PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

Regular Agenda -- Public Hearing  Item

 

ITEM NO. 5:    TEXT AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 20 DEVELOPMENT CODE (SMS)

 

TA-05-03-06:  Consider revisions to Chapter 20, Development Code to correct inconsistencies identified since originally updated.

 

Pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. Chapter 12, Article 7, consider revisions to the adopted “Development Code, July 1, 2006 Edition,” enacting a new Chapter 20 of the Code of the City of Lawrence, Kansas, establishing comprehensive zoning regulations and other land use regulations.  The “Development Code, July 1, 2006 Edition” is a general and complete revision of the City’s existing zoning regulations and affects all property within the corporate limits of the City of Lawrence, Kansas.  The “Development Code, July 1, 2006 Edition” is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth in this notice. Copies of the “Development Code, July 1, 2006 Edition” and proposed revisions are available for review at the Office of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department, City Hall, 6 E. 6th Street, Lawrence, Kansas.  The “Development Code, July 1, 2006 Edition” and proposed revisions are also available at www.lawrenceplanning.org.

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:  Staff recommends the Planning Commission forward a recommendation for approval of the proposed revision [TA-05-03A-06] to 20-701(f) of the “Development Code, July 1, 2006 Edition,” to the City Commission. 

 

 

 

Reason for Request:

Through the review of the proposed Development Code, a number of issues were identified that required “clean up or clarifying text” or are suggested for revision to address public comment.  Adoption of the suggested revisions will improve the implementation of the Development Code. TA-05-03A-06 represents a specific amendment to Article 7, Planned Developments which the Planning Commission initiated at their April 19th meeting.

 

RELEVANT GOLDEN FACTOR:

 

  • Conformance with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan is the relevant factor that applies to this request.  Adoption of new regulatory tools, one of which is the zoning regulations, is an implementation step in Chapter 13 of HORIZON 2020, the City/County Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

 

SPLIT RECOMMENDATION ON THIS ITEM

 

  • TA-05-03A-06 represents the addition of existing code language from the current Planned Unit Development regulations into Article 7, Planned Developments to clarify the authority to specifically conditions uses and building types.  This amendment was initiated by the Planning Commission at their April 19th meeting during discussion of previous recommended revisions to Article 7.  Staff recommends action on this portion of text amendment at this time.

 

  • TA-05-03B-06 represents revisions that Staff has identified since the April 19th meeting.  These items have been recently posted on the department’s website, but have only been available to the public for a short period of time.  In Staff’s opinion, these items should be deferred to the July 24th Planning Commission meeting to provide adequate notice prior to public hearing. 

 

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENT RECEIVED PRIOR TO PRINTING

 

  • 06/06/06 letter from Bill Mitchell regarding the need to amend Article 17 to provide a definition of ‘owner’ or ‘owner-occupied’ to assist in the enforcement of use of Accessory Dwelling Units.

 

 

 

Staff Report

The City Commission adopted Ordinances 7985 & 7986 on April 4, 2006 adopting the Development Code, November 11, 2005 Edition and Zoning Map with a delayed effective date of July 1, 2006.  The Planning Commission at their February 22nd meeting had recommended adoption of the code and map and had specifically indicated an intention to consider additional amendments that could be adopted prior to the delayed effective date. 

 

At the April 19th Planning Commission meeting, the Commission recommended approval of a series of amendments [TA-03-02A-06 through TA-03-02I-06].  The City Commission received these recommendations at their meeting on May 16th and approved all of the recommended amendments except TA-03-02D-06 and TA-03-02G-06.  TA-03-02D-06, revisions to 20-534 regarding Accessory Dwelling Units was deferred until staff had an opportunity to consider potential definitions for owner and/or owner-occupied.  TA-03-02G-06 was deferred until after the CC/PC study session on June 14th regarding the Retail Market Impact Analysis.  Ordinances 8013 through 8019 were adopted on first reading on June 20th and are scheduled for second reading on June 27th.  These ordinances amend the development code to include all revisions approved to date.

 

 

OVERVIEW OF REVISIONS PROPOSED

  • TA-05-03A-06:  Section 20-701(f).  The Planning Commission specifically initiated a text amendment to include the existing code language found in 20-1004.1 to clarify that the Planning Commission or City Commission may specifically restrict uses or building types in planned developments.
  • TA-05-03B-06:  A table of clarifying text/corrections is provided to further clarify the July 1, 2006 Edition.  The majority of the table of recommended revisions is the result of staff and legal counsel review of additional public comment and staff review since the draft was posted on November 11, 2005.  Staff recommends that these proposed revisions be deferred for public hearing on July 24th to provide adequate time for public review and comment.  [This table will be provided in communications on Monday, June 26th.]

 

 

Deleted text is shown with strikethrough; additional text is shown in italics. 

 

 

ITEM NO. 5A:

TA-05-03A-06: 

Text amendment to Article 7, Planned Developments.

 

 

 

Pg No.

Section No. 20-

Recommended Text Change

 

 

Article 7. Planned Developments

 

7-2

701(f)

 

(f) Standards Eligible for Modification

As a condition of approval, the Planning Commission or City Commission may designate by ordinance or as a note on the face of the development plan, any specific use, structure or building type which shall be restricted and excluded as part of the Planned Development Overlay District.  The City Commission may modify the following standards during the PD approval process.  Standards not listed are not eligible for modification.

 

 

STAFF REVIEW

The proposed revision provides additional text to clarify that the Planning Commission and City Commission have the authority to specifically restrict uses, structures or building types as part of the Planned Development approval process.  This amendment was specifically initiated by the Planning Commission during their consideration of revisions to this article at their April 19th meeting.

 

 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:  Planning Staff recommends approval of the proposed text amendment [TA-05-03A-06] and forwarding it to the City Commission with a recommendation for approval.