July 19, 2005
The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular session at 6:35 p.m., in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with Mayor Highberger presiding and members Amyx, Hack, Rundle, and Schauner present. The Mayor called the meeting to order with the ceremonial taiko drum which was presented to the City from the Sister City Hiratsuka, Japan.
RECOGNITION/PROCLAMATION/PRESENTATION:
Mayor Highberger received a gift (ceremonial taiko drum) which was presented to the City Commission for the 15th Anniversary from Sister City Hiratsuka, Japan.
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes of July 5, 2005.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to receive the Sign Code Board of Appeals meeting minutes of June 2, 2005; and the Lawrence Public Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes of June 20, 2005. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to approve claims to 369 vendors in the amount of $725,478.02. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and appoint Brenda O’Keefe to the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, to a term which will expire June 30, 2008. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to authorize the City Manager to execute change orders totaling $94,609.20, for the 2005 Downtown Waterline Improvement Project. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for road salt for the Utilities Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Duke’s Root Control $.99 ft.
Utilities Maintenance Contractors No Bid
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to award the bid to Duke’s Root Control, to treat +/-64,500’ of 8” pipe at $.99 ft., totaling $63,855. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to approve the purchase from Advance Public Safety, Inc., for automated citation system (Police Dept/Parking Control Officers/Municipal Court) in the amount of $125,860.41. (Equipment Reserve Fund). Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to place on first reading, Ordinance No. 7861, rezoning (Z-12-54-04), 2.14 acres from RS-2 (Single-Family Residential District) to PRD-1 (Planned Residential Development District). The property is described as being located at 1535 Haskell Avenue. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7842, rezoning (Z-08-39-04),19.282 acres from A (Agriculture District) to RS-2 (Single-Family Residential District). The property is located on the east side of George Williams Way (extended) and west of Stoneridge Drive (extended). Motion carried unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7887, rezoning (Z-03-18-05), 0.19 acre from C-5 (Commercial District) to PCD-2 (Planned Commercial District). The property is located on at 3400 & 3434 South Iowa. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
Ordinance No. 7892, amending certain provisions of the City of Lawrence code regarding use of the City’s right-of-way, was read second time. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
Ordinance No. 7893, establishing the public offense of illegal camping, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx to approve the request for a waiver from a building permit moratorium for a deck addition at 2024 Learnard Avenue from Lanny Maddux. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to receive the request for a waiver from a building permit moratorium for a proposed triplex at 500 Florida. Motion carried unanimously. (10)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to authorize the Mayor to sign a Subordination Agreement for Linda Cowden, 1316 Summit. Motion carried unanimously. (11)
Commissioner Amyx pulled from the consent agenda for separate discussion authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with TischlerBise for fiscal feasibility study in the amount of $139,800.
Vice Mayor Amyx said he pulled this item from the consent agenda simply for a separate vote. He said he received a question about whether pedestrian friendly districts should be part of the land uses that were to be studied in that area.
Mike Wildgen, City Manager, said David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Services Director talked to Betty Lichtwardt, the person who had that concern about transit oriented districts. He said staff would discuss an amendment to the agreement with TischlerBise to try and cover some of those situations.
Corliss said the scope was amended on the cost of land use analysis to indicate that it would include a hypothetical land use category such as one that reflected new urbanism characteristics. He said staff could try and modify that agreement to further reflect some of the comments made by Vice Mayor Amyx and Lichtwardt, but it would still be a hypothetical land use category making certain assumptions about what would be allowed in that type of category.
Commissioner Schauner asked what would be the parameters for the model of the new urbanism approach.
Linda Finger, Planning Director, said at this point it would not be possible to say whether it would be formed based, traditional neighborhood, or transect. She said general principles would be used in what was discussed and researched at the Congress for the New Urbanism. There were general purposes that would flow throughout and staff would try to bring those purposes together.
Mayor Highberger said he was not sure it was worth the time looking at a full blown transit oriented development because that type of development was far into the City’s future.
Finger said there were so many things that needed to proceed such as density discussions by looking at those districts and totaling recreating the density that was permitted.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with TischlerBise for fiscal feasibility study in the amount of $139,800. Aye: Highberger, Hack, Rundle, Schauner. Nay: Amyx. Motion carried. (12)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manger’s Report, Thomas Dow, Urban Planning Manager with the Kansas Department of Transportation, presented a briefing on the K-10 Corridor Study and several recommendations that were pertinent to Lawrence, along with “next steps.”
The study objectives were characterized by the following reasons:
• Determine how and when to widen K-10;
• Determine impacts of widening;
• Establish where new interchanges will be considered;
• Plan for other modes of transportation within the corridor;
• Study bicycle and pedestrian issues along and crossing K-10;
• Provide guidance to local agencies when making land-use decisions; and
• Provide guidance to the two MPO’s when making transportation planning and programming decisions.
K-10 Corridor Study findings and recommendations were:
1. Widening of K-10;
a. Lane needs and timing;
b. Typical Section;
c. Environmental Considerations;
2. Interchange Improvements;
a. Existing Interchanges;
b. New “As Requested” Interchanges;
c. K-10/435/I-35 Interchange
d. K-10 Extension;
3. Transit;
4. Bicycle/Pedestrian Considerations; and
5. ITS: Certain Intelligent Transportation Systems.
He said concerning the “next steps”, “KDOT currently has no funds to preserve right-of-way or build any of the improvements recommended in this study. As a result, the challenge will be for KDOT and the local communities to work together to see that these improvements can occur over time. The first step will be to develop individual Memoranda of Understanding with each local community to lay the groundwork and preserve the ability to carry out the study’s recommendations. Focusing on the preservation of key parcels of land will be a first priority. Another early priority will be the development of K-10 transit operating plan. Ultimately, a long-term plan needs to be developed to fund the widening improvements. It is hoped that both MPO’s will adopt this study by amending it into their respective Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTP’s).”
Commissioner Schauner asked if there had been any discussion with KDOT or various stakeholders about user fees or a turnpike-like fee to pay for some or all of those improvements.
Dow said he had not had any discussions with anyone about the use of hot lanes, but that was certainly something that needed to be discussed if they were serious in terms of the widening of K-10. He said KDOT had committed all of its funds out through 2009 underneath the Conference of Transportation Program and who knew if they would get a 3rd program or not. He said other innovated financing techniques would need to be explored to help pay those costs, especially how expensive the total costs of those projects would be. He said there were a lot of other corridors in the State that were expensive also.
Commissioner Schauner asked what rate of inflation, in terms of cost of construction, would Dow project between now and 2020.
Dow said he was not prepared to give even a wild guess.
Commissioner Schauner asked if it would be a fair statement to say that the number that was given to the City Commission would be overshadowed by the true costs in 2020 dollars.
Dow said the costs that were shown were 2004 dollars and they did not adjust those costs for inflation. They recognized that public revenues went up at a slower rate than project costs. He said KDOT was concerned that some of those projects would not occur in the next five years and KDOT’s figures could be way off. The other issue was that those cost estimates were based on a planning level view not a design level view of the corridor so they could run into things that were not anticipated that would also drive up those costs in addition to inflation. He said as they moved into project development they would need to take a much closer look at what the total costs would be.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked, when looking at the proposed interchange at Winchester Road, had there been any discussion about taking a possible roadway north that might end up across the Kansas River that would tie Lawrence, Eudora, and Tonganoxie together.
Dow said there was no discussion with City officials, staff, or Planning Commissioners about having a connection at Winchester over the river. He said they were primarily concerned about having an alternative access to K-10 for people who lived in Eudora, but worked in Lawrence and they were also concerned about getting school children safely across K-10 since there were two schools on the south side of the highway and that was a very busy interchange.
Bill Ahrens, Transportation Planner, said the City of Tonganoxie had some discussion with the Turnpike Authority about the potential of an interchange in their location with a connection down to Tonganoxie and then extending south to K-32. The KTA informed Tonganoxie that not only would the City of Tonganoxie or Leavenworth County be responsible for the cost of the interchange, but also for all of the roadway improvements to connect to it all the way down to K-32. He said when they started looking at those possible costs, it was his understanding that it was a dormant project at the moment and they were not pursing that project.
Commissioner Schauner said the KTA rejected out of hand, at that meeting, in the interest in participating as a bonding agent, the cost of that construction.
Ahrens said yes.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was any explanation as to that rationale.
Ahrens said that was what he had heard from people who lived in the Tonganoxie area and what he had read in a couple of newspaper articles. He said the KTA procedure was if there was a request for an interchange on their system then they required a total feasibility study to see if it would be financially viable at all. If yes, then the local requesting government was responsible for the construction. He said he knew in the past that KTA had participated in some of the construction, but that was what the KTA was telling people up front.
