[E-minutes] July 1, 2003 City Commission Meeting minutes
Lisa Patterson
lpatterson@ci.lawrence.ks.us
Thu, 10 Jul 2003 13:16:28 -0500
July 1, 2003
The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular
session at 6:45 p.m., in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with
Mayor Dunfield presiding and members Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner
present.
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes of June 24, 2003.
Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve the Lawrence Arts Commission meeting minutes of April
2, 2003, April 9, 2003, and May 14, 2003; and the Board of Plumbers and Pipe
Fitters meeting minutes of May 21, 2003. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve claims to 323 vendors in the amount of $1,324,082.51,
and payroll from June 15, 2003 to June 28, 2003 in the amount of
1,360,248.85. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve the Drinking Establishment Licenses for Royal Crest
Lanes, 933 Iowa Street; Panda Garden, 1500 West 6th Street; and, The
Sandbar, 17 East 8th Street. Motion carried unanimously.
The City Commission reviewed the bids for Geometric Improvements for
6th Street and Comet Lane for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Engineer's Estimate $296,409.30
LRM Industries, Inc. $247,880.18
Rose-Lan Contractors, Inc. $286,351.57
Meadows Construction Co., Inc. $287,497.55
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve the bid from LRM Industries, in the amount of
$247,880.18. Motion carried unanimously.
(1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve the purchase of computer equipment, in the amount of
$11,650.12 (Law Enforcement Trust Fund), for the Lawrence Police Department.
Motion carried unanimously.
(2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to place of first reading, Ordinance No. 7659, rezoning
(Z-04-11-03) .31 acres from M-2 (General Industrial District) to C-4
(General Commercial District) for property located at 311-317 North 2nd
Street. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to place of first reading, Ordinance No. 7660, rezoning
(Z-04-08-03) 4.45 acres from A (Agricultural District) to O-1 (Office
District) for property located west of the southwest corner of West 6th
Street and East 1100 Road (Folks Road). Motion carried unanimously.
(4)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to place of first reading Ordinance No. 7662, allowing the sale,
possession, and consumption of alcoholic liquor on August 23, 2003 from 4:00
p.m. - 11:15 p.m. for a concert at Burcham Park. Motion carried
unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve the Lawrence Arts Center financial obligation
commitment pursuant to the Arts Center letter of May 30, 2003. Motion
carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to approve the recommendation from the Plumbing Board to adopt
the 2000 Uniform Plumbing Code and authorize staff to draft an Ordinance to
be placed on a future agenda. Motion carried unanimously.
(7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to authorize the expenditure of $33,000 in CDBG Property
Acquisition funds to Tenants to Homeowners, Inc., for the acquisition of
1108 Connecticut Street. Motion carried unanimously.
(8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to authorize the Mayor to sign a Release of Mortgage for David
Wheaton, 1005 East Home Circle. Motion carried unanimously.
(9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Highberger, to authorize the Mayor to sign a Subordination Agreement for
Donald and Tina White, 1328 East 16th Street. Motion carried unanimously.
(10)
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
During the City Manager's Report, Mike Wildgen said that Commissioner
Hack received a letter from the Mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte
County/Kansas City thanking this City for the assistance they provide after
the tornado in May.
Wildgen also reported that the Neighborhood Resources Department was
honored by the Kansas City Regional Community Planning and Development
Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with a "Best
Practices" award. The department's submission was the "Atherton Court
Partnership Project" with the City, Tenants to Homeowners.
(11)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
Receive a letter from Rick Stein, 1030 Avalon road, requesting the rezoning
of Lot 2.
Sandra Day, Planner, presented the staff report concerning a site
plan for the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority, located on Lot 2, Sigma Nu Place.
The site plan had been revised in terms of format and laid out specific
findings that staff needed to make for the Commission before they brought a
recommendation to the City Commission. Staff's role in reviewing site plans
was to look at their compliance with the Subdivision Regulations, Zoning
Code, and the Comprehensive Plan. The proposed request was considered
recently and was denied by the City Commission. Staff received a new
application and looked at the changes that the site plan proposed in terms
of its relationship to adjacent properties, the orientation of the building,
and the parking. The proposed use included 88 sleeping rooms and 88 parking
stalls. It was a single building and a single use on a currently zoned RD
district property. It was located in an area that was adjacent to the west
side to develop single family residential homes and there was a vacant
parcel to the immediate north of the subject property.
