PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

Regular Agenda – Public Hearing Item

 

ITEM NO. 10:           COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDEMENT TO HORIZON 2020;                                              CHAPTER 6 (MJL)

 

CPA-2005-05:  Hold public hearing on Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) to Horizon 2020, Chapter 6 --- to address mixed use development in redevelopment areas.  This item was initiated by the City Commission at their November 29, 2005, meeting.

 

SUMMARY

 

CPA-2005-5:  An amendment to Horizon 2020 to include a classification of mixed-use development in redevelopment areas in Chapter 6 Commercial Land Use.   This amendment was initiated by the City Commission at their November 29, 2005 regular meeting at the request of Korb Maxwell of Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus, PC, representing Bo Harris, regarding the redevelopment project at 8th and Pennsylvania Streets.  This chapter was last amended in May 2005 as part of the annual update process to Horizon 2020, the comprehensive land use plan for the City of Lawrence and unincorporated Douglas County.

 

STAFF REVIEW

 

Included as part of this staff report is the proposed amendment to Chapter 6 (Commercial Land Use).  This amendment is to be located in Chapter 6 in the Commercial Center Categories between the Neighborhood Commercial Centers (pg 6-4) and the Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers (pg 6-5).  Staff reviewed this amendment based upon the comprehensive plan amendment review criteria listed below [identified in Chapter 13 (Implementation) of Horizon 2020].

 

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW

 

A.        Does the proposed amendment result from changed circumstances or unforeseen conditions not understood or addressed at the time the Plan was adopted?

 

The proposed amendment is a result of the changing circumstances that have occurred since the comprehensive plan was first written.  At the time Horizon 2020 was written, it relies on the suburban node model for new commercial development and did not contemplate mixed-use redevelopment.  The proposed text amendment identifies the potential for redevelopment of suitable commercial sites into mixed use commercial centers.  This type of commercial development does not fit into any of the current commercial center categories.

 

B.        Does the proposed amendment advance a clear public purpose and is it consistent with the long-range goals and policies of the plan?

 

The proposed amendment is an advancement of a clear public purpose and is consistent with the long-range planning goals and policies of the community.  The proposed amendment helps further the goals and policies for commercial land use while staying consistent with the overall intent of Horizon 2020 and the goals and policies relating to residential land use, economic development, parks and recreation, and the various other components of the comprehensive plan.

 

C.        Is the proposed amendment a result of a clear change in public policy?

 

As the City of Lawrence and unincorporated Douglas County continue to grow and expand, there is a need to include the opportunity for redevelopment of existing commercial areas into mixed-use commercial areas.  These developments can offer the opportunity for a traditional type of mixed-use development in existing neighborhoods. The opportunity for traditional mixed-use development supports this shift in public policy from when Horizon 2020 was initially adopted in the late 1990s.

 

PROFESSIONAL STAFF RECOMMENDATION

 

Staff recommends approval of this comprehensive plan amendment to Horizon 2020, Chapter 6 (Commercial Land Use) and recommends forwarding this comprehensive plan amendment to the Lawrence City Commission and the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation for approval.

 

MIXED-USED REDEVELOPMENT CENTER

 

The City of Lawrence includes areas where existing structures that have not been utilized for their original purposes for an extended period of time, have experienced a high turnover rate, or have remained vacant for an extended period of time and, therefore, are suitable for redevelopment. Such areas present potential opportunities for redevelopment into mixed-use centers, offering a mix of residential, civic, office, small-scale commercial, and open space uses. A mix of uses is also encouraged throughout the area and individual structures, of which a majority should include ground-floor retail uses.

 

Mixed-use redevelopment centers shall include a mix of uses designed to maintain the character of the surrounding neighborhood and achieve integration with adjacent land uses. As such, retail uses within mixed-use redevelopment centers shall not exceed 25% of the net floor area within the subject area, and a single retail shop or tenant shall not occupy more than 16,000 square feet of ground-floor level net floor area. Neighborhood integration shall also be accomplished by providing transitions through alleyways and natural buffers, and by ensuring existing structures are incorporated into the new center where possible. The City’s Historic Resources Administrator shall be contacted if it is likely that historic structures exist within or near the project area. New development shall respect the general spacing, mass and scale, and street frontage relationships of existing structures.