Mayor Highberger said he appreciated that Franklin Road was looked at because that was a concern that needed to be addressed as a way of alleviating the problem at East Hills Business Park. He suggested that Dow come back and discuss other issues in more length at some point.
Earl Bosak, KDOT Area Engineer, said they had established a small work group to study that interchange at East Hills and K-10. He said the group was in the process of looking at general solutions and ideas in that area. He said they were scheduled to have another meeting on August 25th to come up with ideas to submit to KDOT to take care of those concerns regarding accidents in that area.
Aherns said the K-10 Corridor Study Final Report was available on the Planning Department website. (13)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
Conduct a public hearing to consider the establishment of a special assessment benefit district for the improvement of Anna Tappan Way, between Haskell and Hanscom Road, including street, sidewalk, and other necessary improvements.
Mayor Highberger called a public hearing on the establishment of a special assessment benefit district for the improvement of Anna Tappan Way.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, presented the staff report. He said it would be a local street, 27 feet wide and would have sidewalks on both sides. He said Hanscom/Tappan Development wanted a section of Anna Tappan Way to be done through a benefit district.
Staff had tried to contact the property owners by mail, but the property owners had not responded.
He said pending the City Commission’s decision, if the Commission desired, Resolution No. 6597 could be adopted, ordering the improvements of Anna Tappan Way.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by Hack to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to adopt Resolution No. 6597, establishing a special assessment benefit district for Anna Tappan Way, between Haskell and Hanscom Road, including street, sidewalk, and other necessary improvements. Motion carried unanimously.
(14)
Receive status report, construction scheduling options, discussion of sidewalk/recreation path issues, and neighborhood concerns for the reconstruction of Kasold Drive from Bob Billings Parkway to West 22nd Street.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, presented the staff report. He said back in October staff presented a preliminary design report with four options. Following that discussion, the Commission directed staff to consider a fifth option. He said the plans were 90% complete, but what was lacking was the construction sequencing.
Another public meeting was held June 28th to discuss concerns of the residents in the area. Two main issues were raised which were construction sequencing and loss of green space/”bike path” location.
He said the residents took a poll and the vote was to close that road. Since that time, there were other concerns raised and staff was coming back to the Commission to figure out what the City Commission wanted to do as far as construction sequencing.
Joe Caldwell, Bartlett & West, first discussed options for the retaining wall. He said they had originally proposed in the plans to build a keystone wall to add some architectural feature to the wall. Some people at the meeting expressed some concern about the look of that type of wall over time. He said the other option brought up was the possibility of using a limestone type wall and they wanted to explore the possibility of using something that resembled a natural stone look to use along that roadway.
The next topic was the construction sequencing which had two basic options.
Option 1 was to close the roads in phases so traffic could be carried during construction. The first phase of that type of construction would be to put in the waterline because of profile changes. He said everyone would be shifted to the southbound lane and there would be one lane in each direction and the northbound lanes would be closed during the waterline construction. The reason that needed to be done was because throughout the hill area the grade would be dropped approximately three or four feet.
Phase 2 of the sequencing option was to close Kasold, except for a middle portion so those portions of the roadway could be rebuilt because that roadway would be used to move traffic back and forth for Phase 3 and Phase 4. The reason was because they would end up with medians from south of Clinton Parkway to 6th Street and they would have difficulty moving traffic over through those median areas and they needed a place that had pavement to shift that traffic back and forth.
Next would be the sequencing of the last two phases in which people would be moved back to the northbound lanes so they could start on the southbound construction. The reason was the significant amount of retaining walls that occurred on the southbound lanes and because the main storm sewer line ran along that side of the roadway and needed to be installed first. After that work was completed, traffic would be flipped back to the southbound lane so that the northbound lane construction could be completed. The obvious concerns were timing and safety for workers.
He said Option 2 was the opposite end of the spectrum. He said they wanted to close the road completely throughout construction so that the contractor had full use of the roadway. The detour routes would be out to Iowa Street or Wakarusa. There was obviously some concern about cut through traffic and that issue would need to be addressed during construction. Some of the things possible, especially for the neighborhood adjacent to Kasold Drive, to the west side, because they expressed much concern about the road being closed, was to install some road closed to thru traffic type signs, install temporary speed bumps, close St. Andrews Drive at one end and at the other and make people come out and back around. The harder they made it to get through the neighborhood, the less likely people would use it to cut through.
He said Option 1 held the advantage because of the ability to carry traffic. It was safe to say that they would not have 20,000 vehicles per day go through the construction site and they would be able to carry some of that through traffic. He said they had 15 months to carry traffic through construction in the Option 1 phase. The biggest concern from that aspect was the winter periods and they did not know what that winter would bring. He said if it was a harsh winter the schedule would be extended.
In Option 2, the waterline and roadway could be done in eight months. The anticipation would be that the contractor could start approximately February 15th to March 1st and complete the project by next Thanksgiving.
In Option 1, there would be no cost savings, but in Option 2, there could be a saving from 5% to 10%, which equated to $200,000 to $400,000.
The last issue was worker safety. He said they could make it adequate under Option 1 with concrete barriers along the length of the project for workers safety and in Option 2, the safety was maximized because workers would not need to deal with traffic.
Mayor Highberger asked if the 15 month option, Option 1, would require total closure for up to two months.
Caldwell said yes. He said to close those two ends under Phase 2 of that scenario would be as short as 8 weeks, but more likely 12 to 14 weeks which was close to that 3 month period. The only other way to get around that was to go north of Bob Billings Parkway and pave across some of those grass medians and shift traffic over. He said they would need to go back and rehab those areas and the areas to the south. Temporary signals would need to be installed to get though the intersection.
Commissioner Rundle asked about a worst case scenario and how much that could extend the 8 month period.
Caldwell said that issue had been discussed at length and from a contractual standpoint they would make it a date certain project and if the contractor went beyond that date the contractor would be assessed liquidated damages. That scenario occurred on O’Connell Road. It was a KDOT project that they did locally and they assessed damages at $2,500 a day and, the contractor was finished on time, but that was a very tight schedule.
Mayor Highberger said that type of schedule tended to raise the bid amount to.
Caldwell said that type of schedule could if squeezing that schedule too tight. If they said the contractor had 6 months to complete a job then the contractor might build in 30 days of liquidation. He said they were trying to be realistic with that schedule to be fair to the contractor as well as protecting the City from extending on because of unforeseen circumstances.
Commissioner Schauner asked about incentives in the contract rather than a penalty, for example, pay the contractor $2,500 a day for every day they finish before completing the end date.
Caldwell said they had discussed incentives for completing the project early with the City and Bartlett and West. He said one of the places that used that type of incentive was Overland Park, Kansas. He said Overland Park was offering up to $3,000 a day, but there was a maximum cap on that incentive. He said Overland Park said it was not uncommon to pay out a $100,000 incentive because contractors would get the project completed earlier.
Commissioner Rundle said there would also be impacts on businesses. He said people who wanted to get to those businesses get there from 23rd Street and 15th Street.
Caldwell said that was the biggest discussion they had from a timing perspective. He said during the 6th and Kasold project, there were a lot of complaints and people talking about losing business and that project was open to traffic during construction. He said the thought with Option 2 was to take that timeframe and minimize it. He said because he did not run a retail business, he did not know what the impact was of closing the road completely for 8 months versus closing the road and leaving it open to construction for a 15 month period.
Commissioner Rundle said the City had some experience with the 9th Street sewer project. That project seemed to have an impact on some businesses more than others, but there were people that felt the crunch because possibly it was not made clear that there was a way to get downtown or they simply found it to be an inconvenience.
Caldwell said there was a possibility of using some signing to help guide people to certain locations. The intersection at 23rd Street and the light at 22nd Terrace would be available and fully functional. The people at the northeast corner of Bob Billings Parkway and Kasold, all those entrances would be available and Bob Billings Parkway would not be shut down. Regardless of that fact, construction was going to impact those people no matter what and it was trying to figure out how to minimize that impact to those people.
Mayor Highberger asked if Caldwell had any experience with closing a major arterial in another community and if so, was it monitored to see if it was possible to control cross traffic.
Commissioner Rundle added a qualifier to the Mayor’s question to include a situation that had so few alternatives in a two mile stretch.
Caldwell said Keith Warta, Bartlett and West, could answer that question because they had closed a major arterial recently in Topeka, Kansas.