Staff looked at the history of the area and they were not able to
find a neighborhood plan document that described this area in particular
detail. The current zoning district, RD district, was essentially what was
adopted in 1966. There had been some minor changes adjacent to the
University as properties had either moved to a multi-family or RMD
districts. City staff also did some traffic counts which were provided to
the City Commission. Staff found that the traffic did not meet any traffic
warrants and did not meet a threshold of traffic require certain specific
traffic calming measures. That was not to discount the concerns that the
neighborhood did have, it did not meet current standards that City staff
would evaluate that issue by.
Access to this property was provided through a public street system,
Sigma Nu Place, and also through private access drives in related parking.
Overall the physical changes to the site plan that occurred were redefining
the building. In the original plan there had been a row of parallel parking
which staff indicated to the applicant that they were not in favor of. They
had added some compact stalls to allow some maneuverability in shifting that
building on the site, but still providing a one to one ratio of sleeping
rooms to parking.
She said concerning the landscape plan, staff had recommended some
additional landscaping be provided to fill in some areas, especially to rear
of the existing single family homes with larger shrubs in between the trees.
She said they did not want to create a solid landscape series of shrubs
along that property, but to fill in some areas, especially behind those
residences to the north.
Stan Meyers, Bartlett and West Engineers, speaking on behalf of the
applicant, said they had addressed the City Commission with their original
site plan which was deferred to a meeting in May and the site plan was
denied on a 3-2 vote. There were also a series of neighborhood meetings to
discuss this proposal with the area residents trying to take in their
concerns and address it in their site plan.
He said the property was zoned RD (Residence Dormitory) since 1966.
The applicant, AGD, purchased this property two years ago in reliance upon
the fact that this property was zoned RD and would in fact be suitable for
their proposed project. He noted that surrounding property to the south,
north, and east was also zoned RD and to the west RS-2.
He pointed out that with this application they were not requesting
any conditional use, variance, or any special consideration from the City
Code or site plan requirements. The site plan all along had been in
conformance with the site plan requirements for this zoning district.
He highlighted some of the changes that were made. He said the
sorority house would have 88 beds, not dwelling units. He said it was 24
dwelling units as part of the facility. The required setback for this
district was 20 feet and the original site plan provided for 34 feet and
they had pulled that back to 46 feet which represented a 35 percent increase
in the rear yard from that corner.
As far as interior greenspace, they were required by code to provide
3,696 square feet and this site plan provided over 4,000 square feet. Their
landscape plan exceeded the minimum screening and buffering requirements.
They had increased the total number of trees on the site from the original
plan which was a 27 percent increase. The RD district did not have an
actual minimum tree requirement per dwelling unit. They also had increased
the amount of shrub plantings on this site which was over 30 percent. He
said the retaining wall had been moved back with a 30 percent change and the
overall height was still the same. In addition to addressing neighbor
concerns, they changed the fence on top of the retaining wall to a 6 foot
high cedar wood fence.
He introduced a realtor to talk about property values.
Duane Morris, Stephens Real Estate, had 15 years of experience in
commercial and residential sales. He spoke specifically to some property
values that were extracted from the appraisal that resided with the City.
He pulled out only those properties of residents that back up to sorority,
fraternities, or K.U. buildings. He presented a chart to the City
Commission depicting the property values of that area. He said in his
personal opinion and experience, in the real estate market, that the West
Hills neighborhood probably would retain its square footage and high price,
better than other places in the City of Lawrence. He said any house that
was in that area was in high demand by professors.
Vice Mayor Rundle asked if JRP and Carrouth O'Leary were intended to
reflect similarly to a living dormitory or a fraternity house.
Morris said a living dormitory.
Vice Mayor Rundle said those buildings had not been used for
dormitories for sometime.
Morris was merely pointing out that they were next to K.U. buildings
and also had been in the past dormitory where there was a lot of residence.
He was not familiar with K.U.'s change in their building and their use. If
JRP and Carrouth O'Leary were not being used as dormitories, he did not know
that.
Stan Meyers reiterated that this proposed Alpha Gamma Sorority House
was in conformance with the existing zoning ordinance for RD district. He
said their site plan exceeded all the design requirements for an RD
district. He said this was the perfect neighborhood for this type of a use.
He said Alpha Gamma Sorority was wonderful to work with and they chose this
site because it was part of an existing Greek neighborhood close to campus.
