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MASTER PLAN OVERVIEW |
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Origin of Plan The original Southern Development Plan was approved March 1994, fully updated in 2008 including revised boundaries and renamed Revised Southern Development Plan. The plan was adopted December 18, 2007 by the City Commission and January 7, 2008 by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. Since the 2008 adoption, a revision was approved by the City Commission on June 12, 2013 by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners on June 18, 2013 by the Lawrence City Commission.
The original Southern Development Plan was initiated and prepared while Horizon 2020 was being developed. The plan was prepared in response to the Target and Nieder Acres development requests. A predecessor of the plans was the South Lawrence Trafficway Corridor Land Use Plan approved in July 1989. That plan limited commercial development to the S. Iowa Street Corridor.
At the November 15, 2006 Planning Commission meeting, the Commission directed the Comprehensive Plans Committee (CPC), a sub-committee of the Planning Commission, to revise and update the Revised Southern Development Plan to direct future land use in the area. This direction was the result of a discussion related to a development application for a project known as the Exchange at Lawrence. The project included a request for annexation and rezoning. The CPC worked to update the plan and expanded the planning area beyond the original boundaries. The new planning area is bounded roughly to the north by W. 31st Street and the properties north of W. 31st Street between Ousdahl Road and Louisiana Street; to the west by E. 1150 Road (Kasold Drive) extended; to the south by the north side of the Wakarusa River; and to the east by E. 1500 Road (Haskell Avenue).
A property owner meeting was held on June 7, 2007 to introduce the first draft of the plan to property owners and interested persons in order to request feedback. Comments regarding the draft were collected and then discussed by the CPC. A second draft was completed and incorporates a number of the comments given at the public meeting. The second draft was posted on the Planning Department website in mid-July to allow the public to view the document. A second update was initiated in the spring of 2013 in response to a development request made by Menards to expand the Iowa Street/31st Street commercial node to accommodate commercial development.
The original plan followed the planning process that included neighborhood meetings and public hearings held by the Planning Commission. The more recent revisions and amendments are initiated by the development applications with in the planning area.
This plan is incorporated into Horizon 2020. The plan is currently be reviewed concurrently with a development application for the K-10 and Highway 59 intersection, CPA-17-00264. The City Commission should anticipate a future agenda item that includes a revision to the Revised Southern Development Plan with the related annexation, zoning, and development plan requests. This application replaces CPA-15-00225 and CPA-14-00107, which were not approved.
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Expected outcomes from the plan The scope of this plan is limited to land use only. It identifies broad categories of land use, graphically depicted in Map 3-1 and Map 3-2.
There are no expectations of the plan beyond providing a guide for land use and zoning decisions. The plan is evaluated concurrently with development applications that are made within the boundary area of the plan. Projects that are not compliant with the land use recommendations must request a plan amendment concurrently with the development application, which may or may not be approved through the public review process.
This plan is being reviewed as it pertains to the area located on the southeast corner of K-10 Highway and Highway 59 concurrently with a development application for commercial development. The plan will be a future city commission agenda item.
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Funding There are no specific implementation tasks associated with this plan. There are no dedicated or identified funding sources required for this plan. There are no funding obligations directly associated with this plan.
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Status Update Land development both north and south of 31st street is progressing consistent with the land use recommendations as follows:
The commercial area for the Menards store has been developed along with “shovel-ready” commercial pad sites, the pump station located on the northwest corner of 31st Street and Louisiana Street has been constructed and is operational, the Naismith Creek Subdivision has been approved and is being developed with detached residential units, and the Naismith Valley Park has been expanded. These projects are all located on the north side of 31st Street. They are consistent with the land use recommendations included in the plan.
South of 31st street, a multi-dwelling residential project, known as Collegiate, is being developed, north of K10 Highway. A site plan has been approved for the development of a storage facility, infilling a previously vacant commercial lot.
The area between Kasold Drive and Atchison Drive is developing with a mix of residential housing types and low-density residential uses and a Religious Institution consistent with the land use recommendations for this area.
Staff is actively reviewing a development application located on the southeast corner of K10 Highway and Highway 59. The application includes annexation and rezoning and will require extension of water and sanitary sewer infrastructure, at the developer’s cost.
The plan provides generalized land use recommendations for areas within the plan boundary. Development applications, consistent with the recommended land uses have been approved and are being developed.
Within the plan boundary, a significant area is encumbered by the regulatory floodplain. The plan showed one area as a public park. Since the adoption of the plan, the parkland shown on map 2.6 area has been developed as the Baker Wetlands Visitor Center. The land south of K10 Highway, between Michigan Street, extended (E. 1350 Road) and either Baker University or the Secretary of Transportation owns Haskell Avenue, extended (E. 1500 Road). This area is designated in the plan Open Space. |
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Future Unforeseen developments in the commercial or residential markets may require the plan to be reevaluated. Pending these forces there are no immediate steps that need to be taken regarding this plan.
Any future update of the plan that is not specifically tied to a development application should update the existing conditions of the land uses within the plan boundary. Depending on the outcome of the proposed development on the southeast corner of K-10 Highway and Highway 59, an additional assessment of the southwest corner would be appropriate. Future changes to K-10 Highway access should be reflected in the plan and may or may not have an impact of land use. |