Warta said they had closed Huntoon Street in Topeka between Fairlawn and Wanamaker Roads approximately two years to work on a project. He said keeping traffic out was a matter of effectively barricading that area off. They were also proposing the same road closing on Wanamaker Road, a project that would start construction at the end of this year between 37th and 41st Streets in the southwest part of Topeka. The other road closing was 6th Street in front of the Hummer Sports Complex in Topeka.
Commissioner Rundle said those places had so few alternative parallel to having a detour. He asked what type of detour those projects had.
Warta said the detour was one mile over to the next arterial.
Mayor Highberger asked if anyone monitored that situation to see if there were traffic problems in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Warta said he was not aware of the area being monitored.
Caldwell said the best sign for problems was by what was heard by the neighbors in the neighborhood. He said if he lived in a neighborhood that had a huge increase in traffic, he certainly would call to see if there were other alternatives.
Commissioner Rundle said the Commission made a decision to having those grade changes based on the gains and safety. He said this was a little late in the game to be having second thoughts, but he was. He said he was thinking about a road like Pflumm Road in Kansas City that had many hills and he asked if that was a good comparison to that stretch of Kasold. He asked if it was essential that they close the road and if the road was not closed, would there be gain in time.
Soules said that was an option that was presented early as Option 1 of that study which was to remove and replace the pavement.
Commissioner Rundle asked if what Soules just suggested was not done could they still construct the sidewalks.
Soules asked, if the pavement was replaced, would they have enough room on the west side to construct a sidewalk.
Caldwell said the west curbline was moving two or three feet. He said he thought a sidewalk could be constructed, but it would be tight. He said he could not answer that question with certainty without looking into it further.
Commissioner Rundle said earlier he asked whether or not that 8 foot width could be narrowed down to 6 foot at certain places to help get though some of those difficult areas.
Soules said that was briefly discussed. He said what staff would prefer to do with that 2 foot difference was to put it between the back of the curb and the sidewalk. Essentially, the retaining wall would not change, but they would have a wider area between the back of the curb and the sidewalk. At this time, there was a 2 foot separation which was almost on the back of that curb. He said a narrow sidewalk would be fine and staff recommended placing that sidewalk at that location.
Commissioner Hack said that would not change the retaining wall, but would be a farther distance from the street.
Commissioner Schauner said the cost of this project was $3.7 million and 5% of that cost was $185,000.
Soules said the cost savings for closing the road would be between $200,000 to $400,000.
Commissioner Schauner said even under Option 1, the road would be closed to through traffic for construction at the south and north ends.
Caldwell said they estimated the road would be closed for 2 ½ to 3 months.
Commissioner Schauner said whether Option 1 or Option 2 was used with the current engineering design, that road would be closed for a minimum of 3 months.
Caldwell said yes, that was the preference at this point, unless the Commission wanted to do something north of Bob Billings and take out part of the median to provide cross over. He said he assumed that idea would need to be done well south of Clinton Parkway.
Commissioner Schauner asked what that would add to the cost of the project.
Caldwell said with the temporary signals and pavement, the cost would be approximately $125,000 or $175,000 which was a ball park guess.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked why it was necessary to close both the north and south ends at the same time.
Caldwell said they did not have anywhere to cross people over. There was a median north of Bob Billings Parkway and a median south of the project. He said they did not have any long enough openings in a median break where they could effectively move traffic over. He said they had to meet shifting tapers by the “Green Book” which was a bible of road design. Effectively, they did not have room through any of the median breaks at that location and it could not be done through an intersection in a long-term situation. He said therefore, the question was where those people would be moved to. He said it could be done by building the pavement at each end first so it was long enough that it was an open stretch of pavement and then they would have room to shift those people over.
Commissioner Rundle said one option was to take out some of the median at either end. He asked if taking out some of the median would save time in terms of the amount of closure.
Caldwell said it would not save time.
Vice Mayor Amyx said taking into consideration 6th & Folks Road where there was a difference of changing lanes at that point, he asked how much area was between that and the other lane with the two way traffic.
Caldwell said he could not answer that question.
Soules said he was going to use that same example because that example was similar to everything that was going on out west. He said they would essentially be building a road to shift people across the median. He said north of 15th Street was just overlaid and they anticipated that area would service well. He said if a person had the opportunity to drive on that stretch of road after it was milled, it was a temporary fix. He said if looking at a 15 month construction with that much more traffic, there might be some issues that resurface in that area. Soules said essentially it was a similar issue and he did not know the distance.
Caldwell said he had discussion with Terese Gorman, City Engineer, about trying to do that at each of those intersections, but Gorman said she would not advocate that idea.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked about emergency vehicles getting into the areas of the east side of Kasold Drive and through the Alvamar area.
Caldwell said on the east side there would need to be temporary access and the contractor was essentially responsible for coordinating access issues because as they moved throughout the project, the contractor needed to contact landowners to inform those landowners how to get to their properties. He said the contractors would be in contact with the Police and Fire Departments to inform those departments of the access to those homes in that area.
Soules said that idea was typical. He said Mark Bradford, Deputy Director of Fire/Medical Department, had said that their department kept track of how the construction projects were progressing and what changes were being made to those projects.
Caldwell said emergency vehicles access to either residential or business would be an issue with either option. He said the contractor would coordinate that access because they dealt with that type of issue at every job.
Commissioner Schauner said if Option 1 was used, he asked how many traffic pattern shifts were there in that option all together, between the closing of the two ends shifting from one side to the other.
Caldwell said roughly 3 different shifts and the temporary closure at each end in 15 months.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
Brian Fadden, owner of Parkway Wine & Spirits, located at 23rd and Kasold, said closing the road would affect all businesses in that shopping center. He said a lot of people that used that shopping center did not know the alternative access points to get into the shopping center. Closing down Kasold would make it less convenient and less accessible for people to get to that shopping center. He said in addition to the city’s cost savings it was important to consider the potential tax revenue lost during that period of time. He supported leaving the road open.
Gary Long, owner of CycleWorks, agreed that the road needed repaired, but he disagreed with closing the road. To completely close 7 blocks of an arterial road that carried 15,000 or more vehicles per day was unprecedented. He said the fact that no efficient detour could be provided made this choice careless at best. He said they were asking for a very significant detour. The argument for doing so seemed to be that it would save 5% to 10% in costs and 5 months in construction, but he asked at what cost to the community. The primary costs were twofold, disruption and business and loss of peaceful enjoyment of the neighborhood.
There were 15 businesses that were fed from the north by the road that was proposed to be closed for eight months. The offering of the 3 to 4 mile or better detour would do little to reduce the lost sales due to that closure. As owner of one of those businesses, he assured the Commission that for small businesses, even a small loss, could be big and a larger loss could be disastrous. He said in their case, the March to October closure covered the heart of their selling season, then there was also the loss of the peaceful enjoyment of the neighborhood.
He said it was difficult to imagine that an unofficial detour would not develop through the neighborhood between St. Andrews and Quail Creek Drive. With 15,000 displaced vehicles, if even a small percent chose this option, the neighborhood could easily see well over an extra 1,000 vehicles a day. It was further difficult to believe that speed bumps would eliminate this detour, or for that matter, even reduce its use. Speed bumps might reduce speed, but those speed bumps were not likely to reduce traffic.
Several years ago business and property owners were required to pay for turn lane improvements at 21st and Kasold. This turn lane improvement was required to facilitate traffic flow. Sincere concern for traffic flow was nowhere to be found as far as providing an answer, much less for the disruption of business or the peaceful enjoyment of their neighborhoods. Those concerns were sacrificed for a 5% to 10% savings and a few months of consideration. He asked that the City Commission not close Kasold entirely.
Travis Mullins, Community Blood Center, 14th and Kasold, said their center was located north of the construction. He said being that it was a shopping center, most of those businesses were locally owned. Forcing people to route all the way to Wakarusa or Iowa to come back on Bob Billings Parkway to get to their center was a great inconvenience. Unfortunately, there were many more businesses in that shopping center than in other areas of town. If one of their customers could go to some place closer than going to Orchards Corners, they were going to. He said they had a hard enough time getting their donors who were volunteering their time to come in.
Every 4 minutes someone in the area needed a blood transfusion and just one unit could save up to two lives. He said their blood stays locally. They draw from Lawrence, Topeka, and Kansas City and that blood stays in the Kansas City, Topeka, St. Joseph, and Jefferson City area. By making it more difficult for the donors, it jeopardized the 75 hospitals that were in the area that they serviced. If a hospital could not get what they needed, they would change, backup, or cancel a surgery which then could potentially place that person’s life at harm and risk. He said closing Kasold Drive for 8 months was not justifiable based on the long-term affect that it would have on the area.