He said they were doing everything they could to work with the west side to
appease concerns from the residential neighborhood because AGD wanted to be
a good neighbor. He said it would be a benefit to this area and was a
classic example of the type of in-fill development that Lawrence wanted to
encourage. He respectfully requested that the City Commission approve their
proposal.
Chris Shumm, speaking on behalf of Sigma Nu Fraternity, said they had
an interest in this situation because they were part of that neighborhood.
He said their interest was the AGD property and more specifically the next
property that was vacant in which they owned and they had a potential buyer.
They had an historic home. The Sigma Nu house was built in 1907 and the
home of a former governor. He said they took possession of this home in
1922. He said they spent a great deal of money, time, and effort to
preserve that building. He said they financed this project knowing that
they would be able to sell those two properties knowing that since 1967 it
was zoned under dormitory use. Perhaps that wasn't a good idea, because
they had already spent the money and they did not have any reason to believe
that it wouldn't be allowed to be used for that purpose.
He said after going through the Register of Deeds office, he said
this property has been zoned since 1967 and many of those homes in that
neighborhood had turned several times since then. He said this was not a
surprise or a new issue. He asked that the City Commission try to protect
the neighborhood's interest by implementing a strict site plan.
Rick Stein, resident in the area, was surprised that this issue was
before the City Commission in such a short time span. After the first site
plan was denied in May, he thought it would take longer for the property
owners to redesign the project and resubmit. He said they hoped that the
sorority and the architects would redesign their house and offer a solution
that would serve everyone's needs. Unfortunately, the plan before the
Commission did not do that. The plan had changed and it was good and
welcomed, but he pointed out that there was no real redesign of the
structure that would address the significant issues that he believed caused
its denial in May. Like most contentious issues there were peripheral
topics and core topics. He said everything that had been done, however
welcomed, appreciated, and good between the fence and the movement was good,
but those were peripheral issues. The core topic, which caused this
Commission to reject the plan in May, was centered on discussions of
intensity of use, scale of the house, transition between uses, and a variety
of traffic related issues. He did not see where any of those issues had
been resolved or different from today than in early May.
The proposed retaining wall for this structure was still 25 or 30
feet from his property line. In the staff review the discussion of 46 feet
clearly talked about the building corner, but they were talking about the
retaining wall that holds the building, all of which becomes part of the
scale and presentation of this structure from their vantage point looking
east. The average street in Lawrence, Kansas was 27 feet to 33 feet wide.
He said they were discussing a distance that was not any real distance. He
said the total structure was still 45 feet tall like the parking garage on
New Hampshire Street. There was no real buffer between their intense use
and the neighbors' low density use. There was no real transition. The
homes on the west were still facing a running total of approximately 200
feet of retaining wall.
The economic impact of their building, overshadowing their homes, was
real, negative, and quantifiable. He suggested what would that list of
homes be worth if they were not adjacent to the properties and the buildings
at the campus. He said their concern was not that they had a property that
was going to lose its value, but a real estate appraiser offered an opinion
that there was a 5 percent loss of economic value to the property owners to
the west. He said 5 percent accumulated through the 5 properties that abut
this proposal, was significant.
He said within the foreseeable future, he believed that the City was
going to have new zoning regulations. It was his hope that any new RD
zoning would carry with it, more stringent guidelines on setbacks and
buffers in an effort to fix those conflicts of interest. Assuming that the
City/County planning document, Horizon 2020, was an effort to give real
voice to the direction that the City would like to see that zoning take, he
read 2 statements from Horizon 2020 in Chapter 5 under residential land use:
1. Compatible densities and housing types should be encouraged in
residential neighborhoods by providing appropriate transition zones between
low density residential land uses and more intensive residential
development; and
2. The character and appearance of existing residential neighborhood should
be protected and enhanced in-fill development, rehabilitation, or
reconstruction should reflect architectural qualities and style of existing
neighborhoods.
He said the sorority's desire to build at this location, did run
counter to the neighborhood's interest. He said it was not because they did
not want AGD as neighbors, but because they did not want the negative impact
that this project would have on their homes and their neighborhood. He said
this was an accumulation of economic, noise, and traffic pressures.