 

Centers shall provide multi-modal services, allowing bicycle, pedestrian, vehicular, and, if available, transit options. Pedestrians should be able to navigate the site safely and efficiently, and travel to and from the site with ease. Pedestrian-scaled street furnishings, plantings, and gathering places shall be utilized to allow for social activity in public places. Bicycle parking shall be provided when required by the Zoning Regulations, and transit services shall be incorporated into the design where necessary.

 

Policy 3.3.A:  Criteria for Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers

 

  1. Encourage redevelopment of areas where existing structures are under utilized, have experienced a high turnover rate, or have remained vacant for an extended period of time.

 

  1. Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers shall include a mix of the following uses within the subject area and where possible, include mixed-use structures:

 

    1. Residential;
    2. Civic;
    3. Office;
    4. Small-scale commercial:

a.      Total commercial spaces shall not to exceed 25% of the net floor area within the subject area, and

b.     A single retail spaces shall not occupy more than 16,000 square feet of ground-floor level, net floor area of a structure; and

    1. Open space.

 

  1. Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers shall maintain the character of the surrounding neighborhood by:

 

    1. A achieve integration with adjacent land uses by providing transitions between uses through alleyways and natural buffers;
    2. Incorporate existing structures where ever possible;
    3. Maintain general structure spacing, massing, scale, and street frontage relationship when incorporating new structures.

 

  1. Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers shall provide multi-modal services to include the following options:

 

    1. Pedestrian, including pedestrian-scaled street furnishings, plantings and gathering spaces;
    2. Bicycle, including bicycle parking;
    3. Vehicular; and
    4. Transit, if available.

 

Description inserted in Horizon 2020 Text, shown in italics:

 

Building designs and public improvements are focused on providing a pedestrian-oriented commercial experience.  Massachusetts Street has a distinct streetscape with sawtooth parking and a focus on first floor (pedestrian oriented) retail use.  Vermont and New Hampshire Streets provide the major vehicular movement patterns and provide access to the majority of the community parking areas. Alleyways, which provide service access, are one of the main character-defining elements that distinguish the Downtown Commercial Center from other commercial centers.  To ensure there are a variety of commercial uses, the maximum footprint for an individual store is limited to approximately 25,000 gross square feet.  One of the keys to the success of the Downtown Commercial Center is the ability to provide a wide range of leasable square footage that is both flexible and capable of being tailored to a specific use.  Construction within the Downtown Commercial Center is regulated by a set of design guidelines administered through an Urban Conservation Overlay Zoning District.

 

An important ingredient to ensuring the continued viability of Downtown is keeping it the center of the city’s social and institutional activities.  To maintain downtown as the city and County’s hub of governmental functions; uses and buildings such as City Hall, the County Courthouse, Municipal Library, Douglas County Senior Center, Fire/Medical Department’s Main Office, Police and Sheriff Offices, the Municipal Pool and the Municipal and District Courts shall remain located in Downtown.

 

■        Neighborhood Commercial Centers

 

The typical nodal development concept for Neighborhood Commercial Centers includes commercial on only one corner of an arterial/collector street intersection or arterial/arterial street intersection.  The remaining corners are appropriate for a variety of other land uses, including office, public facilities and high density residential.  Commercial development shall not be the dominant land use at the intersection or extend into the surrounding lower-density residential portions of the neighborhood.  The surrounding residential area shall be provided adequate buffering from the commercial uses through transitional zoning or lower-intensity developments.  Transitions shall be accomplished by using a number of methods, such as intensive landscaping and berming, grouping of lower-intensity developments, incorporation of existing natural land features into site layout and design (ex. open space along a creek), or a combination of these methods.

 

Neighborhood Commercial Centers may contain a variety of commercial uses, including a grocery store, convenience store, and other smaller retail shops and services such as a barbershop or beauty salon.  To insure there are a variety of commercial uses and that no one use dominates a Neighborhood Commercial Center, no one store shall occupy an area larger than 40,000 gross square feet.  The only exception is a grocery store, which may occupy an area up to 80,000 gross square feet.