Jim Mullins, Lawrence, said the City was looking to make another dastardly deed not only by closing Kasold, but the idea of narrowing the lanes of the road on an arterial road that was designed to move traffic. He encouraged leaving the road open and not narrowing the width of the lanes.
Jim Erland, resident in the area, said driving from Hy-Vee to 15th Street and visa versa had always been a short-cut and the speed of traffic along that route had been a problem. He said if there were 4,000 more cars a day going up and down through that short-cut, it was not a good idea. He said he hated to see Kasold shut down completely and if the Commission was going to have that road shut down completely, he suggested placing police officers in traffic booths in the area to only allow residents or visitors in that area. He said the idea of shutting down Kasold would cause accidents and ruin the atmosphere of the neighborhood.
Price Banks, Lawrence, said he wanted to address the process before addressing his personal concerns. He said he had received notice of a meeting concerning proposed improvements to Kasold, but he could not attend that meeting and requested information on what was being proposed and at that time, the proposal was “as built plans” for the edge of Kasold. He said he watched for additional notice or some involvement in the process, but the next notice he received was a notice of a meeting regarding final plans. He said the final plan involved two alternatives for closing the street.
He said there was not a lot of opportunity for input for those that were going to be impacted by the decisions and those decisions were apparently made by staff and the consultant and then brought to the City Commission. There was no opportunity for public debate on a lot of the fundamental issues that were involved. One issue concerned the properties on the west side of Kasold and the other issue was the bike path.
He said from recent communication, after the discussion of using the existing bike path which was a quarter of a mile to the east and was a beautiful bike trail, but did not go anywhere, it was suggested to extend the bike path across the endowment property. He said someone contacted the Endowment Association about the suggestion of placing the bike path across their property, but the Endowment Association indicated that they did not have a master plan and that they were not interested in that proposal. He said there was no master plan because no one had discussed that issue with the association. He said someone had made a comment that perhaps the association intended to construct buildings in that area, but he did not think they would be constructing buildings along the creek bottom land which was where the bike path went now and where it would continue to go half a mile north to 15th Street.
The most successful and most used recreational path in this community was not an 8 foot path with a curb drop off adjacent to a major street, but the South Lawrence Trafficway path. The SLT path extended from South Iowa Street to 6th Street north and very little of it was adjacent or even near a street. The only problem with that path was that it did not go any place where it could provide connectivity with the community. He said the path that they were currently discussing could provide that connectivity with the community. He said the path proposed was going to be 8 feet wide with either a sharp retaining wall on one side or an iron railing and on the other side the path was going to drop off immediately into traffic where the speed limit was 40 mph, but the traffic speed was 45 mph which was dangerous.
He said when looking at aesthetic issues, there would not be any green on the west side of the path at all, it was going to be concrete. He said the City did not take care of the median in that area and was loaded with bind weed and the median did not look good. He suggested getting rid of the median and leave a little bit of the green on the west side. He also suggested getting rid of the whole plan and the bike path.
One of the issues discussed at that meeting was that the street lights would be moved closer to their properties. It was indicated that the lights would reflect toward the street, but that simply would not happen.
He said George Catt, a neighbor, had a wonderful screen of decorative landscape bushes, but he thought Catt would lose those bushes. He said the neighbors were going to lose their privacy and green would be eliminated. He urged the City Commission to send this issue back to staff to take another look at the entire plan.
Chip Waite, Manager of the UPS Store next to HyVee, Clinton Parkway and Kasold, said they had been a locally owned company for 10 years. He said after 10 years of hard work and good customer service, they now represent the livelihood of 3 families and 2 part-time employees. He said over the last 10 years they had built a very large and loyal customer base. Out of that customer base, their data showed that 26% of their customers came from Bob Billings Parkway north, bordered on the east by Iowa and on the west by Wakarusa. Even though they were happy that their customers preferred to use them, they were realistic enough to know that the pressures of daily life, did not give most of them the luxury of being able to take a long detour. He said they believed the planned total closure of Kasold would be enough of an inconvenience that combined with time considerations would direct enough of their traffic elsewhere and threaten their ability to exist. He urged the City Commission to allow construction to proceed with one lane of traffic each way as long as possible so that they could continue to serve the Lawrence community.
Tracy Hein, General Manager of Great Clips on Clinton Parkway and Kasold, said their locally owned business had also been in the community for 10 years. She said the closing of Kasold completely would be detrimental to their business and they also had to replace customers on a yearly basis because of the students, but at the same time they were on an errand path. She suggested leaving Kasold open as long as it could be and hope that everyone could weather the storm.
George Catt, resident in the area, reiterated what Banks said about the aesthetics on the west side of Kasold. He said they had been working for years to try and screen out Kasold because it was incredibly noisy. Everything in that area would need to be removed if the bike path and wall was constructed. More importantly, there was a very dangerous and steep walkway up against a wall where there was absolutely no way to get away if there was an errant vehicle. He said the traffic was very heavy at times in that area and the steepness of that grade would make the bike path dangerous.
He said with the possibility of good planning and some negotiation with the University, instead of a bad plan which was what the City Commission was addressing at this time, they should see what could be done to the already used half mile of bike lane in place, two blocks east of the proposed bike path. He said to say that idea could not be done, begs the question, it was a matter of did it want to be done and was anyone willing to work for it. He said the City Commission needed to reconsider the whole issue as far as the bike path was concerned.
He said he wanted it on record that he was one of the people in the straw vote conducted at one of the meetings in which he was not thinking about the impact on the business owner and he voted in favor of the shorter time. Since then he changed his mind because he thought it was important to keep Kasold open one lane at a time. In any event, whether the Commission decided to close Kasold completely or close one lane at a time, he suggested that the Commission do something that would minimize the cross traffic through Alvamar because that traffic issue would happen either way.
Jack Rose, resident in the area, read a paragraph from a letter that he had written to the City Commission. That paragraph read:
“I believe that the City of Lawrence, and all other cities, have an obligation to treat all of its citizens fairly and equally. This proposal to totally shut down Kasold for nine months in my opinion does not do so. It cannot be sugar coated by saying it saves money. It saves money at the expense of the people living in the area; people using Kasold; and people doing business in the area. It is singling out one particular section, 15th Street to 22nd Street, for this treatment which I believe to be unequal and unfair. As far as I know, this sets a precedent which I believe should not be set.”
He said he was shocked to find out that there was a proposal made to shut down Kasold Drive for that long a period of time. He said he had visited with merchants in the area and found that most of those merchants were very much opposed to that proposal. He said some of those merchants would not come forward and speak because of policies from their companies to not get involved in this type of situation. He said there was an overwhelming rejection of the idea of closing down Kasold for any length of time.
Bob Shumm, resident in the area, said he was opposed to having Kasold Drive closed for the reasons that had already been stated. He said they were never notified of that project and had found out about the project by reading an article in the newspaper that Kasold might be shut down for a number of months. He said he thought the residents in the area were players in the project. He said if the City Commission was going to shut off a major artery that was used, that traffic would go down St. Andrew’s, Tam O’Shanter and across Camelback which was unfair to the neighborhood and would create problems.
Secondly, he said he could guarantee if the City Commission shut down Kasold Drive, those businesses in that area would suffer. He said his experience as a downtown merchant that whenever there was anything shut down, their sales go straight down. He said from the comments made, the project sounded as though it was not ready to fly. He asked the City Commission to reconsider the project and if another public meeting occurred, he suggested including the people who would be impacted by the traffic relocation. He said his neighborhood was part of that project. He asked that the City Commission keep Kasold Drive opened. He said even having Kasold closed for 3 months would be devastating.
Bill Schulteis, owner of apartments at 21st and Kasold Drive, said he wanted to keep Kasold opened. He said 25% of his business came from Kasold by driving by his apartments. He said his business alone would pick up 35% to 75% of the City’s savings. He said overall the local businesses would end up being shorted over a million dollars by closing Kasold completely. He said he agreed with the comments made about the traffic load in the area although he did not live in that area, but further west and he knew they would have traffic cutting through Crossgate and Inverness.
He said regarding those hills in the area, he would like to see some proof that those hills needed to be eliminated. He said the City Commission needed to look at other options, but he thought Kasold should be kept open. He also suggested that traffic be monitored so that on the next project, there could be an educated estimate on the impact of that area. He said the timing of the shut-down would also impact some of those businesses.
