PC Minutes 4/21/08
DRAFT
ITEM NO. 6A
Z-02-07A-08: A request to rezone a
tract of land approximately 6.99 acres from
ITEM NO. 6B
Z-02-07B-08: A request to rezone a
tract of land approximately 20.92 acres from
ITEM NO. 6C UR TO CN2; 7.23 ACRES; NE CORNER OF 6TH
ST & STONERIDGE AND NW CORNER OF 6TH ST & QUEENS RD (MKM)
Z-02-07C-08: A request to rezone a
tract of land approximately 7.23 acres from
ITEM NO. 6D
Z-02-07D-08: A request to rezone a
tract of land approximately 5.669 acres from
ITEM NO.
6E PRELIMINARY PLAT FOR CREEKSTONE;
PP-10-09-07: Revised Preliminary Plat
for Creekstone, Stoneridge Dr to
STAFF
PRESENTATION
Ms. Mary Miller presented items 6A-6E together.
APPLICANT
PRESENTATION
Mr. Pat Kelly, developer
of property, gave a brief history of himself and his background. Introduced Mark Anderson, Mike Finegold,
Joy Rhea, and Phil Struble, who were also present.
Mr. Phil Struble,
Landplan Engineering, discussed the RM12 rezoning. He felt that they needed to
go to more density, not less, but the RM12 will provide transitions to projects
that went into with less density than Horizon 2020 allowed. He stated the cost
of infrastructure makes more density necessary. He emphasized the walk-ability
of the project. He asked that condition 10 on the Preliminary Plat Staff Report
be stricken or include the option that the turn lanes can be financed through a
benefit district. He would like to proceed with the Preliminary Plat even if
the rezonings are deferred/denied.
Mr. Mark Anderson, said there were no other properties in the area
that had land with special assessments equal to $4 a square foot. He said the
plans need to work in economic reality and that these improvements are critical
for the City.
Mr. Mike Finegold, assisted Mr. Kelly in purchasing the property,
stated that they met with Planning Staff in the beginning and were encouraged to use mixed use development.
PUBLIC
HEARING
Mr. Alan Cowles,
West Lawrence Neighborhood Association, objected to the strip mall rezoning for
item 6C. He did not feel it fit the area plan. He mentioned promises that had
been made when additional commercial property was added to the 6th
& Wakarusa area.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION
Commissioner Moore asked
where the line between RM12 to RM15 originated from.
Ms. Miller said the size
of RM15 was so much larger than the other areas zoned for medium density in the
area and the Northwest Area Plan recommends reducing the density from
Commissioner Carter asked why Mr. Cowles referred to a strip mall.
Ms. Miller said it can be considered strip commercial.
Commissioner Eichhorn asked if the Northwest
Area Plan was in Horizon 2020.
Mr. McCullough said that
the Northwest Area Plan needed to be updated but that they still use it as a
guide.
Commissioner Eichhorn asked if originally the plan was to have CN2 zoning
all the way across the project.
Mr. McCullough replied
yes, as the first design.
Commissioner Lawson said
the retail impact study acknowledges that it was done but he did not see
results.
Ms. Miller said there
were a few minor errors and that it was reviewed and accepted by Long Range
Planner,
Commissioner Lawson
asked what it revealed.
Mr. Struble said the
first design had CN2 zoning across the entire front. CO is not as clear cut as
other districts, other than saying that there is capacity for more small
commercial retail, there was not much more. The study indicated that there was
capacity in the retail market for this development.
Commissioner Lawson said
that one of the things staff points to is the amount of existing commercial
development in that area. He felt that staff was right and asked how many fast
food stores and banks does
Mr. Kelly said that a walkable community was needed and that the community could
benefit from this project.
Commissioner Eichhorn asked what other options they would have if they
developed as a mixed use district.
Mr. McCullough said that
staff would have to look at it.
Mr. Struble said they
are focusing on the walkability of the project and
that it is not designed to compete with nearby developments such as Mercato or WalMart.
Commissioner Eichhorn inquired about private streets and would more
density come from a PD.
Mr. Struble replied, no.
The private street comment came from using standard city note language. They
will not be creating private streets with this development. He was not in favor of PD’s.
Commissioner Carter had
questions about the long term plan and asked if staff’s opinion had changed.
Mr. McCullough said that
September was when staff took a harder look at it and that staff opinion is
based on Horizon 2020.
Commissioner Moore said
that if office development was held to the same standard as commercial there
would not be any more office development built.
Commissioner Finkeldei
asked if the nodal concept in Horizon 2020 was at the corners of collector
streets and arterials or arterials intersections.
Mr. McCullough said they
are specifically identified by list and map in Horizon 2020.
Commissioner Finkeldei
inquired about the designation of the streets.
Mr. Struble said the
streets are collectors.
Ms. Miller said that
certain intersections are designated for CN2.
Commissioner Finkeldei
said that CO and CN2 in the use tables are fairly similar and they both allow
retail sales generally. He asked what the difference between retail sales
general and retail sales typical was.
Ms. Miller read the definitions out loud.
Commissioner Finkeldei inquired about the possibility of constructing multiple
buildings being per lot.
Ms. Miller said that two buildings could probably go on one lot, but they
would be small buildings.
Commissioner Blaser said
that he wished the area on both sides was built out because he thought it would
look different. He was not in favor of commercial.
Commissioner Finkeldei
asked Mr. Struble about the plat request.
Mr. Struble said that he
would like to proceed with the Preliminary Plat and work on the rezoning later.
Commissioner Finkeldei
asked staff about their position on moving ahead with the Preliminary Plat.
Ms. Miller said that
there would be constraints on future development if the zoning was not
determined. If different zonings were approved, the southern portion of the
plat may need to be reconfigured.
