PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

Regular Agenda – Public Hearing Item

 

PC Staff Report

3/24/08

ITEM NO. 6A:     RS7 TO GPI; 9.03 ACRES; 2145 and 2201 Louisiana St. (MKM)

 

Z-01-03-08: A request to rezone a tract of land approximately 9.03 acres, from RS-7 (Single-Dwelling Residential) to GPI (General Public and Institutional). The property is located at 2145 & 2201 Louisiana. Submitted by Landplan Engineering PA, for Lawrence Public Schools USD 497, property owner of record.  

 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the rezoning request [Z-01-03-08] for approximately 9.03 acres from RS7 (Single-dwelling Residential) District to GPI (General Public and Institutional Use) District and forwarding it to the City Commission with a recommendation for approval based on the findings of fact found in the body of the staff report.

 

Applicant’s reason for request:        “The new development code changed all the school property from RS to GPI. At the time of the rezoning the property was not used as a school but a vacant building. The school district at this time uses the property for the computer school.”

KEY POINTS

·         The subject property contains two parcels, 2145 and 2201 Louisiana Street. A school is located on 2145 Louisiana Street and 2201 Louisiana is undeveloped.

·         Most public schools were identified and rezoned to the GPI Zoning District with the adoption of the Development Code.

 

GOLDEN FACTORS TO CONSIDER

CHARACTER OF THE AREA

·         The property is located on Louisiana Street in a single family residential neighborhood one block south of the Lawrence High School. The residential neighborhood surrounds the subject property to the north, east and west. Commercial development along W 23rd Street corridor abuts the property to the south.

 

CONFORMANCE WITH HORIZON 2020

§         The proposed rezoning request from RS7 to GPI is consistent with land use recommendations found in Horizon 2020.

 

ASSOCIATED CASES/OTHER ACTION REQUIRED

§         Approval of rezoning request by the City Commission and publication of ordinance.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT RECEIVED PRIOR TO PRINTING

·         A member of the public called to inquire about the rezoning and questioned the fact that multi-family development would be possible in the GPI District.  Staff is initiating a text amendment to remove multi-dwelling development or any retail development from the GPI District. 

·         Several area residents called to voice concern over the impact any additional development would have in this area, particularly on traffic.

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Current Zoning and Land Use:

 

RS7 (Single-dwelling Residential) District; Lawrence Virtual School and undeveloped lot.

 

Surrounding Zoning and Land Use:

To the north and west: RS7 (Single-dwelling Residential) District; single-dwelling residences and a church.

 

To the east: RS5 (Single-dwelling Residential) District; established single-family neighborhood.

 

To the south: CS (Commercial Strip) Louisiana Purchase Shopping Center.

 

 

I.  CONFORMANCE WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Applicant’s Response:

  “This school at the time of Horizon 2020 was an elementary school and the only change is to a different type of school use.”

 

Horizon 2020 discusses educational facilities in Chapter Ten – Community Facilities. “The Plan therefore regards areas shown for the various residential categories as appropriate for many public and semi-public uses, provided access and buffering are considered in their location.”  The GPI (General Public and Institutional Use) District was established with the Development Code to accommodate institutional uses occupying significant land areas. The district regulations are designed to offer the institution maximum flexibility for patterns of uses within the district while ensuring that uses and development patterns along the edges of the district are compatible with adjoining land uses. The GPI District is primarily intended to occur along arterial and collector streets.  The GPI District is intended to insure that access and buffering are considered in the location of general public and institutional uses and also to allow the zoning map to accurately reflect institutional uses of property.

 

Staff Finding  --  Zoning the property GPI is in conformance with the recommendations of the comprehensive plan.

 

II.     ZONING AND USE OF NEARBY PROPERTY, INCLUDING OVERLAY ZONING

Staff Finding  --  The subject property is located at the southern edge of a single-family residential neighborhood. The surrounding area to the north, east and west is developed with single-dwelling residences in the RS7 and RS5 (Single-dwelling Residential) Districts with minimum lot sizes of 7,000 sq. ft. and 5,000 sq. ft. required. A neighborhood church is located to the west of 2201 Louisiana. The southern portion of the subject property abuts property that is zoned CS (Commercial Strip) and is developed with a shopping center.

 

III.  CHARACTER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD

The property is located within a residential neighborhood that contains Lawrence High School, the Lawrence Virtual School, and a neighborhood church. The area is predominately residential in nature but is adjacent to commercial strip development to the south along W 23rd Street, a principal arterial.

 

Staff Finding  --  The area is a residential neighborhood with schools and a church that is adjacent to a high intensity commercial area along W 23rd Street.

 

IV.        PLANS FOR THE AREA OR NEIGHBORHOOD, AS REFLECTED IN ADOPTED AREA AND/OR SECTOR PLANS INCLUDING THE PROPERTY OR ADJOINING PROPERTY

This area has not been the subject of any area or sector plans.