 

A Neighborhood Commercial Center provides for the sale of goods and services at the neighborhood level.  Neighborhood Commercial Centers shall contain no more than a total of 100,000 gross square feet of commercial space with the exception of Neighborhood Commercial Centers that include a grocery store.  Neighborhood Commercial Centers that have a grocery store larger than 60,001 gross square feet may have up to a total of 125,000 gross square feet of commercial space.

 

To ensure that the commercial area in a new Neighborhood Commercial Center has adequate lot size and depth, any proposal for a commercial development shall have a length-to-depth ratio between 1:1 and 3:2.

 

In order to facilitate the orderly development of future commercial nodes, Lawrence shall attempt to complete “nodal plans” for each future commercial center in advance of development proposals.

 

If a nodal plan had not been created by the city, the need to create a nodal plan for a specific intersection shall be “triggered” by the first development request (rezoning, plat, preliminary development plan, etc.) submitted to the Planning Department for any portion of the node.  The creation of the nodal plan may involve input from landowners within the nodal area, adjoining neighborhoods and property owners, and appropriate local and state entities.  The appropriate governing body (City or County Commission) shall approve the nodal plan before development approval within the nodal area can move forward.

 

■          Mixed-Use Commercial Centers

 

The City of Lawrence includes areas where existing structures that have not been utilized for their original purposes for an extended period of time, have experienced a high turnover rate, or have remained vacant for an extended period of time and, therefore, are suitable for redevelopment. Such areas present potential opportunities for redevelopment into mixed-use centers, offering a mix of residential, civic, office, small-scale commercial, and open space uses. A mix of uses is also encouraged throughout the area and individual structures, of which a majority should include ground-floor retail uses.

 

Mixed-use redevelopment centers shall include a mix of uses designed to maintain the character of the surrounding neighborhood and achieve integration with adjacent land uses. As such, retail uses within mixed-use redevelopment centers shall not exceed 25% of the net floor area within the subject area, and a single retail shop or tenant shall not occupy more than 16,000 square feet of ground-floor level net floor area. Neighborhood integration shall also be accomplished by providing transitions through alleyways and natural buffers, and by ensuring existing structures are incorporated into the new center where possible. The City’s Historic Resources Administrator shall be contacted if it is likely that historic structures exist within or near the project area. New development shall respect the general spacing, mass and scale, and street frontage relationships of existing structures.

 

Centers shall provide multi-modal services, allowing bicycle, pedestrian, vehicular, and, if available, transit options. Pedestrians should be able to navigate the site safely and efficiently, and travel to and from the site with ease. Pedestrian-scaled street furnishings, plantings, and gathering places shall be utilized to allow for social activity in public places. Bicycle parking shall be provided when required by the Zoning Regulations, and transit services shall be incorporated into the design where necessary.

 

■        Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers

 

A subcategory of this section is Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers.  Typically, this is an existing commercial area within an established neighborhood.  Existing Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers are located at:

 

·      Southeast corner of 12th Street and Connecticut Street

·      West side of the intersection of 14th Street and Massachusetts Street

·      Intersection of N. 7th Street and Locust Street

·      6th Street between Indiana Street and Mississippi Street

·      E. 9th Street corridor starting at Rhode Island and going east

·      Northeast corner of Barker Street and 23rd Street

·      7th Street and Michigan Street. 

 

Redevelopment of these existing Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers should be facilitated through the use of alternative development standards that allow for reductions in required parking, open space, setbacks, lot dimensions and other requirements that make it difficult to redevelop existing commercial areas

 

New Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers shall be allowed in very unique situations, such as when Center is part of an overall planned neighborhood development or can be easily integrated into an existing neighborhood.  Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers are to be an amenity to the adjacent residents and serve only the immediate neighborhood.

 

A new Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Center shall have no gas pumps, drive-thru or drive-up facilities.  The Center shall be pedestrian oriented and have no more than 3,000 gross square feet of commercial space.  The Center shall be located on a collector or arterial street.  Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Center uses may include book stores, dry cleaning services, food stores, beauty salons, etc.

 

New Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers shall be designed as an integrated part of the surrounding neighborhood so that appearance of the commercial area does not detract from the character of the neighborhood.