Mr. Struble was not
worried about that issue and said they were willing to take the risk.
ACTION
TAKEN ON ITEM 6A
Motioned by Commissioner Lawson, seconded by
Commissioner Moore, to approve the rezoning request for 6.99 acres from UR
(Urban Reserve) to RM12 (Multi-dwelling Residential) District and forwarding it
to the
Unanimously
approved 7-0.
ACTION
TAKEN ON ITEM 6B
Motioned by Commissioner Lawson, seconded by
Commissioner Moore, to approve the rezoning request for 20.92 acres from UR
(Urban Reserve) to RM15 (Multi-dwelling Residential) District and forwarding it
to the
Unanimously
approved 7-0.
ACTION
TAKEN ON ITEM 6C
Commissioner Moore said he would not
vote to deny the item.
Commissioner Eichhorn asked how they would
change the code to allow this type of development without it being a strip.
Commissioner Lawson felt that 930,000
square feet was an issue. He respected the concerns regarding the developer
costs.
Commissioner Eichhorn said if support could be
found that it was not necessarily a bad place to put it and suggested that
perhaps H2020 should be changed to permit this.
Commissioner Carter said the market has
to take care of itself.
Commissioner Eichhorn
said that they need to use findings of fact to support their recommendation.
Commissioner Finkeldei was trying to
understand how Horizon 2020 and the Development Code work together. He said
that commercial could be supported there but that it did not comply with
Horizon 2020.
Commissioner Eichhorn
inquired about limitations in CO.
Commissioner Moore did not understand why it was
okay to overbuild office.
Mr. Struble said they would not be opposed to CO
across the whole front of the project.
Commissioner Finkeldei asked what was the reason for recommendation of denial of the CO.
Mr. McCullough said that CO allows many retail
uses by right and the development is arranged in a strip pattern. Staff
recommendation was to reduce that.
Commissioner Finkeldei said that CO is
certainly more limiting than CN2, but still allows commercial uses. He asked if
having CO across the whole area would change staff recommendation.
Mr. McCullough said that would not change staff
recommendation.
Commissioner Finkeldei agreed that CN2
does not comply with Horizon 2020 and said that the CO district does not have
nodal requirements. He was inclined to support CO across the whole area but not
CN2.
Commissioner Moore inquired about how
this development complies.
Commissioner Carter asked if the lesser
change table would allow approval of CO.
Mr. McCullough replied, no.
Mr. John Miller stated that the lesser change
table did not include CO. The applicant would have to reapply for CO. The
Planning Commission can make a recommendation of approval for CN2.
Mr. Struble asked for deferral of the two CN2
commercial parcels but to move ahead with the Preliminary Plat.
Mr. McCullough said that there would be a lot of
‘what ifs’ in doing that.
Mr. Struble asked if there was a way for them not
to bring in a final plat for those phases without the rezoning.
Mr. McCullough said that staff could work with
that if the Commission desires and recommended that a note be added to the plat
that requires zoning to be approved before the final plat can be submitted.
Motioned by Commissioner Finkeldei, seconded by
Commissioner Carter, to indefinitely defer the
rezoning of approximately 7.23 acres from UR (Urban Reserve) to CN2
(Neighborhood Shopping Center). 2.6 acres located in the NE corner of 6th
St & Stoneridge and 4.55 acres located in the NW corner of 6th
St & Queens Rd.
Unanimously
deferred 7-0.
ACTION
TAKEN ON ITEM 6D
Motioned by Commissioner
Finkeldei, seconded by Commissioner Chaney, to approve the rezoning request for
5.669 acres from
Unanimously approved 7-0.
ACTION
TAKEN ON ITEM 6E
Motioned by Commissioner
Finkeldei, seconded by Commissioner Carter, to approve the Preliminary
Plat and forward to City Commission with the following revised conditions of
approval:
1.
Provision of a
note on the preliminary plat to acknowledge that the applicant/property owner
would be required to execute several agreements at the final plat stage for
recording with the final plat, including:
a.
an agreement not
to protest the formation of a benefit district for signalization and geometric
intersection improvements at
b.
an agreement not
to protest the formation of a benefit district for improvements to
c.
an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit
district for geometric improvements to
2.
A note must be
placed on the plat stating that building permits for the multi-dwelling
development will be restricted to 35 if only one access point is provided and
restricted to 100 until 2 remote access points have been established, per the
Fire Code.
3.
A note must be
placed on the plat stating that the Utilities Department will be notified if
the access points are changed from that shown on the plat to allow coordination
with utility placement. The applicant must also notify the Public Works
Department regarding any change to the proposed access points.
4.
Private streets
are permitted only with planned developments. Any proposed streets on
5.
Provisions of
Financing of Roads, Sewer, Water and other Public Service Notes 1 and 2 must be
revised to remove any reference to ‘private’ streets.
6.
Minimum Elevation
of Building Openings (MEBO) must be noted for each lot which is adjacent to a
drainage easement.
7.
A note must be
placed on the plat stating that no building permits will be issued until
streets are installed, hydrants are in service and signs are in place.
8.
A concept plan
must be submitted which illustrates that the lot size and configuration will
permit compliance with the Commercial Design Standards.
9.
Dedicated turn
lanes must be shown on the plat, northbound right-turn lane at
10.
Notes must be
added to the ‘Provisions of Financing’ notes stating that ‘The northbound
right-turn lane on Stoneridge Drive at Kelly Drive will be constructed at the
developers expense or through benefit district financing’ and “If Queens Road
has been built prior to the construction of Kelly Drive, the developer is
responsible for the construction of the northbound left-turn lane on Queens
Road at Kelly Drive.” ‘
11.
Final Plat will
not be approved until the rezoning for individual lots has been approved,
excluding
Unanimously approved 7-0.