PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

REGULAR AGENDA --NON-PUBLIC HEARING ITEM:

 

PC Staff Report

04/21/08

ITEM NO. 6E:

 

PRELIMINARY PLAT FOR CREEKSTONE; STONERIDGE DR TO QUEENS RD & 6TH ST TO OVERLAND DR (MKM)

PP-10-09-07:

 

Preliminary Plat for Creekstone, Stoneridge Dr to Queens Rd & 6th St to Overland Dr, a 6 lot subdivision containing 34.864 acres. Submitted by Landplan Engineering, for Pear Tree Village LC, property owner of record.

 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends deferral of the Preliminary Plat of Creekstone until rezoning requests have been approved due to the fact that the proposed development is not consistent with the recommendations in the Comprehensive Plan or the Northwest Plan.

If the decision were made to approve the preliminary plat, Staff recommends the following 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 Queens Road and W 6th Street;

b.      an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district for improvements to Queens Road; and

c.      an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district for geometric improvements to Queens Road and Overland Drive.

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 Lot 1, Block One must be public and must be shown on a revised plat with dedicated right-of-way and any necessary easements.

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 Stoneridge Drive and Kelly Drive and northbound left-turn lane at Queens Road and Kelly Drive.

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’ 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.” ‘If Queens Road has not yet been built when Kelly Drive is constructed and the City Engineer determines that the road is within the stages of planning and development that an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district may be appropriate, an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district may be executed.’

 

Applicant’s Reason for Request: Subdivision requirement prior to development of property.

 

KEY POINTS

·         The preliminary plat was originally submitted in October of 2007, and has been revised to reflect revisions made in the associated rezoning requests.

·         The preliminary plat is accompanied by four rezoning requests: Z-02-07A-08 for 6.99 acres from the UR to RM12, Z-02-07B-08 for 20.92 from UR to RM15, Z-02-07C-08 for 7.23 acres from UR to CN2 and Z-02-07D-08 for 5.669 acres from UR to CO.

·         The proposed commercial development is not compliant with recommendations in Horizon 2020 or with the Northwest Plan.

 

SUBDIVISION CITATIONS TO CONSIDER

·         This application is being reviewed under the Subdivision Regulations for Lawrence and Unincorporated Douglas County, effective Jan 1, 2007.

·         The applicant proposes the use of private streets, which are permitted only in Planned Developments. The streets must be shown as public streets with dedicated right-of-way or the property must be rezoned to permit development as a Planned Development.

 

ASSOCIATED CASES/OTHER ACTION REQUIRED

Zoning

·         Planning Commission approval of associated rezonings: Z-02-07A-08 for 6.99 acres from UR to RM12, Z-02-07B-08  for 20.92 acres from UR to RM15, Z-02-07C-08 for 7.23 acres from UR to CN2 and Z-02-07D-08 for 5.669 acres from UR to CO. These rezoning requests are being considered by the Planning Commission at the April meeting concurrent with this Preliminary Plat.

·         City Commission approval of rezoning requests and publications of ordinances.

Platting

·         Submittal of the preliminary plat to the City Commission for acceptance of dedication of rights-of-way and easements.

·         Submission of Public Improvement Plans to City Public Works Department and Utilities Department prior to recordation of the final plat.

·         Written certification from the City Engineer that all required public improvements have been completed or one of the means of ensuring completion of required public improvements listed in Section 20-811(h)(2) of the City/County Subdivision Regulations.

·         Planning Director’s approval of the final plat and recordation of the Creekstone Final Plat at the Douglas County Register of Deeds.

Development

·         Submittal and administrative approval of a site plan for the multi-dwelling development.

·         Submittal and administrative approval of site plans for the commercial development requires compliance with the Development Code and Commercial Design Standards.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT RECEIVED PRIOR TO PRINTING

·         None to date

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

 

 

Current Zoning and Land Use:

 

UR (Urban Reserve) District; agricultural use/cropland

 

Surrounding Zoning and Land Use:

To the west: 

RM12D (Multi-dwelling Residential) District; property has been rezoned and platted but is currently undeveloped.