Nelda Gaito, resident on Kasold Drive, said she was very nervous because she was the only one who was in favor of closing Kasold Drive. She said she had concerns about the amount of traffic on her street. She asked if the City Commission would make the project as short as possible and make it safe for the workers and the people who lived in the area. She was in favor closing Kasold Drive.
Richard Gaito, resident on Kasold Drive, said he was excited talking about this issue and hoped that they were one day closer to removing the potholes on Kasold. One thing he saw by being a resident who actually lived on Kasold was that every winter, vehicles would try to go up the hill on Kasold and 10 % to 15% of those vehicles did not make it up the hill and blocked traffic on Kasold. He asked about where those vehicles would go if there was one lane open in each direction.
He said the businesses had mentioned their concerns about the loss of business. He said with the exception of the bike shop all of the businesses on the north and south end of the project currently had four entrances into their businesses. He said those businesses were not on Kasold and those businesses would not be shut down for 8 months. He said those businesses would probably lose business, but the fact was that those businesses were not directly on Kasold and those businesses would still have entrances to their place of business.
The other item discussed was the traffic on side streets and he hoped, if the City shut down Kasold, that the police monitor those areas. He suggested closing Kasold down for a short of time period as possible.
Bob Timmons said he had lived on Kasold since it was a two lane gravel road, but a lot of things had happened along the way such as the moving of snow on the roads down into the driveways on the east side of Kasold. He said the residents would need to dig themselves out or have someone push the snow into the median, but the median would be eliminated in the future which raised some concern. He said they never received any warning of those proposals.
He said many of the residents in the area had planted trees and shrubbery to help beautify their areas, but also as a way to reflect sound away from their homes. He said this proposal needed to be studied and to just close Kasold down would be a major mistake.
He said the City Commission was flirting with danger having a bike path and pedestrians both on that path.
The City Commission recessed for 10 minutes.
After returning from recess, Patrick Musick, resident in the area, said his concern was the safety of those on the bike path. He said freewheeling, which meant not peddling down a hill, he could reach speeds of 30 mph. He said he had seen children out bicycling who were screaming and crying on 4% and 5% grades because those children were going 18 to 19 mph and they did not know how to stop. If children would use that bicycle path it was inherently dangerous. He said as a retired insurance executive he also had a concern that the inherent danger might create a liability for the City after so much testimony about the danger of building a path on that grade and whether that would create a liability for the City and cause future problems as far as insurance liability.
John Hope, resident on Kasold, said one issue that had not been brought up was that Scioto Drive was going to be closed. He said closing of that street concerned him because a lot of those folks were worried about the traffic and he was told that when they closed Scioto Drive, all of that traffic would go down the frontage road and out Tam O’Shanter, but he believed the traffic would go down Camelback and then up Tam O’Shanter.
He said concerning the bike path, there was a safety element involved and he suggested that the City Commission take a look at this project again to see where it was going.
Les Mitscher, resident on Kasold, said he was going to be strongly effected by this project because they were on the service drive. Originally, when they attended one of the earlier meetings, they voted in favor of complete closure and he admitted that he still had some sympathy for getting this project over with as quickly as possible, but he would not put his personal interest against the commercial interest of the town. He said because of the bike path, the plan was to narrow some of the lanes on Kasold which he did not think was a good idea. The projections that they had for future traffic flow along Kasold were that the traffic was going to be enormously heavier as time passes and in 10 years time, there would be a dramatic change in traffic. He suggested not constructing the bicycle path. The bicycle path would cause major construction problems for them because they would have a big wall built in front of their house that would be unsightly, but he was more concerned about safety issues. One was the narrowing of the road and the other was people who were free wheeling on their bicycles down the road, particular in inclement weather because that traffic would be intersecting cross roads. Also, people had not thought about in line skates and skateboards. He said he was also concerned about people losing control of their cars particularly in the winter weather.
He said the idea of joining the bike path to the east, particularly with the existing bike path was a good idea. The University on first hearing was cold to that idea and he did not know how seriously in objection the University was. He said he had worked for the University for a number of years and they had always tried to be a good citizen. If the alternatives were explained to the University appropriately, he thought there was a reasonable chance that the University would be sympathetic to taking care of that issue. Some of the expense, a good deal of the safety issues, and the aesthetic issues would be solved if that bike path was moved.
Michelle Brewer, said as a parent who lived in that area, there were at least a dozen children in her neighborhood, and they were all very concerned about the additional traffic.
Mayor Highberger asked Soules if he had any response to any of the questions and concerns raised by public comment.
Chuck Soules said a lot of the issues that were raised this evening were expressed before and the City Commission, with the exception of Vice Mayor Amyx, directed the improvements to be designed the way that those improvements were presented at that time. He said nothing had been built and nothing was set in stone and changes could always be made. He said Bartlett and West had spent a lot of time putting those proposals together, but Bartlett and West could change those proposals if that was the will of the Commission. He said they wanted to construct a project that everyone was happy with. He said the improvements were needed and in general, everyone was of that same consensus, the question was how to get there.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was a need to acquire additional right of way.
Soules said no, not at this time, unless the City Commission directed staff to make changes that might make the project extend out of the right-of-way.
Caldwell said there would be some minor temporary utility easements for construction purposes. From the waterline perspective, they visited with the University about getting a waterline easement adjacent to the roadway, but by and large there was no additional permanent right of way that was needed.
Commissioner Schauner said one or more of the neighbors had expressed a concern about losing landscaping. If they did not require additional right-of-way, he asked how the landowners would lose any of their landscaping.
Caldwell said the landscaping that was under discussion was on the right-of-way.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the wall that was proposed to be constructed would be required whether a sidewalk or recreational path would be built along the west side of that road.
Caldwell said based upon the proposed grades, even if they took the recreational path out they would have some areas that would have walls. Obviously, those walls would be reduced in height because they could use some of that area that was flat for the recreational path and use some type of grading to catch up a little quicker. There was no feasible way to tie back into those properties between Scioto and Augusta and even though it was further to the north that front the frontage road without using some type of wall feature with new grades on the roadway.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the wall would be reduced in height in some locations if there was no walking path on the west side.
Caldwell said that could be done, but they would need to look at that issue further. He said the wall might be pulled closer in and they would need to look at the possibility of some type of grading from the back of curb or a couple of feet behind the back of curb up to a wall point where they would need to make up a grade differential which would present knew maintenance issues.
Commissioner Hack said she thought it was important to understand that staff and Bartlett and West had responded to Commission direction, but what the Commission needed to figure out was if they asked them to do the right thing and that issue was currently being discussed. She said she had a great deal of sympathy for the businesses near Clinton Parkway and Kasold, as well as CycleWorks at 21st and Kasold. She said people develop patterns on getting to their destination and those people might choose not to shop at that location anymore.
In terms of traffic, she said there would be traffic through those neighborhoods and it would not be 20,000 vehicles, but any increase was going to be difficult. She said if she lived on Inverness she would be even more concerned than if she lived on some of the closer streets to Kasold.
As far as the narrowing of the lanes, one of the things they were learning was that when narrowing the lanes, even a foot, it did cause traffic to go slower which was a plus. She was not opposed to narrowing those roads for that reason, but she had great concern about connectivity. She said destination connecting going from one place to another was equally important, but more important was the safety of that connectivity. She would like to see the City work harder with the University because that would be a much safer way to get from 23rd Street to the north.
She said she could live without the bike and pedestrian path, if there was some other alternative and she was not in favor of closing Kasold one hundred percent for the entire life of the project.
Commissioner Rundle said he concurred with Commissioner Hack’s views. He said it was important to remember that they were dealing with Endowment property and while it was affiliated with the University, it was separate. He said he had sent an email to the University asking of they could discuss this issue because ultimately the University should have a long-term interest because that would be part of the University at some point. He suggested that the project be drawn out for the longer period of time, but spend the money for incentives and to take the medians at the end of 15th and 23rd to get that cross over flexibility. He suggested that staff look at the median, reduction of the median, and in some places eliminating the median.
Mayor Highberger said there were two parts to this issue. One issue was design criteria and the other was closing the road. He said coming into this issue, they had one public hearing where it was unanimously supported for the eight month version of the project and close Kasold completely and obviously, the majority sentiment was different. He said he had some extreme concerns about how this would impact business on both ends of the street, but there would be impacts with either option. He supported the 15 month option that would keep Kasold partially open. He said he would hope that staff could apply incentives to the part of the project that involved keeping the road completely closed to help speed that project up as much as possible.