He said it was pointed out that there was another lot that Sigma Nu
wishes to sell and everybody had an economic stake to some extent. He said
their neighborhood would be victimized to some extent by this development,
amplified and additionally pressured and the bar would be raised at the next
sell, if it was any development that was high density. He said anything
they could do to reduce the intensity of development could solve all of the
problems and get everybody what they needed at a cost, clearly it was a
significant cost to them, but allowing this to go forward was a significant
cost for the neighborhood.
He wished they would have purchased this lot with contingencies, but
they did not. If this project was unfeasible in May, he believed it was
unfeasible now.
Meyers said the retaining wall was moved back approximately 8 feet
and added more landscaping. He said regarding the contingencies, AGD bought
the property with RD zoning and the contingency should not have been
required.
Greg DiVilbiss, Lawrence, purchased a home in Lawrence and during the
process of looking for a home, he looked at sites in the West Lawrence area
and he chose not to live in any of those areas because he knew that those
empty lots that were represented in those areas would have some type of
development in the future. He said that uncertainty caused him to move into
a neighborhood that was already developed. This particular area had been
zoned since 1966 and had not been unknown that a dormitory was likely to be
built on this site. He said they had 37 years to change the zoning if they
objected to it. Just because you chose to take a risk to purchase a home
next to an empty lot did not mean that empty lot was going to remain empty.
The AGD's had came with a site plan that complied with the existing
zoning, zoning that had been in place for decades. He urged the City
Commission to approve their site and support the Greek's, K.U., and support
the neighbors by having a good plan that diminishes some of the objections
of the neighborhood. He said approve this proposal and deny any request for
rezoning of this site.
Bob Schumm, Lawrence, was involved in this issue in that he was an
alumni of Sigma Nu and he had contact with directors of the board. He said
one of the issues that seemed unusual about this situation was that site
plan that was denied at one time and now they had a modified site plan. The
site plan ordinance was an administrative type of function to secure the
health, safety, and welfare of the citizens. He said this site plan
ordinance was not to have a political impact, but to make sure every issue
was addressed like proper ingress or egress. He said the applicant was in
full compliance with all the requirements.
He said in the eight years that he served on the City Commission not
once, they denied a site plan. It seemed that the Commission was mixing
that administrative position to make sure everything right on the site, with
the political question of intensity, but that question had already been
answered in that it had been zoned for quite some time. He said the
neighbors had the option to buy that property or petition the City to buy
that property. He said they were in conformance with the site plan and the
City Commission should regard it as such.
Dwight Hilpman, neighborhood resident, thanked the City Commission
for rejecting the earlier plans for the Alpha Gamma Delta House. He said it
the house was built as described would create a huge footprint and would
impact their neighborhood. He said it would give them less protection and
it would be a step backward in the character of their neighborhood. He said
it would devalue their property.
He said there were hundreds of sorority and fraternity members there
now. The traffic issues of ingress and egress were reaching a saturation
point and he thought it was appropriate for the Commission to look at those
issues from a safety point of view. He said there were hundreds of people
who use a narrow private road to get in and out of that area. He said the
Commission needed to look at that situation and treat that as a core issue
safety. He said they needed to preserve the neighborhood and create a
buffer between dormitory and the residential character of their
neighborhood.
Peggy Hilpman, resident in the area, when they bought their property
years ago, they were told by their real estate agent that that land was far
to challenging for anyone to build on. She said this was such a challenging
site that they had to manipulate the land and to pay for the land they had
to have 88 beds. She said her solution was to buy a part of the additional
lot and spread out. She said that would help the current property owner,
neighborhood and sorority win.
Commissioner Hack had not changed her position on this issue. She
said the staff report clearly articulated the 3 issues that were looked at
and showed that this site plan did comply. She said there were only 24
dwelling units. The traffic patterns in that area went out through those
back lots and you did not tend to go through the neighborhood. She
supported the site plan.
Vice Mayor Rundle said the zoning regulations regulated negative
impacts on adjacent properties. He said this project was out of scale and
did not make a good buffer for the neighborhood.
He said the residential dormitory zoning of this area should have
been addressed a long time ago. He said the residential dormitory zoning
had a negative impact on the Oread neighborhood and the City Commission did
change the regulations in that classification because it did not have enough
parking and it was causing a great deal of pressure to redevelop those
areas. He said that was an example of recognizing that there was a lot of
the Oread neighborhood developed before they caught that. He said the City
Commission made positive changes in the regulations. He said this project
was another example because it was steep and this project had taken a lot of
effort to accommodate redevelopment. He did not think this project was
appropriate.
