Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning Department

 

TO:

David L. Corliss, City Manager

FROM:

Sheila M. Stogsdill, Interim Planning Director

CC:

Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager

Date:

November 10, 2006

RE:

Agenda Item No. 5 – Future Transportation Needs

 

 

The Planning Commission, at their mid-month meeting on November 8th, discussed assumptions for the future land use maps for T2030, the Long-Range Transportation Plan.  The discussion was productive and they asked staff to transmit a summary of their meeting to the City Commission as input as the governing body develops comments for the KDOT meetings coming up later this month.  The meeting notes are attached. 


DRAFT

Planning Commission Mid-Month

Meeting Notes

November 8, 2006

_________________________________________________________________

Planning Commissioners present:  Burress, Eichhorn, Erickson, Finkeldei, Haase, Harkins, Harris, Jennings, Krebs, Lawson

Staff present:  Stogsdill, Warner, Leininger, Guntert, Patterson, Corliss

_________________________________________________________________

 

TOPIC ONE:  T2030 LAND USE SCENARIOS

 

Dan Warner, Long-Range Planner, provided the Commission with an overview of changes that staff intended to make to the Future Land Use Map based on public comments, Commission discussion at their October meeting and continued discussion with the T2030 Committee.  Those changes will include showing the future road network (based on the adopted Major Thoroughfares Map) and additional TND areas within the growth area.

 

The Commission was provided draft Assumptions for the T2030 Land Use Map prepared by Comm. Haase.  He indicated that the Commission may not be prepared to discuss these in detail at this meeting.  The Commission discussed a number of the broad concepts identified, but did not specifically discuss the detail of these assumptions at this meeting.

 

The Commission discussed the likelihood of extensive industrial development near the airport in light of the substantial infrastructure costs that were outlined in the North Lawrence Drainage Study.  Comm. Haase indicated that Comm. Highberger had requested in the most recent T2030 committee meeting that the Planning Commission provide the governing bodies with a recommendation regarding this proposed land use.  The Commission recognized that there would need to be a commitment for infrastructure funding (stormwater, sanitary sewer and road improvements) before substantial industrial development would be feasible.

 

Comm. Harkins asked how adding more TNDs would actually be achieved.  Comm. Krebs stated that future commissions would need to adhere to adopted plans.  If areas are designated for this type of development, commissions will need to evaluate proposals and make recommendations that are consistent with the plan.  Comm. Harkins asked if incentives could be part of the plan.  He suggested that the City could indicate where infrastructure will be provided to direct development to those areas. 

 

Dave Corliss noted that the City Commission had changed the capital budgeting process this year so that developer requests for the City-share of benefit districts were required to compete with other funding requests.  This provides financial prioritization of where infrastructure will be constructed.  He also indicated the City Commission will need to determine if the new parallel code will be permissive or mandatory.  Specific areas within the UGA could be designated to develop a certain way.

 

Comm. Harkins suggested that the TND areas should be located closer to the existing city limits, rather than as isolated developments within the UGA.  Comm. Erickson suggested that the Southeast Area would be an ideal location for such development if the ‘less industrial’ option is chosen. 

 

Comm. Finkeldei noted that we will need to plan in much more detail than this type of future land use plan for this type of development.  Comm. Burress stated that additional planning staff will be required in order to produce more detailed area plans and commented that he had been advocating this position for several years.

 

Comm. Haase posed the question:  Should the MPO take on regional transportation issues and make recommendations to the T2030 committee?  Comm. Eichhorn indicated that it was critical that another connection to I-70 be constructed east of Lawrence.  Comm. Burress said an eastern bypass is key. 

 

Comm. Burress also believed it was important for the Commission to seriously discuss future land use in North Lawrence.  Comm. Haase indicated that significant dollars are needed to improve the infrastructure in North Lawrence to address drainage issues.  Essentially, the study indicated that a levee would need to be constructed north of the city and stormwater would need to be pumped over to the river.  He indicated that the CIP doesn’t identify a major extension for sanitary sewer until 2010.  He reiterated that a major community investment would be required to support a major employment center in this area.  He expressed concern that the Economic Development Board and ECO2 have both identified the airport as a priority site.  KU also owns substantial acreage.  Politically, this is a delicate situation in that the area has been identified, but significant monetary investment is needed.  He suggested that the community should consider a small wastewater package plant to support some development around the airport and abandon plans to include this as a major industrial area.

 

Comm. Finkeldei asked what the City Commission’s action had been on the North Lawrence study.  Dave Corliss responded that the study included recommendations for substantial monetary investment for improving culverts and water in yard problems.  He noted that the drainage problems in this area are different from other floodplain areas.   Because of the flat terrain, ponding was often the problem.  He indicated that the Commission had not identified a funding source in the budget for these recommendations. 