Concerning design criteria, the Commission had an extensive public hearing and devoted a substantial amount of time. He said he was not interested in revisiting the design and the Commission addressed most of those questions. He said the proposed project included a bike path/sidewalk and there was no sidewalk connection at that location at this time and it was an interesting idea to take that sidewalk across Endowment property over to 23rd Street at a different area. He said it took the sidewalk away from where most people using that sidewalk wanted to go which were the commercial establishments at 23rd Street and Kasold. There was no way to get the sidewalk across the street and it created another set of problems.
Vice Mayor Amyx said he took a walk up Kasold to look at that street. He said one of the issues that needed to be addressed as they were looking at rebuilding this area, was to build the street first. He suggested that reducing or eliminating the median could be looked at and that the sidewalk did not need to be constructed at this time. Also, he said the safety issue was a concern and he would like to see staff work with the University with the idea of the bike path because it was important over the long term.
He said the idea of completely closing a road had an affect on businesses and there had been a number of times where Commissions had gone out of their way in making sure that part of the road was open when projects occurred. He said Kasold needed to be opened, but the City Commission needed to help protect that neighborhood from traffic going in and out of that area.
Commissioner Schauner said he did not think there was a consensus on anything other than doing something with that road. He said any decision that the City Commission made would not make everyone happy. He said he agreed with the Mayor that he was not interested in redesigning that road from the ground up, but he was interested in minimizing the impact on the houses which front Kasold whether those houses were on the east or west side. He said he would like to keep the sidewalk and insist that when they rebuild that road, they put in more landscaping than existed now, such as mature landscaping that would give immediate mitigation to the noise that was already created by that road.
Also, irrespective whether there was a sidewalk along Kasold, to work with the Endowment Association to construct a recreational path in addition to a sidewalk. He said the Endowment Association had indicated some interest and willingness to construct a recreational path along Yankee Tank Creek which was a fairly flat area. One of the places that was proposed would be a recreational path behind the water tower, but that grade was somewhere between14% to 19% and probably was not a good grade to build a recreational path. He said he would like to see a north/south recreational path between 23rd and 15th Street be investigated because that path would be a good addition and should be considered in bonded work on this project so that it could be done without interfering with the other operational expenses.
He suggested using incentives for this build out and also suggested keeping Kasold open. He said if that meant spending more money to alter the medians at both ends of the project, clearly there was a negative impact on small businesses. He said the caveat concerning this issue was that a 15 month project would be a long time for people who lived in and around the area, but for the business impact, he strongly favored closing the road to get the project completed. The people who live in the area would suffer from a 13 to 15 month closure of a road.
He said moving traffic from place to place would confuse traffic and people. He said Commissioner Hack made a good point in that the people on Inverness would see a lot of additional traffic. He said going two minutes one way or another to avoid that construction would be a likely outcome whether this was an 8 month or 15 month project.
Commissioner Hack said when thinking about a pedestrian path, she asked if there was any way to design that path so it was not shoved up against the property owners on the west.
Soules said even if a sidewalk was not built, there would still be some wall. He said it was a matter of building close to that slope. He said he heard that with the recreational path being so close to the curb, if the Commission wanted to reduce that path, he suggested moving the path away from the curb.
Commissioner Hack said if they were going to build that path that thinking would be safer. She said she agreed with Commissioner Schauner in that perhaps this project could be done in both ways by looking at a narrower path which would be more of a buffer for the pedestrian away from the curb, but also try to have discussions with the Endowment Association to try and get more of a recreational path through that area.
Commissioner Rundle said he just wanted to clarify that he would like to keep the sidewalk as well. He said he was hoping that if they could not have an 8 foot sidewalk then try to get the bicycles into a different area through working with the Endowment Association. If that would support the goal of lowering the impact on the neighboring properties, staff should pursue that and likewise narrowing the median or eliminating it along certain stretches would further move that sidewalk away from, and lower the impact on, adjacent properties, then staff should also try to pursue that.
Commissioner Schauner said he heard a consensus that the road stayed open.
Mayor Highberger suggested that the design issues be addressed first and then the construction sequencing. He also suggested setting a study session or City Commission meeting to discuss this issue further.
Caldwell asked if it was fair to say that the Commission wanted a narrower version of the sidewalk and work with the University as far as a recreational path through their property.
Commissioner Schauner said yes.
Commissioner Amyx said if that median was narrowed, he asked if the wall still needed to be constructed and if so was that due to the changing grade on that hill.
Caldwell said if there was not change of the grading on that hill and the sidewalk was not added then the existing grades could be used and they could replace the pavement, curb and gutter, and tie it back together. If a sidewalk was constructed, even if it was a 6 foot minimum width sidewalk, chances were there would be a wall of some sort. He said he did not think that wall could be eliminated.
Commissioner Schauner asked about the height of the wall at its maximum.
Caldwell said at maximum above grade the wall would be 11 feet.
Commissioner Schauner asked how much of that length of Kasold would they have in that height.
Caldwell said that 11 foot height was not 11 foot for 300 feet, but at a point. He said the 11 feet would come up to a point and would then fall way.
Wildgen said staff had enough comments and issues to bring back options to a study session.
Commissioner Hack asked about the width of the road and did the City Commission agree on that issue.
Commissioner Schauner said the width of the road served their long-term purpose and that was to try and keep the speed down.
Soules said the other big issue was the grade.
Mayor Highberger said he did not want to revisit that grade issue because there had been an extensive public hearing on that issue. He asked that the minutes to those meetings be forwarded to the City Commission so that those minutes could be reviewed before the next meeting.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to direct staff to look at the construction sequencing option that keeps Kasold Drive open as long as possible. Motion carried unanimously. (15)
Receive draft sidewalk dining guidelines. Commission deferred consideration of the sidewalk dining guidelines at the June 14, 2005 meeting and directed staff to convene a meeting with interested parties.
Lynn Braddock Zollner, Historic Resources Administrator, presented the staff report. She said the Historic Resources Commission has been working on a set of guidelines since 1995. Because the HRC reviewed those applications, they would simply like something in place so that when an applicant comes before the HRC, they would be able to show the applicant the guidelines that were used to look at sidewalk dining applications.
She said in addition to the attached guidelines, through the public comment process, the HRC held about four meetings, two of those meetings were held specifically for sidewalk dining guidelines. Through those conversations with the public, there were several things that the HRC felt were beyond their purview and the HRC requested the City Commission review and determine the appropriateness of those issues which were:
(1) Cost per square foot – Is the current rate of $3.50 per square foot adequate?
(2) Limit per block – Should there be a maximum number of sidewalk dining areas?
(3) Exterior Music – Are the existing codes sufficient to address the addition of exterior music in the sidewalk dining areas?
(4) Cleaning methods – The HRC felt strongly about the cleanliness of the dining areas and accepted the information provided by the City’s Stormwater Engineer. However, there was concern by the HRC that the City Commission should review and make the decision on how the areas were cleaned and maintained
(5) Pedestrian exclusive areas – Should there be areas and/or times when the sidewalk should be only for pedestrians?
(6) Alley revitalization – The HRC requested that the City examine the possibility of the revitalization of the existing alleys to encourage businesses to locate downtown by creating an alley storefront or access to upper floors.
Regarding Staff recommendations they identified the following items that should be addressed which were:
(1) Consistent use of the term “Sidewalk Dining Area” or “Sidewalk Café.”
(2) The removal of the railing systems during inclement weather months.
(3) The inclusion of Section 6-1202.8 in the guidelines document with specific emphasis on the responsibility of the licensee to maintain the sidewalk at all times and return it to City pavement standards when the dining area is removed.
The City may require the removal of any fixtures placed on the sidewalk pursuant to this Article, including the immediate removal of any fixtures pursuant to City public works or utilities needs or the removal during certain seasonal time periods (e.g. winter months). The licensee shall be solely responsible for any costs incurred in the removal of fixtures, and shall return the sidewalk to City pavement standards.
Commissioner Amyx asked about the removable railing system. He asked if Zollner would define the removable railing system as something that could be bolted down, but could be easily unbolted and removed.
Zollner said a lot of research was performed on what types of systems were available for barriers. Other than potted plants that could be readily removed, there was not currently a reasonably priced system that had a sleeve to lock rails in and out to be removed on a daily basis. She said the HRC thought that removing railings on a daily basis was too much and their concern was that the systems be of the nature that they could be readily removable, but removable. In other words, she said railings that were bolted to the sidewalk that could be unbolted and removed.
Commissioner Rundle asked if staff looked at other communities with removable barriers.
Zollner said most communities that had removable barriers, had some type of roping system, planters, or a combination of planter type barricades with posts that were not anchored. Those were the type of systems that were called readily removable in which they were expected to take those barriers in every night.
Commissioner Rundle asked if the motivation for having those were the same as ours.
