PC Minutes 3/22/10 DRAFT
ITEM NO. 5 IG TO IL; 5.252 ACRES; 151 MCDONALD DR (MJL)
Z-1-1-10: Consider a request to rezone approximately 5.252 acres from IG (General Industrial) to IL (Limited Industrial), located at 151 McDonald Dr. Submitted by Paul Werner Architects, for Downtown Equities II, LC, property owner of record.
STAFF PRESENTATION
Ms. Michelle Leininger presented the item.
Commissioner Harris asked if a personal convenience, retail sales, or food service could be inside the hotel.
Ms. Leininger said they would probably be considered more of an accessory uses and if the uses are permitted in the use table as an accessory use then they would be allowed.
APPLICANT PRESENTATION
Mr. Paul Werner, Paul Werner Architects, agreed with the staff recommendation. He was concerned about the list getting long of uses not permitted. He said he did not agree with conditions F, I, J, and K and would like them removed. He suggested possibly limiting the square footage to 20,000 for conditions I, J, and K.
Commissioner Carter inquired about the covenants.
Mr. Werner read from a list such things as mixed media, convenience stores, fast food, theaters, thrift stores, adult themed retail and shows. He said some commercial there makes sense and they would be willing to limit that.
Commissioner Rasmussen inquired about a snack/gift type shop in the hotel.
Mr. McCullough said if conditions I, J, and K are stricken they would still accept some ancillary hotel related retail but that staff would not support standalone retail at the site.
Commissioner Rasmussen inquired about condition G.
Ms. Leininger said that is a grocery store type of use.
Mr. Werner said they have possibly thought about a coffee shop within the hotel.
Commissioner Hird asked if they wanted to lease out space in the hotel to Starbucks how that would work.
Mr. McCullough said staff would have to see a specific plan for it but that it could be an ancillary use to the hotel but if they did a drive thru then it would not be an ancillary use.
Commissioner Hird asked if the commercial parking facility exclusion would exclude valet parking.
Mr. McCullough said no.
Commissioner Finkeldei asked if they passed the rezoning as suggested in the staff report could it still have ancillary uses.
Mr. McCullough said they can have those accessory ancillary uses with the hotel as the primary use.
Commissioner Finkeldei asked if a Jimmy John’s inside the hotel, like the Oread Hotel, would be an ancillary use.
Mr. McCullough said it would be site and plan specific.
Commissioner Moore inquired about the footprint of the hotel.
Mr. Werner said 2-2 ½ acres, possibly 3 stories in height, no more than 15,000 square feet.
Commissioner Rasmussen thought commercial parking as ancillary might be okay because it could be, for example, a stop for a shuttle to the airport.
Commissioner Harris was comfortable with the uses not permitted list but suggested adding something at the top that says ‘except those asterisked as possible accessory uses’ and then asterisk those uses that would be appropriate for a hotel.
Commissioner Moore asked about the out parcels.
Commissioner Harris said it depends on what it is.
Commissioner Moore said if the square footage was capped then it would be married to some type of hotel use.
Commissioner Finkeldei was in favor of a 15,000 square foot cap.
Commissioner Moore stated that when trucks turn onto N. Iowa from Princeton it stops traffic dead. He asked if there were plans to address that.
Mr. Werner said it would be a right in, right out along Princeton. He said it is designed for a free flowing truck lane.
Commissioner Moore asked if the R-O-W would be there.
Mr. Werner said the R-O-W is there.
Commissioner Singleton asked if the applicant wanted 20,000 square feet of retail.
Mr. Werner said 15,000 square feet seems reasonable.
Commissioner Harris asked what Design Guidelines would apply to the property.
Mr. McCullough said anything under the Commercial Use category would apply to the Commercial Design Guidelines.
PUBLIC HEARING
Mr. Steven Holton, said this would result in another hotel being across from the existing Holiday Inn Holidome. He read the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) 12 month occupancy rate in Lawrence, 56% for 2009. He said this was before the new Oread Hotel. The average daily rate in Lawrence, according to the CVB, is $81. This is the lowest rate since 2005. He said the Holidome only sells out 8-10 times per year on weekends. He discussed the impact to the hospitality industry. He was opposed to the rezoning.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION
Commissioner Harris inquired about screening of possibly allowed tractor trailers.
Mr. McCullough said the appropriate buffer yards would apply.
Commissioner Harris asked if they would be sufficient to screen the view of big trucks from the road.
Mr. McCullough said it would be hard to screen semi trucks.
Commissioner Moore asked what side the detention basin was on.
Mr. Werner said the northeast side. He said the only commercial parking he could foresee would be cars to the airport.
Commissioner Harris addressed Mr. Holton’s comments about hotels and vacancy rates. She said they have the same issue with apartments and she does not feel like she has the tools and knowledge to deny a project. This project is not for a hotel, it is for a rezoning to allow for a hotel. She said this is a concern for the community but she does not know how to address it here. She does not have the tools to evaluate the number of hotel rooms or apartments that are appropriate for a community.
Commissioner Carter said it seemed to be more of a free market issue and a matter of competition. He thought a 65 room hotel sounded like a fairly limited service hotel and something the city could probably still use.
Commissioner Hird said he would probably support the rezoning but was still concerned about parking trucks. He suggested carving it out to say that commercial parking of automobiles will be permitted but not commercial parking of trucks. He did not want to see it become a truck stop.
Mr. Werner said he was fine with that.
ACTION TAKEN
Motioned by Commissioner Finkeldei, seconded by Commissioner Carter, to approve the rezoning of approximately 5.252 acres, from the IG (General Industrial) District to IL (Limited Industrial) District based on the findings presented in the staff report with the following conditions and forwarding it to the City Commission with a recommendation for approval.
Unanimously approved 8-0.