PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

Regular Agenda -- Public Hearing  Item

 

PC Staff Report

4/25/07

   ITEM NO. 11:         TEXT AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 20 DEVELOPMENT CODE (JCR)

 

TA-03-02-07:  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 revisions [TA-03-02-07] to Articles 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 15 and 17 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-03-02-07 represents specific amendments to various articles as outlined in the following table. These revisions were initiated by the Planning Commission at the December 18, 2006 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.

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENT RECEIVED PRIOR TO PRINTING

  • No written correspondence has been received.

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF RECENT ACTIONS

 

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.

Ordinances 8013 through 8019 were adopted on second reading on June 27th.  These ordinances amend the development code to include all revisions approved to date.

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-03-02D-06 was approved by the City Commission on October 10th.

TA-03-02G-06 was deferred until after the CC/PC study session on June 14th regarding the Retail Market Impact Analysis.  The City Commission considered TA-03-02G-06 at their August 22nd meeting and following discussion, deferred the item until a later date in order for related text amendments (TA-07-05-06 and CPA-2006-02) to be considered by the Planning Commission.

TA-05-03A-06 which amends Section 20-701(f) to include the existing code language found in former Section 20-1004.1 to clarify that the Planning Commission or City Commission may specifically restrict uses or building types in planned developments was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission on June 26th and was approved for consideration by the City Commission on July 25th.  Ordinance No. 8039 was approved on first reading on October 10th.

TA-05-03B-06 which amends Articles 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, & 17 of the Development Code was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission on July 24th and approved by the City Commission on August 15th.  Ordinance No. 8040 was approved on first reading on October 10th.

TA-06-04-06 which amends Articles 2, 4, 5, 9, 13, 14 and 17 was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission at the August 30th meeting and was approved by the City Commission on October 10th.

TA-07-06-06 which amends Articles 4, 5, 9, 13, 15 and 17 was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission at the September 25th meeting and was approved by the City Commission on October 17th.

TA-09-09A-06 which amends Articles 2 related to street access standards was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission at the October 23rd meeting and was approved by the City Commission on November 14th.  The Planning Commission deferred a proposed amendment to Article 5 related to methods of creation of an accessory dwelling unit for further research by staff which has been given the case file number TA-09-09B-06.

TA-10-10-06 which amends Articles 4, 5, 9, 10 and 13 and TA-10-12-06 which amends Articles 4, 5 and 17 were recommended for approval by the Planning Commission at the November 15th meeting and were approved at the December 5th City Commission meeting.

TA-10-11-06 which amends Articles 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 and 17 was recommended for approval at the December 18th, 2006 meeting with direction from the Planning Commission to re-organize and modify the language pertaining to Site Plan Review in Article 13 in accordance with what was discussed by Planning Commissioners according to the minutes of the meeting.  Staff is awaiting approval of the minutes from December 18th before making the recommended language changes and forwarding them to the City Commission.

 

OVERVIEW OF REVISIONS PROPOSED

  • TA-03-02-07:  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 code was adopted on July 1, 2006.

 

 

Deleted text is shown with strikethrough; additional text is shown in italics.  Brief explanations of the reason for the changes are described in the table in small caps.

 

Pg. No.

 

Section No.

20 -

Recommended Text Change

Unknown

Unknown

Explore methods to permit temporary uses/events for non-profit agencies and organizations

(Initiated: September 2006 with TA-09-09-06)

 

A recent amendment to Chapter 6 of the City Code contained provisions for Special Event Permits which was approved by the City Commission is currently in effect.

 

Article 1. Introductory Provisions

Article 2. Base Districts

Article 3. Overlay Zoning Districts

3-11

308(c)(1)

Amend the language in this section so that the Historic Resources Commission may also initiate an application to establish a Urban Conservation Overlay District as well as the Planning Commission and City Commission.  As it is currently written, it conflicts with Section 20-308(d).

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

Article 4. Use Table

4-10

403

Add “Nightclub” as a permitted use in CS (Commercial Strip) District.  This use was inadvertantly omitted from the Development Code.  A number of existing uses are nonconforming as a result.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

 

4-11

403

Amend Nonresidential District Use Table to add Exterior Storage as a permitted accessory use (with standards) to the CC, CR, CS, IBP, IL, IG, GPI and H Districts

(Initiated: September 2006 with TA-09-09-06)

 

 

 

4-12

403

Amend Nonresidential District Use Table to reflect changes applicable to Small Collection Recycling Facilities due to be consistent with the regulations proposed

(Initiated: December 2006 with TA-12-14-06)

 

(Related to amendment to Section 540 below)

 

 

Article 5. Use Regulations

5-7

508

Add language to this section which would permit construction of a detached dwelling in RM and RMO Districts without a Special Use Permit in instances where a majority of the properties on the block face are constructed as detached dwellings.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

5-30

534(2)(iii)

Methods of creation of an Accessory Dwelling Unit by converting an attached garage

(Initiated: September 2006 with TA-09-09-06)

 

 

 

This item had public hearing at the October 23 Planning Commission meeting.  The Commission deferred the particular amendment and directed staff to research the subject and come back to the Planning Commission at a later date with revised language and research results.  Staff is continuing to study this issue.