 

Staff Finding  --  No individual plans have been developed for this area to date. The use is compliant with the land use recommended in the Future Land Use Map in Horizon 2020.

 

V.   SUITABILITY OF SUBJECT PROPERTY FOR THE USES TO WHICH IT HAS BEEN RESTRICTED UNDER THE EXISTING ZONING REGULATIONS

Applicant’s response:

“The district regulation is designed to offer the institution maximum flexibility for patterns of uses within the district while ensuring that uses and development patterns are compatible with adjoining land uses.”

 

The subject property is zoned RS7 (Single-Dwelling Residential) District. Per the Permitted Use Table in Section 20-402 a school requires a Special Use Permit in the residential zoning districts.  Schools are permitted by right in the Commercial Zoning Districts and the GPI District.  As this is public school property, and commercial uses are not proposed for this property; the GPI (General Public and Institutional Use) District would be the appropriate district. 

 

Staff Finding  --  A school requires approval of a Special Use Permit in the Residential Zoning Districts, but is permitted by right in the Commercial and GPI Districts. As the area will continue to be used as a public school the GPI District is the appropriate zoning district.  

 

VI.    LENGTH OF TIME SUBJECT PROPERTY HAS REMAINED VACANT AS ZONED

Applicant’s response:

“This property has not been vacant but used as a school starting in 1954 before City Codes were developed.”

 

Staff Finding – 2145 Louisiana is currently developed with the Lawrence Virtual School. 2201 Louisiana previously housed a residence which was moved in 1999, and has remained vacant since that time.

 

VII.  EXTENT TO WHICH APPROVING THE REZONING WILL DETRIMENTALLY AFFECT NEARBY PROPERTIES

Applicant’s response:

“This zoning change will not be detrimental to the nearby properties. The school use has been there starting in 1954. The surrounding properties were constructed after the school was constructed.”

 

The rezoning will assign a zoning district in which a public school is a permitted use and will relieve the school of the requirement to obtain a Special Use Permit.  The rezoning request is intended to zone the property so the zoning accurately reflects the school use.  There is no change proposed to the property associated with this rezoning.

 

Staff Finding – This rezoning will assign a zoning district which accurately reflects the existing use of the property. There is no physical change being proposed with this rezoning. The rezoning would have no detrimental impact on surrounding properties.

 

VIII. THE GAIN, IF ANY, TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE DUE TO DENIAL OF THE APPLICATION, AS COMPARED TO THE HARDSHIP IMPOSED UPON THE LANDOWNER, IF ANY, AS A RESULT OF THE DENIAL OF THE APPLICATION

Applicant’s response:

       “The gain to the public is a large tract of land used to educate the youth of the community and the hardship would be this area to develop in residential use and the school district would need to find property somewhere else in the area to develop.”

 

Evaluation of these criteria includes weighing the benefits to the public versus the benefits of the owner of the subject property. Benefits are measured based on the anticipated impacts of the rezoning request on the public health, safety and welfare.

 

Staff Finding  --  The benefit to the public health, safety and welfare would be the provision of accurate zoning information regarding the actual use of the property. The hardship to the landowner if the zoning were denied would be that any future improvements to the school would require approval through a Special Use Permit.

 

STAFF REVIEW

2145 Louisiana is developed with the Lawrence Virtual School which also houses satellite Johnson County Community College classes.  2201 Louisiana is undeveloped.  The applicant requested rezoning to the GPI District so the zoning would accurately reflect the land use and the zoning of all the school properties would be consistent.  Schools are permitted in the residential district with a Special Use Permit. Lawrence Virtual School, formerly Centennial Elementary School, was established prior to the adoption of the 1966 Zoning Ordinance and the property has not been site planned or platted. If any additions or modifications were proposed to the site it would be necessary to site plan and plat and submit an application for a Special Use Permit. Rezoning to the GPI District would place the school in a zoning district in which it was permitted by right.

 

The Permitted Use Table in Section 20-403 lists the uses permitted in the non-residential zoning districts. The table lists ‘Multi-Dwelling Structures’ and retail sales and service of a ‘Personal Improvement’ category as permitted uses in the GPI District.  A text amendment is being initiated to remove these uses from the GPI (General Public and Institutional Use) District.  Tom Bracciano, the Division Director of Operations and Facility Planning for the School District, stated that the School District requested the rezoning so all the school properties would be zoned the same and stated that they intend on maintaining the school use of the property.

 

IX. PROFESSIONAL STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends approval of the rezoning request for 2145 and 2201 Louisiana Street from the RS7 (Single-Dwelling Residential) District to the GPI (General Public and Institutional Use) District so the zoning classification will accurately reflect the existing land use and the School District’s properties will be consistently zoned.