Mayor Dunfield did not have any problem making those types of
considerations on a site plan. The consideration of neighborhood
compatibility was one that was important and the Commission had every right
to talk about it to make a basis for their decisions.
He said one of the words that had been used a lot was "value" in
talking about property values. Clearly, there was a value in the proximity
to this site to K.U. He said in a report that was given to the City
Commission, it showed how few vacant parcels that had an RD zoning and that
RD zoning was limited to areas that were adjacent to the University of
Kansas. He said that proximity to K.U. had a value for the property owners,
both the Greek houses and the property owners of single-family houses around
the University. That proximity also had a value for the City as a whole and
recognizing that the single-family property owners were going to suffer some
loss in terms of that view from their back porches, the value of having this
type of development near K.U. to the City was substantial and considerable
and deserved to be given a lot of weight. Having those 88 students living
within easy walking distance of the campus helped prevent traffic
congestion, both around the University and the City as a whole. In-fill
development was something the City promoted and it was promoted because it
made efficient use of our infrastructure and helped maintain and create a
more compact City. The value of having students in the proximity of campus,
in this case, out weighs the negatives that this project might bring. He
supported the site plan.
Commissioner Highberger consulted with the project architect and AGD
representatives since the last meeting and he expressed his concerns about
the project. He said there were 7 criteria that needed to be addressed for
approval of a site plan and in his opinion, at the last presentation, he was
not satisfied that all those criteria were met. The new report laid out
each criteria one at a time and explained how the site plan met those
criteria and went a long way to meeting his concerns.
He said there were some conflicts with this plan in what was set out
in Horizon 2020. The setback distances in the rear and transition
requirements conflicted with the current zoning code.
He did not have any concerns about the property value impacts or
traffic impacts. He said there would be some increase in traffic problems,
but given the numbers from the traffic studies, he did not think this
project would impact any intersections in that area to a critical level. He
did not think this project would have any serious impact on Avalon Road.
He was told that the sorority was willing to have its members place
stickers on their cars so it would be clear about where they were parking.
He hoped this project could be downscaled. He thought that the applicant
had made a good faith effort to meet neighborhood concerns, but he had
concerns about the size of this project on this lot. He said regardless how
he voted on that issue, he was not willing to approve a use of this
intensity on that remaining vacant lot because the neighbors had been
subjected to impact after impact. He said AGD had expended a substantial
amount of money, prior to his time on the Commission. Given that, to demand
that ADG make fundamental changes at this point, was asking too much. He
would reluctantly vote to support the site plan.
Commissioner Schauner could not, in good conscience, support this
project because the City Commission was making ad hoc decisions about two
pieces of ground and what this Commission did, would not necessarily bind
what it did when they were asked at some future meeting to approve another
site plan for the north, remaining portion of this undeveloped ground.
He said this Commission did support in-fill development, but this
particular development was too big for the site in relationship to the
neighbors on the west. The attractive drawing of the AGD house was 47 feet
tall. He said when talking about sales value of the ground in West Hills,
it would still be a popular place, but there was more to the value of
property than what you could sell it for. There was a certain use and
enjoyment value with the owning of any property. If he had to sell his
property because it lost its aesthetic value, he might have gained a few
dollars, but he did not know if he gained anything. He said the City had
not gained anything in telling those neighbors that City valued the effort
the AGD had put into this project, more than they value the use and
enjoyment of the people who live on Avalon and on the other streets that
surround this property.
He concurred with Commissioner Highberger in that he could not
support any project on the remaining vacant ground that even approaches that
density because it would exacerbate the problem that he perceived was
created. He hoped that the City would begin to look at remaining RD
property in the City to change that zoning in the way protected the value of
neighboring property.
He said the changes that were made were not substantial changes and
the building was still over 13,000 square feet, 47 feet tall, the retaining
wall was 20 feet and ran more than 200 feet in length. He did not support
the proposal.
Vice Mayor Rundle said when the Home Depot project was approved the
Commission needed to recognize the people who had been there paying taxes
all along and those people should have more weight than the newcomers.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the site plan
(SP-06-36-03) for the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority; located on Lot 2, Sigma Nu
Place. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, and Highberger. Nay: Rundle and Schauner.
Motion carried. (12)
Receive public comment and Commission discussion concerning the possible
adoption of a charter ordinance allowing retail sales on Sundays.