RS10 (Single-dwelling Residential); St Margaret’s Episcopal Church property.

GPI (General Public and Institutional Use) District; City water tower will be constructed at this location.

 

To the south:

PRD (Planned Residential Development) District;  undeveloped residential property platted as the Stoneridge East Addition; Multi-dwelling residential units under construction.

RS7 (Single-dwelling Residential) District; undeveloped property belonging to the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

 

To the north:

UR (Urban Reserve) District; agricultural uses.

 

To the east:

UR (Urban Reserve) District; rural residences.

RM12 (Multi-dwelling Residential) District; townhomes.

 

 

Site Summary

Gross Area:

Rights of Way:

Net Area:

Number of Lots:

40.79 acres

  7.71 acres

24.21 acres

6

 

 

 

 

STAFF REVIEW

The subject property is located north of W 6th Street and is bounded on the north by Overland Drive, extended, on the east by Queens Road and on the west by Stoneridge Drive, extended. 

 

Zoning and Land Use

The subject property is currently zoned UR (Urban Reserve) which was the zoning designation assigned it when it was annexed into the City. Development requires rezoning to the appropriate zoning classification. The property is surrounded by residentially zoned properties or property which still retains the UR designation. Commercially zoned property is located to the east, near the intersection of W 6th Street and Wakarusa Drive and commercial zoning has been approved  near the intersection of George Williams Way and W 6th Street to the west, pending recording of a final plat and approval of final development plans. These commercial areas are designated in Horizon 2020 as a Community Commercial Center at W 6th Street and Wakarusa Drive, and as a Community Commercial Center limited to 400,000 sq. ft. of retail commercial uses (CC400) at W 6th Street and K-10. The intersection at W 6th and Queens Road or W 6th and Stoneridge is not recommended for Commercial Development.  Staff does not recommend approval of the rezoning requests to the CN2 (Neighborhood Commercial Center) District or the CO (Commercial-Office) District, and recommends deferral of the preliminary plat for Creekstone Addition until zoning requests have been approved.  If the commercial zoning were approved the Preliminary Plat would need to be designed to comply with the Commercial Design Standards and Guidelines. The standards are typically applied at the site plan or development plan stage, but the standards require that adequate area be provided for each lot to permit the orientation of the building to the intersection and the other standards contained within the Commercial Design Standards.  Approval of a preliminary plat for a commercial purpose would require a concept showing how the buildings layout could comply with the Commercial Design Standards.  A note is required and has been provided, General Note 9, on the preliminary plat stating that “approval of the preliminary plat does not certify approval of these proposed land uses.” However, it is problematic to review a preliminary plat for conformance with the Subdivision Regulations and Development Code if the zoning designations may change.

 

Streets and Access

Access is restricted from W 6th Street and north along both Stoneridge Dr and Queens Rd in accordance with KDOT’s access standards along W 6th St. The plat includes an interior public street from which the properties adjacent to W 6th will take access. Access is planned from Queens Road, Overland Drive and Stoneridge Drive for the multi-dwelling development. The notes on the Preliminary Plat indicate that the applicant proposes private streets for the multi-dwelling portion of the development. Per Section 20-810(d)(9) private streets are permitted only in Planned Developments approved by the Planning and City Commission. Public streets must be shown on the preliminary plat with dedication of right-of-way and any necessary easements, or the development must be rezoned and developed as a Planned Development and the note referencing the financing of private streets, Provisions of Financing - Note 1, must be revised to indicate only public streets.

 

The Fire Code requires remote access points to be located a distance of ½ the diagonal distance of the property.  If the adjacent streets have not been constructed prior to the multi-dwelling development, the number of building permits would be limited until the remote access points are provided.  The Development Code requires two access points be provided for any multi-dwelling development containing more than 35 dwelling units. The Fire Code requires remote access points for any development containing more than 100 dwelling units.  A note must be placed on the plat that building permits for the multi-dwelling development will be restricted to 35 with only one access point and restricted to 100 until 2 remote access points, have been established per the Fire Code.