 

■        Community Commercial Center

 

A Community Commercial Center provides goods and services to several different neighborhood areas.  It requires a site of sufficient size to accommodate buildings, parking, stormwater detention and open space areas.  Although it may include a food or drug store, it is likely to provide a broad range of retail uses and services that typically generate more traffic and require larger lot sizes then found in a Neighborhood Commercial Center.  Community Commercial Center uses may include hardware stores, video outlets, clothing stores, furniture stores, grocery store, movie theaters, home improvement stores, auto supply and services, athletic and fitness centers, indoor entertainment centers, etc.

 

Community Commercial Center (under 200,000 square feet):  CC200

 

The primary purpose of the CC200 category is to provide for the expansion and redevelopment of existing Community Commercial Centers.  However, a new CC200 Center can be designated.  Expansion of an existing CC200 Center shall not intrude into surrounding residential areas or lower-intensity land uses.  Any proposal for commercial expansion or redevelopment occurring in an area designated as a CC200 Center shall include a plan for reducing curb cuts, improving pedestrian connections, providing cross access easements to adjacent properties, and creating and/or maintaining buffering for any adjacent non-commercial uses.

 

All corners of CC200 Center intersections should not be devoted to commercial uses.  CC200 Centers should have a variety of uses such as office, employment-related uses, public and semi-public uses, parks and recreation, multi-family residential, etc.

 

To insure that there are a variety of commercial uses and that no single store front dominates the CC200 Center, no individual or single store shall occupy more than 100,000 gross square feet.  A general merchandise store (including discount and apparel stores) that does not exceed 65,000 gross square feet in size may be located in a CC200 Center.  The sum of the gross square footage for all stores that occupy space between 40,000 and 100,000 cannot exceed 50 percent of the gross commercial square footage for the corner of the intersection where it is located.  To provide adequate access and adequate circulation, CC200 Centers shall be located at an arterial/collector street intersection or arterial/arterial street intersection.

 

CC200 Centers shall be located with primary access designed to occur from arterial or collector streets, with secondary access occurring from neighborhood feeder streets or reverse frontage roads.  The purpose of the secondary access is to collect internal neighborhood traffic so that accessibility from the adjoining neighborhoods does not require exiting the neighborhood to access community shopping.  These secondary access points are intended only for neighborhood traffic.  The surrounding street design shall be done in a manner to discourage access to the Commercial Center by non-neighborhood traffic.  Pedestrian and bike connection to the neighborhood shall be emphasized along the secondary routes.

 

In order to facilitate the orderly development of future commercial nodes, Lawrence shall attempt to complete “nodal plans” for each future commercial center in advance of development proposals.

 

In the absence of a city created nodal plan, the need to create a nodal plan for a specific intersection will be “triggered” by the first development request (rezoning, plat, preliminary development plan, etc.) submitted to the Planning Department for any portion of the node.  The creation of the nodal plan may involve input from landowners within the nodal area, adjoining neighborhoods and property owners, and appropriate local and state entities.  The appropriate governing body (City or County Commission) shall approve the nodal plan before approval of the development within the nodal area can move forward.

Description inserted in Horizon 2020 Policy, shown in italics:

 

 

B.       Strip Commercial Development:  Stop the formation or expansion of Strip Commercial Development by directing new development in a more clustered pattern.

 

C.       Assembling of Land:  Encourage the assembling of small tracts to form larger, more cohesive parcels to enable well-planned and orderly development to occur.

 

D.       Vehicular Access:  Limit the principal vehicular access of commercial development to arterial, collector or frontage (access) streets.

 

E.       Site Layout:  Commercial development shall be located to avoid substantial disruption of natural drainage and vegetation.

 

F.       Compatibility with Adjacent Land Uses:  Encourage the location of commercial nodes where they can efficiently utilize local resources, where their adverse impacts on adjacent uses are minimized, and where they will effectively provide the community with desired products, services and employment opportunities.

 

G.       Public Improvements:  Construction of a new commercial center cannot begin until all infrastructure improvements serving the center have been completed.