 

Comm. Lawson commented that the suitability of the airport area has been rightly questioned.  He asked why the area at the Lecompton interchange (K-10/I-70) had not been identified as a potential employment area.  He noted that it was well-served by the transportation network.  Mr. Corliss indicated that the area was outside of the UGA.  Ms. Stogsdill noted that the UGA was based on the adopted Wastewater Master Plan and that this area was beyond the area anticipated to be served by municipal utilities in the next 20 years.  Comm. Jennings noted that this area is also in a different school district which may affect residential development.  He said it was important to locate new employment areas where they can be served by residential development to reduce commuting across the community.

 

Comm. Harkins, in reference to the airport discussion, indicated that we needed to be careful not to make mistakes that were made in New Orleans where the system was built on dikes and pumps.  He also indicated that we should capitalize on the investment the City is making in the Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility south of the river.  The southern UGA is a prime area with highway access.

 

Comm. Harris asked if the Lecompton interchange was one of the sites that ECO2 looked at.  David Guntert indicated they had identified multiple sites and had given sites with proximity to sewer (such as the Airport and Farmland) the highest priority.

 

Comm. Harkins added that the planned improvements to Highway 59 also contribute to the southern area as an ideal location for future employment growth.

 

Comm. Burress commented that Tonganoxie is only ten miles from North Lawrence.  There will be growth pressures outside of Douglas County (which this commission would have no say in).  He did not believe it would be good to direct growth there, it would result in sprawl.

 

Comm. Krebs asked what steps needed to be taken if the Planning Commission wanted to make a recommendation about an Eastern Bypass.  Comm. Harris noted that KDOT will be hosting two meetings later this month to receive input on future transportation projects.  She felt it would be important for the MPO to be involved.  Mr. Corliss indicated that the City Commission will discuss this topic next week.  He anticipated that the Commission would identify needs, but not yet prioritize them.

 

Comm. Haase suggested that the community needs to approach our federal representatives to secure funding for a study.  In his opinion, a bridge constructed east of Eudora will not benefit Lawrence.  He believed it was important to influence the location of a new river crossing and suggested it be near E 1900 Road.  Comm. Eichhorn said it would be important to provide input on how to ‘connect the dots’ between Hwy. 59, K-10 and I-70.  Comm. Finkeldei indicated that construction of an Eastern Bypass is not exclusive of completion of the SLT.  He believed it is important to build consensus about the eastern route without discussion of the southern route.

 

Comm. Harris noted that T2030 also needs to identify funding for projects proposed.  Comm. Erickson stated that such a road can be shown as illustrative (to show intent) even if it is not included in the list of financially constrained projects.

 

Comm. Krebs asked how the MPO can involve the community in this discussion.  Comm. Haase indicated that this body could by resolution make recommendations to the City and County Commissions.  The MPO can adopt a long-range plan that includes an Eastern Bypass.  He indicated that the land use maps and modeling help to understand local transportation issues and analyze local improvements.  The bypass is clearly a regional issue.

 

Comm. Finkeldei stated that testing choices will identify impacts.  Running the model with Peterson Road constructed or the Eastern Bypass built or not built will illustrate impacts to the local network. 

 

Comm. Harkins indicated that the impacts of Highway 59 improvements need to be considered.  The road network needs to consider traffic traveling from the south and the need for connections to the east.  We need to consider the impacts of growth pressures in southwestern Johnson County.  The maps should include arterials south of the city and planned east/west extensions.  The commission continued to discuss the need for the roads to be shown at least conceptually even if specific locations were not determined.  Ms. Stogsdill suggested that proposed roads could be shown with dashed lines with a note in the map legend to state the intent to develop a transportation corridor in the vicinity.

 

Ms. Stogsdill also suggested that purple asterisks could be shown on the map to indicate future industrial areas that are logical but beyond the T2030 time frame.  The commission agreed to reduce the industrial land use in the North Lawrence area to a limited area related to KU/aviation purposes and to identify I-70/K-10, Santa Fe Industrial Park, and Westar as future industrial asterisks.  The commission also asked staff to arrange for the ECO2 commission to meet with the Planning Commission to present their report.

 

The commission continued to discuss the need for more TND areas to be represented in the UGA.  Staff was directed to include at least two more areas west of K-10, one additional area south of the city, and one in the southeast area.

 

Comm. Krebs summarized the changes to be made to the future land use maps that will be placed on the December Planning Commission agenda for action:

 

 

The Commission requested that staff transmit the notes of this productive discussion to the City Commission for their consideration in formulating input to be provided for the KDOT long-range transportation meetings later this month.

 

 

TOPIC TWO:  PARKING LOT LIST

 

Comm. Harris distributed an updated list and indicated that she had tried to identify the status of the various topics on the list.  She indicated that some had been delegated to committees or staff and some had not.  Her goal was to have all delegated so that timelines could be established for completion.  Ms. Stogsdill mentioned that the agenda for PC meetings next week were shorter and the commission may have time to discuss the list at one of those meetings.

 

ADJOURN – 9:05 p.m.