Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning and Development Services

 

TO:

Thomas M. Markus, City Manager

FROM:

Planning Staff

DATE:

March 31, 2016

RE:

First Amendment to the Cooperation Agreement between the City of Lawrence and the University of Kansas to accommodate the Central District Development Project

 

Background

The City and University, in their mutual desire to avoid disputes concerning the applicability of certain City land use regulations to University property, entered into a Cooperation Agreement on April 7, 2005, which specifies certain City land use regulations with which the University shall comply in its ownership of real property within City boundaries for projects within a 150-foot interior boundary of campus. 

 

The University of Kansas is undertaking a major construction effort known as the Central District Development Project located between Irving Hill Road and 19th Street, and between Naismith Drive and Iowa Street. The Central District Development Project includes razing the Stouffer Place Apartments and existing Burge Union, constructing new streets, utilities, a parking garage and surface parking lots, a new power plant, an integrated science building, a new union facility, play field, a residence hall with dining facilities and new apartments.   Certain elements of the project do not comply with standards of the Cooperation Agreement and the ad hoc Community Program Advisory Committee, discussed below, recommends through a Committee Report an Amendment to the Cooperation Agreement.

 

The Cooperation Agreement requires the University to establish an ad hoc Community Program Advisory Committee with representation from adjoining property owners, neighborhood association representatives, City representatives, and appropriate University representation, in order to review architectural plans and drawings, site and footprint layouts, provide recommendations for changes and improvements, and shall have the opportunity to review subsequent planning documents.  Such a committee was convened and a process was completed whereby committee members were made aware of the project and had opportunity to provide input on the design elements of the entire project. (minutes attached)

 

The Cooperation Agreement requires, amongst other things, that any new University construction within the 150-foot buffer area shall have a height no greater than its set-back from the public right-of-way adjacent to the nearest City-maintained street.  It also requires that on-site parking pursuant to City requirements be provided for student housing structures built within the 150-foot buffer area.  The Central District Development Project contains elements that exceed the height and parking standards of the Cooperation Agreement project as outlined in greater detail below.  The Community Program Advisory Committee supports amending the Cooperation Agreement to accommodate varying from the standards of the Cooperation Agreement.

 

Setback Issue

The Cooperation Agreement requires that building heights have a height no greater than its setback from the public right-of-way.  This project includes an element of expanding 19th Street right-of-way to the north to accommodate utilities and street improvements thereby reducing the setback of building that would have been compliant with the Cooperation Agreement but for the need to expand 19th Street to the north to accommodate the city’s street project.  Section II of the Committee Report summarizes this issue as reflected on the site plan.

 

Parking Calculation Issue

The Cooperation Agreement requires that on-site parking for student housing structures built within the 150-foot buffer area meet City requirements, which requires that one space per bedroom be provided plus a certain number of visitor spaces.  The intent of this provision is to ensure that parking for student housing located on the edge of neighborhoods creates little to no impact on the neighborhood.  It was a standard born out of projects located in the Oread Neighborhood where city streets were shared between KU housing and non-KU residences.

 

The housing element of the project generates 1,947 bedrooms.  The University analyzed historic data for apartments and residence halls and found that students buy parking permits at a rate of 70% of apartment bedrooms and 50% of residence hall bedrooms.  Using the historic ratios for the new apartments and residence hall, 1,122 spaces are required and 1,297 spaces are provided. The City’s Development Code would require 1,947 spaces.  Utilizing the historic data approach to calculate the parking demand, the number of parking spots provided will exceed the calculated demand.  All of the parking is located within the confines of campus north of 19th Street and parking in the neighborhood was found by the Community Program Advisory Committee to be of low impact.

 

A technical point should be noted on this parking matter.  The Cooperation Agreement requires adherence to the City’s parking standards only for those structures located within the 150 foot buffer area.  The University can apply any parking standard they wish for structures outside of the buffer area.  In theory, the discussion could have been framed such that the portions of the housing structures within the buffer are being supplied with city code compliant parking and the portions outside of the buffer would be set by the University.  However, as the committee discussed the issue, it was determined that the location of the neighborhood streets would not be convenient for students to use given the location of the parking lots on campus serving the new housing and the barrier that 19th Street presents.

 

Recommended Action

Staff recommends that the City Commission approve the First Amendment to the Cooperation Agreement between the City of Lawrence and the University of Kansas to accommodate the Central District Development Project and authorize the Mayor to sign said Agreement.