NON-PUBLIC HEARING ITEM:
ITEM NO. 8A: ANNEXATION OF 119.8964 ACRES; SOUTH SIDE OF K-10 HIGHWAY BETWEEN O’CONNELL ROAD AND FRANKLIN ROAD (SLD)
SUMMARY
A-12-14-03: Annexation request for approximately 119.9 acres of land, located south of K-10 Highway, between O’Connell Road and Franklin Road. Submitted by The Peridian Group, Inc., for Eastside Acquisitions, L.L.C., property owners of record.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Current Zoning and Land Use: A (Agricultural) District; undeveloped property, existing crop land.
Surrounding Zoning and Land Use: I-1 (Limited Industrial District (K-10 Highway Right-of-way) I-4 (Heavy Industrial District to the north; Farmland property on the north side of K-10 Highway.
A (Agricultural) District to the west, on the west side of O’Connell Road, proposed residential, multi-family and office development.
RS-2 (Single-Family Residence) District and A (Agricultural District) to the southwest, existing residential development.
PRD-1 (Planned Residential District) and A (Agricultural) District to the south, existing duplex development and youth facility.
PID-2 (Planned Industrial District) to the east, developing industrial property.
Summary of Development Requests:
A-12-14-03 - Annexation 119.8964 AC.
Z-12-43-03 - A to RM-2; 15.2863 AC.
Z-12-44-03 - A to RS-2; 33.3692 AC.
Z-12-45-03 - A to RMD; 39.4204 AC.
Z-12-46-03 - A to M-1; 17.1220 AC.
Z-12-47-03 – A to C-5; 26.6436 AC.
PP-12-14-03 - Farmland Northeast Addition.
STAFF REVIEW
Annexation Procedure and General Location:
The site is generally located on the south side of E. 23rd Street (K-10 Highway) between O’Connell Road and Franklin Road. Kansas Statutes [K.S.A. 12-510 et. seq.] provide for annexation by ordinance of the City Commission. Lawrence City policy requires the Lawrence/Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission review all annexation requests for parcels of land over ten acres. Upon annexation, the property owner is required to request rezoning to a compatible city classification.
Site Characteristics:
The subject property is adjacent to the existing city limits on the west and south sides of the property. Properties on the east side of Franklin Road are also within the city limits. This area is included in the Urban Growth Area for the City of Lawrence, Service Area 1.
Infrastructure and Utility Extension:
City Water: Additional utility extensions can be made to service this property as part of the development process. The subject property is undeveloped and there is no Rural Water District compensation issue associated with annexation of this property. There is an existing water line along the east side of O’Connell Road. A water line extension will be required along E. 23rd Street to serve this development. It was noted in the review of this proposal that upgrading the water network will be required as an initial development step to serve the area.
Sewer: Currently there is no existing sanitary sewer service to be extended to this property. The applicant is working with the County to establish a sanitary sewer benefit district and is required to provide additional information prior to the County’s action on the proposal. The applicant has also been working with city staff to address development issues associated with the development of a waste water system for this area. Several policy questions must be addressed prior to the development of specific improvement plans.
The City’s Waste Water Master Plan (WWMP) discounted the “Farmland” properties in terms of land use and associated impacts. The plan significantly reduced the total acreage that was considered “developable” and a corresponding population was assigned [2,900 population]. The proposed land uses were assigned a population equivalent of 6,467 based on a technical review by Black and Vetch. The primary discrepancy identified in the Black and Vetch analysis was “due to the larger population and higher industrial/commercial flow rates”.
The annexation assessment of the development request does not focus on the detail of the specific rezoning requests, but must analyze the basic ability of the community to provide municipal services. The central question is not if the system can be designed or services extended, but what is the timing, funding and intensity of development that can result as a consequence of annexation. Development of the subject property in total would require significant improvements to both the East Hills Pump Station and to the City’s Waste Water Treatment Plant: The pump station is identified in the Capital Improvement Plan for upgrade in 2008. There are outstanding questions remaining about the extent of the improvement with regard to timing and scope. The timing question is addressed based on City Commission decisions and developer input into the process to “speed up” the improvement. However, the extent of the improvement is tied to the amount/intensity of development and the ability to ultimately direct effluent to the future Wakarusa River Treatment Plant in a manner that does not result in substantially overbuilding the interim system (East Hills Business Park Pump Station). This decision must also account for the balance of development of the East Hills Business Park, the Farmland Plant property and the other “developing” areas on the west side of the community without bankrupting the capacity of the Kaw River Treatment Plant.