 

5-38

538

Add section 538 to Article 5 Use Regulations that provides the standards which apply to Exterior Storage, an accessory use (with standards) permitted in certain zoning districts (see table above)

(Initiated: September 2006 with TA-09-09-06)

 

 

 

The staff subcommittee has prepared new language.  Please see Attachment A.

(Related to Amendment to add Sec. 403 and to 1006(c))

 

5-38

540

Add use regulations for Small Collection Recycling Facilities

(Initiated: December 2006 with TA-12-14-06)

 

 

 

A staff subcommittee is being formed to study this and propose new regulations.

The staff subcommittee has prepared new language.  Please see Attachment B.

(Related to amendment to Section 403 above)

 

Article 6. Density and Dimensional Standards

6-2

601(a)

Reference to [4] in the Residential Districts Density and Dimensional Standards Table seems unclear

(Initiated: November 2006 with TA-10-11-06)

 

 

 

The footnote [4] states “Applies only to Lots platted after the Effective Date.”  It does not direct us where to look for lots platted before the effective date.  Must be clarified.

Staff is continuing to work on this.

 

6-2

601(b)

Reference to [5] in the Nonresidential Districts Density and Dimensional Standards Table seems unclear

(Initiated: November 2006 with TA-10-11-06)

 

 

 

The footnote [5] states “Applies only to Lots platted after the Effective Date.”  It does not direct us where to look for lots platted before the effective date.  Must be clarified.

Staff is continuing to work on this.

 

6-6

602(e)(6)(vii)

Revise this section so that it is consistent with new Building Codes

(Initiated: January 2007 with TA-01-01-07)

 

 

 

New building codes contain information that conflicts with this section in regards to swimming pools.

Staff is continuing to work on this.

 

6-7

602(e)(6)

Add an exception allowing signs to be located in required yards and setbacks

(Initiated: December 2006 with TA-12-14-06)

 

 

 

Staff is continuing to work on this.

 

Article 7. Planned Development Districts

Article 8.Subdivision Design and Improvement Regulations <<Reserved>>

Article 9. Parking, Loading and Access

Unknown

Unknown

Clarify where boats, motor homes and campers can be located in residential districts.

(Initiated: July 2006 with TA-06-04-06)

 

 

 

A Staff subcommittee has been formed to study Article 9.

 

9-1 to 9-23

Article 9

Throughout Article 9, “article” and “section” are often used interchangably.  Instances where this occurs should be corrected for clarification.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

A Staff subcommittee has been formed to study Article 9.

 

9-4 to 9-7

902

Reformat the Off-Street Parking Schedule A to resemble the Use Tables of Article 4 to make the parking schedule easier to read and to ensure that all the uses and use groups listed in the Use Tables are provided a parking requirement.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

A Staff subcommittee has been formed to study Article 9.

 

9-10

908(b)(2)

This regulation conflicts with Chapter 16, Article 3 of the City Code when describing maximum width of residential driveways.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

A Staff subcommittee has been formed to study Article 9.

 

9-16

913(e)(2)

Add porous pavement to the list of alternative surfacing materials and insert a reference to the City’s adopted Best Management Practices Manual.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

A Staff subcommittee has been formed to study Article 9.

 

9-18

915

Clarify what uses to which Driveway and Access Standards apply

(Initiated: December 2006 with TA-12-14-06)

 

 

 

A Staff subcommittee has been formed to study Article 9.

 

 

9-18 to 9-22

915

The general statement in this section says that these standards apply to multi-family or nonresidential uses, but the General Standards (subsection a) seems to conflict with this.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

A Staff subcommittee has been formed to study Article 9.

 

Article 10. Landscaping and Screening

10-9

1006(c)

Add subsection C to the Additional Screening Requirements section to provide language for the screening of exterior storage (related to amendments in articles 4 and 5 discussed aboved)

(Initiated: October 2006 with TA-10-10-06)

 

 

 

Staff is continuing to study this issue.  Language for this provision is being drafted and tested for accuracy and applicability prior to adoption.

(Related to Amendment to add Sec. 403 and to 538)

 

Article 11. General Development Standards

11-9

1105(b)

Revise the language of this section so that it is consistent with Article 8 (Subdivision Regulations).

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

Article 12. Floodplain Management Regulations

Article 13. Development Review Procedures

Article 14. Boards and Commissions

Article 15. Nonconformities

15-8

1504(c)(2)

For clarity, add the last sentence of Section 1504(c)(2)(ii) to the end of the general statement for Residential Zoning Districts.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

See table below.

15-9

1504(c)(3)

For clarity, add the last sentence of Section 1504(c)(2)(ii) to the end of the general statement for Nonresidential Zoning Districts.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

Article 16. Violations, Penalties and Enforcement

Article 17. Terminology

17-7

1701

Define the term exterior storage to coincide with the amendments to Article 4 and Article 5.

(Initiated: September 2006 with TA-09-09-06)

 

 

 

17-19

1718

Remove the word “not” from the 4th line of the definition for “Construction Sales and Services”.

(Initiated: March 2007 with TA-03-02-07)

 

 

 

17-26

1752

Modify the definition of Small Collection Recycling Facilities for clarity and to remove the provision which states that vehicles may be used as collection units.

(Initiated: December 2006 with TA-12-14-06)

 

 

 

See following page.