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Services Director,
presented the staff report concerning possible adoption of a Charter
Ordinance allowing retail liquor sales on Sundays. He said the Mayor asked
for an update on community activity in regards to liquor establishments
being allowed to sell on Sunday and the issue of holidays being prohibited.
He said staff drafted a memorandum indicating the activity from a
number of communities, primarily in the northeast part of Kansas. The
memorandum also indicated the Sunday hours that they had placed in a Charter
Ordinance once they moved forward with Sunday liquor sales. Some of the
communities had altered the State law as it spoke to the holidays that were
prohibited as far as sales on those dates.
He said the Commission had a sample Charter Ordinance that had been
prepared by legal counsel and the League of Kansas Municipalities that
outlined the issues in regards to Sunday sales, hours, and the holiday
issue. He said the Commission had the ability to speak to those issues
concerning holidays.
He talked about the Commission's legal authority in this matter.
Communities that had adopted a Charter Ordinance was that they had
determined that the enactment in the Liquor Retail Act that currently
prohibited sales on Sundays was non-uniform which meant when that statute
was enacted as part of an enactment of the Kansas Legislature, part of the
enactment was non-uniform as it applied to cities. It applied to certain
cities, but not all cities uniformly. This was started with the Unified
Government where they adopted the Charter Ordinance after an election that
approved the Charter Ordinance and it then has been the subject of
litigation. The District Court in Wyandotte County upheld the Charter
Ordinance and it was now pending appeal before the appellate courts of
Kansas.
The issue that was also raised was whether or not the statute that
prohibited Sunday sales for Cereal Malt Beverage Retailers was also subject
to a Charter Ordinance. The City of Leavenworth had proceeded with a
Charter Ordinance that allowed for Sunday sales for CMB. No other
communities had done so. He was asked to research that further and it was
his opinion that the statute that prohibited Sunday sales for CMB Retailers
was uniform and was therefore not subject to a Charter Ordinance.
Vice Mayor Rundle asked if Corliss had any sense of the potential
timetable for this issue being resolved in the courts.
Corliss said no. He suspected it would be briefed and argued later
this year with a decision, hopefully, in the early part of the Legislative
Session. He could predict, but he certainly could not schedule, that
timetable.
Gary Brouillette, Shawnee Mission, Kansas, represented a group of
people that were involve with the Kansas Retail Grocers Association and
represented some people who were involved in convenience store, mainly KWIK
Trip.
He said the Commission was correctly advised that the Unified
Government situation came down on the basis that there was a non-uniform
application of the State statutes with regard to liquor sales. He said as a
definitional predicate "liquor sales" involved liquor, strong beer, and
wine. The problem was not to dissuade any action the Commission might take
to opt out under the Constitutional provisions for Sunday liquor store
sales.
He said one of the things that was talked about was that several
jurisdictions and Overland Park, Leavenworth, Roeland Park, Prairie Village,
Shawnee and Mission were considering the concept of the structure of the
State statutory framework for convenience and grocery stores versus liquor
stores or for the sale of liquor versus cereal malt beverage and had been
antiquated to begin with. He said it raised quite a few problems, not the
least of which there were few distributors and brewerys that liked the idea
of making 3.2 beer anymore.
The real issue that was unfair was that there were about 3500 grocery
and convenience stores in the State of Kansas and 650 liquor stores. He
said convenience and grocery stores were not interested to any extent in the
sale of liquor, but it was difficult when people came to buy things for
their meals and could not buy beer which they consume with those meals. He
said it was not the idea that they lose some percent of sales because the
competition in Missouri sold wine and beer, it was the fact that people did
not come and buy their groceries because they want to make one stop. He
said they had border state survey they had done throughout their
associations that showed they might lose a 5 percent sale in wine or beer to
Missouri, but they might lose up to 15 to 18 percent of other sales only
because people find it convenient to shop where they could buy everything
they need in one place. He said they had asked the other jurisdictions to
consider using the same Constitutional provisions to opt out of the
preclusion for convenience and grocery stores from selling wine and beer on
Sunday's or any time of the week.
He thought Leavenworth was cutting some new ground when they allowed
CMB's sales on Sunday, but he did not think that comported with the outlines
of the Unified Government case in Wyandotte County, nor did it comport with
the non-uniform or uniform application of the statute which provided the
Charter election of opting out of this particular provision. He said they
had tried for 25 years through the State Legislature to get rid of this
artifice of dual structure that seemed to provide the statutory scheme. He
said they needed that enabling platform and the opportunity to level this
ball field.