Private Utilities: Telephone, cable, electric and gas service can normally be extended to serve the subject property. Street improvement plans have been approved by the City and the State for O’Connell Road and have addressed the need to relocate existing utilities along the eastern side of the right-of-way. Changes in the right-of-way width (resulting from land use decision) will require relocation of utilities within and adjacent to the existing right-of-way.
Public Right-of- Way: The subject property is adjacent to an arterial street (E. 23rd Street) on the north and Franklin Road on the east side. A collector street (O’Connell Road) borders the subject property along the west property line. A future collector street between O’Connell Road and Franklin Road (E. 25th Street) would be dedicated as part of the development of the subject property. The dedication of rights-of-way within the interior of the subject property will be part of the subdivision review of this property. The location and street classification help to define the abutting land uses and also function as a boundary between dissimilar land uses such as commercial and residential.
Access to the property will be addressed as part of any future improvement plans and will require platting. As part of the subdivision review process, the necessary dedication of easements [both permanent and temporary] and rights-of-way for O’Connell Road will also be evaluated. The assessments of these rights-of-way is directly tied to land use decisions.
Comprehensive Plan:
The subject property is located within Service Area 1 of the Urban Growth Area as shown in Figure 9 of Horizon 2020. This area is anticipated for development in the future. Horizon 2020 indicates that this area is suitable for development upon the provision of municipal services. A key feature of the plan states, “The plan promotes development in the urban growth area through an adopted annexation policy which anticipates well-planned development of fringe areas.” Annexation Policy #1 states that the “City of Lawrence will actively seek voluntary annexation of land within the urban growth area as development is proposed.”
The benefit of annexation is the ability to plan and implement improvements in a manner consistent with adopted plans of the City. For this reason annexation of the subject property is recommended.
SUMMARY OF LAND USE AND REQUEST:
This request is accompanied by several rezoning requests and a preliminary plat. Annexation will allow for the enforcement of City ordinances on this property, including City land use regulations, and will facilitate the necessary boundary line road improvements within this area.
Residential land use: The development request includes 33 acres of single family development and 39 acres of duplex development. These zoning requests will be discussed in detail in the applicable staff reports. The development of low-density residential development is generally a non-controversial element. The specific arrangement of lots and streets is dictated by the subdivision process. The relationship to annexation is the ability to provide sanitary sewers in a manner that coincides with physical development. If, for instance, it is determined that only very low-density is appropriate, based on the ability to provide sanitary sewer service, then a corresponding zoning could be reflected as one dwelling unit per acre. This would greatly affect the preliminary plat design. The placement of higher density residential development is also tied to the submitted design and the ability to provide adequate public facilities.
Non-Residential Land Use: In addition to the unresolved questions regarding waste water is the adjoining public street network. Specific land use recommendations must be evaluated in detail; however, the combined policy/vision questions remain unresolved. The Comprehensive Plan states that a commercial center should be located at the intersection of a collector and arterial street such as O’Connell Road and E. 23rd Street (K10 Highway). A traffic impact study was performed and it was identified that to accommodate the proposed commercial development, significant improvements must be made to O’Connell Road between E. 23rd Street and E. 25th Street including widening (beyond the planned improvements scheduled to begin later this spring) as well as turn lanes and deceleration lanes. However, Franklin Road is a designated arterial street and is planned to extend to the north (across E. 23rd Street) and will be signalized in the future.
Horizon 2020 supports a definitive approach that requires utility services and major street improvements are in place prior to development. Municipal utilities can be extended to serve this area. A more detailed discussion of the appropriate land use is included in each rezoning report. The Comprehensive Plan indicates expansion of the city limits in this area is anticipated and expected. A significant development issue will be the coordination of physical improvements of the subject property with the planned improvements of O’Connell Road. It needs to be noted that O’Connell Road will be closed during the year-long construction period. Any construction traffic for development of the subject property will disrupt the surrounding neighborhood properties during that time if alternative plans can not be arranged.
Planning Staff has prepared a draft Southeast Area Plan. Adoption of such a plan could answer a number of policy questions concerning land use and infrastructure for the area involved in this annexation request and the related rezonings and Preliminary Plat. Staff is not prepared to make a recommendation for any of the requests for the subject area beyond the annexation. Staff’s recommendation for deferral of the other requests will be reflected in a memo related to March agenda Items 8B- 8G that will be included in the March agenda packet.
Staff has indicated that a revised legal description is needed to include the adjacent public right-of-way along the north and east property lines.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the requested annexation of approximately 119.8964 acres generally located on the south side of E. 23rd Street, and forwarding it to the City Commission with a recommendation for approval subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of a revised legal description to include the adjacent public rights-of-way of E. 23rd Street and O’Connell Road; and
2. Adoption of an Area Plan that includes the subject property prior to publication of the Annexation Ordinance.