 

Policy 3.2:    Establish Design Standards for Commercial Development

 

A.       The city shall develop reasonable design standards for new and redeveloped commercial areas which improve:

 

1.       Integration with the surrounding neighborhoods;

2.       Pedestrian movement to and within the commercial areas;

3.       The aesthetics of the districts from the surrounding street system; and

4.       The design to create attractive focal points for the surrounding populations.

 

B.       Incentive systems shall be developed to encourage commercial areas to provide mixed use projects that include residential and office uses integral to the design.

 

C.       These design standards and incentives shall be adopted into HORIZON 2020 and implemented through zoning, subdivision and the Capital Improvements Plan.

 

Policy 3.3:    Criteria for Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers

 

A.       Encourage redevelopment of existing Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers through alternative standards for:

 

1.       Required parking;

2.       Open space requirements;

3.       Required setbacks; and

4.       Required lot size.

 

B.       Do not encourage the expansion of existing Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers.

 

C.       Standards for New Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers:

 

1.       Inner-Neighborhood Commercial Centers shall be allowed only in those situations where the center is an integral part of an overall planned neighborhood or if the Center can be integrated into an existing neighborhood;

2.       Centers shall not have gas pumps, drive-thru or drive-up facilities;

3.       Centers shall no more than 3,000 gross square feet of commercial space; and

4.       Centers shall be designed as an integrated part of the surrounding neighborhood so that their appearance does not detract from the character of the neighborhood.

 

Policy 3.3.A: Criteria for Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers

 

E.                  Encourage redevelopment of areas where existing structures are under utilized, have experienced a high turnover rate, or have remained vacant for an extended period of time.

 

F.                  Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers shall include a mix of the following uses within the subject area and where possible, include mixed-use structures:

 

1.                  Residential;

2.                  Civic;

3.                  Office;

4.                  Small-scale commercial:

a.                  Total commercial spaces shall not to exceed 25% of the net floor area within the subject area, and

b.                  A single retail spaces shall not occupy more than 16,000 square feet of ground-floor level, net floor area of a structure; and

5.                  Open space.

 

G.                 Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers shall maintain the character of the surrounding neighborhood by:

 

1.                  A achieve integration with adjacent land uses by providing transitions between uses through alleyways and natural buffers;

2.                  Incorporate existing structures where ever possible;

3.                  Maintain general structure spacing, massing, scale, and street frontage relationship when incorporating new structures.

 

H.                 Mixed-Use Redevelopment Centers shall provide multi-modal services to include the following options:

 

1.                  Pedestrian, including pedestrian-scaled street furnishings, plantings and gathering spaces;

2.                  Bicycle, including bicycle parking;

3.                  Vehicular; and

4.                  Transit, if available.

 

 

 

Policy 3.4:    Criteria for Neighborhood Commercial Centers

 

A.       Neighborhood Commercial Centers shall be located at the arterial/arterial or arterial/collector street intersections.

 

B.       Limit the commercial uses in neighborhood centers to one corner of the intersection.

 

C.       New Neighborhood Commercial Centers shall be at least one (1) mile from any existing or new Commercial Center.

 

D.       Neighborhood Commercial Centers shall contain no more than 100,000 gross square feet of commercial space with the exception of Neighborhood Commercial Centers that include a grocery store.  Neighborhood Commercial Centers with a grocery store of 60,001 or more gross square feet may have up to a total of 125,000 gross square feet of commercial space.

 

E.       No one commercial use in a Neighborhood Commercial Center shall occupy an area larger than 40,000 gross square feet.  The only exception is a grocery store, which may occupy an area up to 80,000 gross square feet.

 

F.       A nodal plan shall be completed before a proposal for a Neighborhood Commercial Center goes before the Planning Commission.

 

G.       Locate office, public, semi-public, parks and recreation or medium- and higher-density residential developments on remaining corners of intersection to avoid excessive concentrations of commercial traffic and unnecessary duplication of commercial services.

 

H.       Low-density residential uses may be located at the remaining corners of the intersection if sufficient screening measures are provided to offset noise and views of the intersection are provided.

 

I.          Integrate neighborhood commercial centers into the surrounding residential neighborhoods by including pedestrian access, appropriate transitional elements and, if possible, the location of public or semi-public uses or parks and recreation uses.