Zollner said the motivation was that many cafés in different parts of the country that had a shorter or longer season, was to have the use of that pedestrian way when those cafés were not actually in operation. Some cafés only have their sidewalk dining in the evening or during the lunch hour depending on the community and when they were not actually serving patrons on the sidewalk, those barriers were removed and the sidewalk was turned back into a pedestrian way.
Commissioner Schauner asked how our outdoor seating season compared to other places in the country. He suspected Lawrence had a reasonably short season for outdoor dining.
Zollner said that depended on who was talked to because several people had stated that they had been out at Milton’s in their sidewalk dining area in January or February on a nice day. She said she thought Lawrence did not have a defined season. She said the further north, their seasons were shorter and those establishments had a more defined period. She said when the HRC started looking at seasonal dining, those were the comments that they received from the public that they liked the ability to sit outdoors in February, October or even November if the weather was pleasant which it often was.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
Bob Shumm said he was the first participant in sidewalk dining for Mass Street Deli which was in 1994. He said because sidewalk dining had been popularly received by citizens, he suggested that sidewalk dining be expanded. He said there were a number of places up and down the street that had added outdoor dining. He said those issues that had been generated made the statement “What’s broken” come to mind. He said when the original ordinance was drafted it was decided that a heavy, metal wrought iron railing would be the best looking and the most aesthetically pleasing and sturdy. He said when saying “let’s just pick it up and put it away” they had brought his railings in on a flatbed truck and used a crane to put it in place because it weighed over a ton.
He said with regard to the seasons, outdoor dining could take place any day of the year. Ironically, some of the slowest times for outdoor dining were on days where the weather was 95 degrees. Some of the best times for outdoor dining were October, November, December, and sometimes January or February depending on the year. He said sidewalk dining generally occurs when the temperature was between 70 degrees and 85 degrees.
He said regarding the way it was working, he said it was working great. There was a comment in the newspaper that on sidewalk sale day it was suggested taking the sidewalk dining areas out because they blocked the sidewalk. He asked why it would be required to remove the sidewalk dining area when the streets were already cluttered. He said he had not found anything yet that made the sidewalk dining ordinance better than it already was. He said the people loved sitting in an outdoor dining area. To restrict or reduce the outdoor dining experience in any way would be unpopular.
Dennis Brown, Vice President Lawrence Preservation Alliance, said the LPA approved the proposed design guidelines on sidewalk dining. The HRC worked diligently and carefully to complete this work and all of their meetings were open to the public. In reviewing the process, the HRC requested a moratorium on sidewalk dining proposals for 60 days. The City Commission approved 45 days. The HRC did their work in 45 days, placed it on the City Commission agenda and then this item was pulled from the agenda and staff was directed to meet with members of the public. He said he assumed the meeting was with restaurant and bar owners and also assumed those meetings were private because he did not receive any notification. He said if that was the case, he felt the initial public portion of the process was appropriate, but the latter private phase was not.
He said for 150 years the finite east/west space, between storefronts on Massachusetts Street had been shared by some combination of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Now there was a third player, sidewalk dining. The situation as it stood, he did not believe was broken, but it was compromised and it could become broken. He asked who was doing the compromising. Not vehicular traffic, but he would not advocate that. He said there were 23 or 24 sidewalk dining areas already approved and he was not aware of any restaurant establishment that had applied for a sidewalk dining area and had been rejected.
The entity that was compromised was the pedestrian walkway which was cut in half every hour of every day of the year every time a new dining barrier was installed. He said it might be the way it needed to be, but it seemed disingenuous of us to claim, as some did, that the pedestrian walkway was not affected. He said he believed it was affected and the more barriers they allowed, the more the walkway was affected.
He said the historic downtown was a source of community pride and it was evolving. Change was natural and necessary, but carries with it the risk of causing harm. Walking was an important element of downtown and he urged the City Commission to factor in the pedestrian into the decisions that they were prepared to make.
Jerry Neverve, owner of Red Lyon, said he agreed with Shumm that the current ordinance was not broken. He said one of the issues he wanted to address was the 36 inch maximum height of the fence. He said in all of the things he read and researched around the country was that 36 inches had always been the minimum height and had never or hardly been used as the maximum height. He suggested that the maximum height for railing be at 44 or 45 inches. He said at 36 inches the railing could be sat on and if they had bolted, removable railings those bolts would eventually come lose. Also, one of the reasons the HRC wanted the 36 inch railing height was because it would not block the visual view of the façade, but wrought iron fences could be looked through and the store front could be seen. He said the idea of removing railings for one or two days a year was reasonable. He said since the smoking ban was enacted people would be using those patios 365 days a year.
The other issue that he wanted to address was prohibition of umbrellas and heaters. He said this was Kansas and he was in the hospitality business. He said he would like to make his customers comfortable. He said he walked through many historic districts all over the country and other parts of the world and he saw umbrellas everywhere. He said umbrellas were factored in as blocking the view of the façade, but he maintained that umbrellas did not block the façade. He said if there was a full awning in front of a building that blocked the sun more that an umbrella would. As far as the heater went, he would like to see those heaters out there during cold weather and it would also help defrost the ice and snow in that area.
Shumm said with regard to washing the sidewalks with a hose, he had not heard a great explanation of why that was any different from rainwater that fell on the sidewalk that ended up in the sewer as well. He said it was an effective way of cleaning a sidewalk.
Mayor Highberger said it was his understanding that using a hose to wash sidewalks was tied back to EPA requirements. He said the Stormwater Engineer was not present to answer that question and he suggested putting that question off until they had a broader discussion of sidewalk dining.
Soules said staff followed EPA regulations within this City’s ordinance was specifically the prohibition of pressure washing sidewalks. That was one of the “Best Management Practices” that the EPA had imposed upon communities. He said when it rained there would be the same materials and litter that could possibly get into the stormsewer. It was staff recommendation that people dry sweep to cleanup the litter and debris. There were commercial types of vacuum cleaners that could be used for power washing sidewalks, but there were other options available in which individuals could come and talk to staff about.
Commissioner Rundle said his sense was that there would be discussion with the Stormwater Engineer at a future meeting.
Soules said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said he would like to know from the Stormwater Engineer what specific EPA rule, regulation, or permit requirement stated that they could not hose down their sidewalks. He said he was befuddled by that whole concept and would like to know if the City’s ordinance went beyond what was required by the EPA. He suggested that the Stormwater Engineer provide the chapter and verse of that requirement when he addressed the City Commission.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked Shumm if he had reviewed the sidewalk dining guidelines and what effect the change in the guideline would have in his current operation.
Shumm said concerning the removal of the railing, he would have to remove it and find something else which would be an expensive process and the railings would not be as nice. Another issue to worry about was late at night in downtown Lawrence it would not be the same crowd as it was at noon. Things that were not locked or tied down were going to move. The logic of moving those railings everyday was a lot of extra work and expense to accomplish that task.
Another issue that was raised was that sidewalk dining railings be removed during inclement weather so the City was able to cleanup the snow. He said the City did not cleanup the snow in front of their businesses. He said those businesses had to maintain the front of their sidewalks just like with the cleaning issue.
Commissioner Hack asked Shumm how high was his railing.
Shumm said he did not know, but there were some center posts that were higher. He said to complicate this situation, he said when getting into grades, if wanting the railings to look nice and level, one end would be higher than the other end. He said just saying that railing should be 36 inches would create some problems also.
Commissioner Schauner said the proposed ordinance did take into account grade changes.
Shumm said he understood, but he thought the required height was a little low. He said he did not know what the minimum height for railings was in the building code. He said there was a minimum height so that people would not fall over those railings.
Neverve said the minimum height for railings was 42 inch.
Shumm said then the minimum height for railings for a sidewalk dining area was lower than the building code.
Commissioner Hack asked how tall Shumm’s railing was.
Neverve said the railings were 49 inches, but Papa Keno’s was 53 inches at the highest level. There were only 2 fences that existed downtown on Massachusetts Street that were below or at 36 inches.
Wildgen said the guidelines were for prospective sidewalk dining only. There was no intent to go back and require compliance for existing railings.
Zollner said she wanted to point out that not readily removable, but removable barriers were what existed in the code currently and it stated in parenthesis “inclement weather.”
