will solicit the input of our neighborhood organizations when considering potential future site plans and building permits proposed for this lot and for others in the area.
We sincerely appreciate your time and attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Sean Williams
President, Hillcrest Neighborhood Association
John Pepperdine
President, Pinckney Neighborhood Association
Mike Goans,
Co-President, Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association
Ann Goans
Co-president, Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association