 

The Traffic Impact Study was reviewed by various City Departments. The study indicated that a dedicated northbound right-turn lane from Stoneridge Drive and a dedicated northbound left-turn land from Queens Road at Kelly Drive would be needed for this development.  Per the City Engineer, the northbound right-turn lane on Stoneridge Drive at Kelly Drive must be provided by the developer when they construct Kelly Drive as the City will begin construction of Stoneridge Drive shortly. If Queens Road has not yet been built when Kelly Drive is constructed, an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district may be executed. However, if Queens Road has been built the developer will be responsible for construction of the northbound left-turn lane on Queens Road at Kelly Drive.  Turn lanes must be shown on the plat and notes to this effect must be added to the plat.

 

The property owner will be required to execute several Agreements Not to Protest the Formation of a Benefit District (ANTP) at the final plat stage, including the following:

  • agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district for signalization and geometric intersection improvements at Queens Road and W 6th Street;
  • agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district for improvements to Queens Road; and
  • agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district for geometric improvements to Queens Road and Overland Drive.

 

Utilities and Infrastructure 

The access points onto Overland Drive and Stoneridge may create issues with the placement of the waterlines. The City Utility Department requires notification 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.

 

Easements and Rights-of-way

A permanent easement for public and utility purposes was provided in Tract 7 of Condemnation Case #-3-C-311, District Court of Douglas County and is shown on the plat. A permanent easement for controlled access highway, Tract 7 of Condemnation Case #03-C-311 is shown on the plat and the access restriction is shown by hatch marks.  Sanitary sewer easements exist on the southern property boundary adjacent to W 6th Street and the eastern boundary adjacent to Queens Road. An existing 10’ right-of-way agreement to Southwestern Bell is included in the dedicated right-of-way for Queens Road.  AT&T had no comment on the proposal.

 

Conformance

Horizon 2020 states that “All new commercial and office development shall occur in accordance with the plan recommendations. New commercial, retail and related uses shall be developed as a node with shared parking areas, common access drives, and related design and appearance. Nodes shall be positioned and oriented to the primary street intersections where they are located, avoiding a ‘strip’ pattern as a result of extension of commercial uses along the streets from where the node originated.”  (Chapter 6, page 6-14)The layout of this preliminary plat does not conform with the nodal layout recommended by Horizon 2020.

 

Horizon 2020 includes recommendations for the size and location of commercial centers and requires that the plan be amended if the locations or size are to be changed. (Chapter 6, page 6-14).  The plan recommends a list of intersections as potential locations for new Neighborhood Commercial Centers. There are no locations recommended for W 6th Street.

 

Private streets are permitted only within Planned Developments. The streets which will serve Lot 1, Block One must be shown on the plan or the property must be rezoned to permit development as a Planned Development.

 

The preliminary plat, as conditioned, conforms with the Subdivision Regulations and Lot Density and Dimension Requirements of the Development Code for Commercial and Commercial-Office Development. However, it is not compliant with the nodal commercial development pattern strongly recommended in Horizon 2020. A concept plan must be provided to verify that the preliminary plat provides adequate area within each commercial lot to permit compliance with the Commercial Design Standards during the site planning process.  

 

An independent Retail Market Impact Analysis is required per Section 20-1107(a) of the Development Code for any proposed commercial development which could result in over 50,000 sq. ft. or more of additional floor area for retail businesses in the City. As the proposed rezoning and preliminary plat would create an area which could result in over 50,000 sq. ft. of retail floor area, a Retail Market Impact Analysis was required.  The Retail Market Study that was submitted by the applicant has been reviewed by Staff. Staff is of the opinion that the Retail Market Study submitted satisfies the requirements of Section 20-1107 of the Development Code.