Commissioner Rundle said it was going to be helpful for the HRC to have the majority of those guidelines when future requests were made. He said he was prepared to approve those guidelines, but there were issues such as removing the railing for any special events. He said there needed to be some process of hearing or appeal to remove those railings for special events, but it seemed that the City had been able to live with those railings during major parades and other events. He said sidewalk dining licenses were contractual agreements, renewed annually, and there were provisions written that the City Commission could revisit those licenses if there were problems that the public perceived. He said he was not sure about umbrellas and outdoor heaters. He said he had been to other cities where there were many bars and restaurants that had outdoor dining area in a vibrant area like this City’s downtown and it was more inviting for people on the street to join in.
Mayor Highberger said he was basically supportive of the proposed guidelines with a few exceptions. He said a good point was made about the process because the whole issue should have been open to the public.
He said he also agreed with Schumm that the guidelines were not broken and sidewalk dining had been a great addition for the downtown area.
He said he was okay with sidewalk dining expanding to some extent and they would probably be looking at expansion if the City Commission changed their rules on who was eligible for sidewalk dining.
He said he would be interested in changing the railing height requirement especially if looking at having those types of dining areas for drinking establishment because people would fall over those railings. The railings at Papa Keno’s and Mass Street Deli worked fine even though those railings were over the suggested limit.
He said he also agreed with Neverve’s comments about umbrellas versus awnings. It seemed that an umbrella would block a façade less than an awning, but he would hate to see downtown Lawrence buy into a sidewalk heater because that seemed that it would change the nature of things and he did not support those heaters.
Concerning the removal of railings, he had not gotten a satisfactory answer for the requirement of a wrought iron fence to be removed. He said the Commission’s contractual authority would give them the authority to take railings down if they became a problem. He said he was generally supportive of the guidelines.
Commissioner Hack said it was important to remember that people congregate to see other people congregate. She said when she attended a conference on the “Congress of New Urbanism,” she listened to a presentation from a community that was paying huge dollars to recreate a downtown that looked just like downtown Lawrence. She said obviously the City’s primary goal was to protect the downtown, but also they needed to remember that they needed to enhance the downtown area to keep it vibrant. She said when going to other communities, outdoor dining was exploding and it added a lot to the downtown area.
She said some of those guidelines appeared to make it somewhat impossible or very difficult to obtain an outdoor dining license such as the railing issue because that size limitation should at least meet the City’s building code. She said there would be circumstances where railings would need to be removed, but she did not believe that a sidewalk dining area could have the aesthetics of a nice enclosed area and that it would be able to be picked up and moved.
The issue of the umbrellas bothered her the most. She said she was not opposed to the heaters, but if worrying about visual aesthetics downtown, she suggested getting rid of all the trees, but no one was advocating that idea. She said she did not see how an umbrella over a table would have a critical effect over the visual aesthetics of downtown.
She said six feet of pedestrian walkway was perfectly adequate for two people to meet and not run into each other.
Vice Mayor Amyx said he would hate to see any additional type of regulation placed on any issue, but when using the public right-of-way for a purpose other than what it was primarily intended to be used for, there needed to be some type of rules and regulations. He said those sidewalk dining regulations might be going a little too far, but at the same time there was much discussion on those regulations. He said the idea of umbrellas and heaters were fine. He said if finding some type of heater that the Fire/Medical Department approved that met City Code, he did not have any problem with that idea. Also, removing the railing and the height of railing was not a bother him, although railings that were not bolted down could end up through a window which was a concern. He said he did not have any problem with the height of the railings at 44 inches.
Commissioner Schauner said he agreed with Schumm that the current guidelines were not broken, but at the same time if he was part of the HRC he would want some more specific guidance about what was approvable and what was not.
He said he did not have any problems with the umbrellas, but he was a little less supportive of the heater issue. Regarding the height of the fences, 36 inches sounded a little low and he suggested something closer to 42 to 45 inches as being more reasonable.
He said he was concerned about the stormwater pollution and he would like more information about that issue and he would not be willing to approve those guidelines with the language that was in the guidelines currently. It concerned him when there was talk of recommending that a sanitary sewer cleanout be installed because that would be an expensive venture for someone operating downtown.
He said the Mayor had made a comment about changing their rules for who would get to use the outdoor sidewalks. He said those were sidewalk dining areas and Schumm was right that the rules that were adopted in 1994 for the use of the sidewalk were just as appropriate now as they were then and there was a reason a former Commission set some guidelines. He said he was generally supportive of the guidelines with those mentioned exceptions.
Commissioner Rundle asked if those guidelines would only be applied when someone needed to come to the HRC with a proposal that was within the environs or was dealing with a historic structure.
Zollner said that would be up to the City Commission whether to apply those guidelines only to new applications or whether to use them as a review tool when the sidewalk dining licensees came back in for their yearly renewal. She said the HRC did not address that issue.
Commissioner Rundle said a lot of the guidelines seemed to be appropriate to general as well as the historic guidelines. He said the guidelines were initially written to address concerns or fears.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to extend the meeting until 10:15 p.m.
Mayor Highberger said what he heard was that there was a majority for suggesting raising the rail height maximum for allowing umbrellas, clarifying what “detachable” means, he was not clear on heaters and then there was the issue of stormwater. He said his understanding was that the guidelines basically repeated what was in the current City Code.
Commissioner Rundle said he knew of only a couple of places that had outdoor areas that have heaters and they were securely anchored and suspended. He suggested getting input from the Fire Marshall, but he could not imagine allowing heaters that were on a stand that could get tipped over. Allowing businesses to secure those heaters to a building would be crossing over a line. He said while they might consider heaters in the future, he did not see too many circumstances where a heater would be appropriate on a sidewalk.
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Service Director said he understood the direction from the Commission was sidewalk dining regulations would apply to all environs for all new applications. He asked if it was clear that there would not be any content or advertising on those umbrellas.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was currently advertising on umbrellas at one of the sidewalk dining areas downtown.
Commissioner Hack said Jefferson’s had advertising on their umbrellas.
Commissioner Rundle said if there was an issue that was clearly only applicable to historic issues, staff could point those issues when this was brought back to the Commission for discussion.
Nick Carroll, Jackpot Saloon, said in January they submitted several different plans from two different architects and the HRC shot those plans down. The only alternative was to build a patio on the City sidewalk. He said comment was heard that there was some support from the City Commission to remove the 70% food requirement from the sidewalk dining and patio areas in the C-3 zoning area. He said the Jackpot had been waiting for that type of thinking for the last 13 months. He said it was urgent that the City Commission act on that issue in the next few weeks.
He said without heaters there were only 28 weeks that a business could benefit from an outdoor patio without heat and 18 of those weeks had passed. He said the majority of their customers were staying outside and smoking and they needed a space for those smokers. He said they felt they could recover their sales that they had lost due to the smoking ordinance.
Mayor Highberger agreed with Carroll in that he would like to get that issue on the agenda fairly soon. He said the Commission would probably want to address some of the other peripheral issues that were raised by the HRC that were not discussed.
The City Commission received the draft sidewalk dining guidelines and directed staff to revise the guidelines to reflect raising the rail height; allowing the use of umbrellas; clarifying the term “detachable”; and applying the guidelines to all new sidewalk dining applications. (16)
Public Comment: None .
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Amyx, to adjourn at 10:10 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVED:
_____________________________
Dennis Highberger, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Change Orders – 2005 Downtown Waterline Project totaling $94,609.20.
2. Bid – Road Salt for Utilities Dept. to Duke’s Root Control, totaling $63,855.
3. Automated Citation System – Police Dept to Advance Public Safety Inc., for $125,860.41.
4. Ordinance No. 7861 – 1st Read, rezone (Z-12-54-04) 2.14 acre, RS-2 to PRD-1, 1535 Haskell Ave.
5. Ordinance No. 7842 – 1st Read, rezone (Z-08-39-04) 19.282 acres, A to RS-2, E side of George Williams Way & W of Stoneridge Dr.
6. Ordinance No. 7887 – 1st Read, rezone (Z-03-18-05) .19 acre, C-5 to PCD-2, 3400 & 3434 S Iowa.
7. Ordinance No. 7892 – 2nd Read, City’s right-of-way.
8. Ordinance No. 7893 – 2nd Read, Public offense of illegal camping.
9. Bldg Permit Moratorium – waiver for deck addition, 2024 Learnard Ave.
10. Bldg Permit Moratorium – waiver for proposed triplex, 500 Florida.
11. Subordination Agreement – 1316 Summit, Linda Cowden.
12. City Manager’s Report – K-10 Corridor Study.
13. Agreement – for fiscal feasibility study to TischlerBise for $139,800.
14. Resolution No. 6597 – Benefit District, Order Construction, Anna Tappan Way.
15. Status Report – Kasold Drive from Bob Billings Pkwy to W 22nd .
16. Sidewalk Dining Guidelines