Reverend William Dulin, Lawrence, was a minister who was concerned,
not only about the welfare of the citizens, but the decay that he had seen
happen from the use of alcohol and drugs. Historically this nation had
always looked on Sunday as the Sabbath. He was reminded of God's words
"Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." He hoped that this Commission
did not have to pattern after other communities because Lawrence was a
community of itself. The decisions that the Commission made, would affect
the welfare of the citizens of this community. He hoped that the Commission
would not encourage liquor to be sold on the Sabbath.
Zach Bassin, Lawrence, was in favor of this ordinance. He said
people were driving to Kansas City, especially during football season to
pick up beer to enjoy with the game and friends. He said Lenexa and
Wyandotte had started selling liquor on Sundays. He did not want to
encourage the citizens of Lawrence to drive outside of Lawrence and support
non-locally owned businesses.
Currently this state had a large tax shortage and a budget deficit.
He said liquor was taxed at a higher rate and all the money from the retail
liquor stores went directly to the state so this Commission would not need
to address items such as giving money to school districts. This money that
might be drafted into the state could help in those manners.
Ron Hassen, owner of Ray's Liquor Warehouse, was negative about the
Sunday sales of alcohol. He said there were two issues which were: "what
was in it for him" and "what would be in it for the citizens." He said
"what was in it for him," was very little. He would roughly increase his
costs in terms of employees, work comp and other issues that added up to
approximately a 10 percent increase. He said with Sunday sales there would
be an equal amount of loss from Saturday and/or Friday in that they were
simply trading that business from 6 days to 7 days. He said when you put
the aggregate together you would have very little increase, if any at all,
not enough to balance out to what your cost were going to be to stay open.
He said the holidays were more of an issue in terms of an increase in
business. He said there would be a newness factor, but as that wears off,
you would simply be trading your business around.
He asked what was in it for the state and/or the cities involved in
terms of increased revenue. He said a retail liquor business was basically
a flat business and there was not much room for growth.
He said the state was under the impression that there would be
additional benefits in terms of revenue, but he did not think that would
happen. He said if the decision was to open Sundays, they would open on a
defensive stance in that they would need to stay competitive.
He said if you open up sales of beer to grocery or convenience
stores, that you would be adding more harm to the retail liquor business in
Lawrence. He did not see Sunday sales as a positive step.
Dan Blomgren, owner Cork and Barrel Liquor Stores, was in full
support of Sunday liquor sales. This was the only industry in the state in
which he was legal to sell alcohol Monday through Saturday and then suddenly
on Sunday, it was illegal. He sold a legal product to people of legal
drinking age. He never had been cited for selling to minors and he did a
good job carding and asking for identification. He said there was no
reason that he should not be able to sell on Sundays what he sells Monday
through Saturday.
He said his position and Hassen's position differ in that the sales
would be spread over 7 days as opposed to 6 days, but he wanted the
opportunity to find out if Sunday sales would work on his own. He said in
terms of sales, maybe it did not pay for him to be open on Monday, but he
would open because someone might like what they see in his store and keep
coming back. He said if he needed to hire more people and paying those
people, those dollars were staying in Lawrence, Kansas. He said there was a
multiplier typically in most economic standards which was times 7. He said
if he paid 1 dollar out, that dollar would be multiplied 7 times through the
local economy.
He said there were a number of reasons why Sunday liquor sales would
be beneficial which were: The more profitable his store was the more he
could help as far as local donations to local charities; The more money
that went into the State fund would find its way through to help other
programs; and tourism dollars.
Commissioner Highberger said he was hoping to avoid opening the
Pandora's Box on grocery store sales. He asked about the legality of that
issue.
Corliss had talked to a few other municipal attorneys who were
exploring that issue. He said what you were essentially doing was drilling
deeper into the retail liquor act and you were changing who had the
authority to sell retail liquor on what days or hours. He said there was an
additional collateral consequence in that in a 3 tiered system of alcohol,
manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, you might change who the
retailers were, but there was no guarantee that then the distributors would
then distribute the alcoholic liquor to a retailer that a local community
recognizes, but the state did not recognize. He said this was a concern
that could be surmountable. He said staff could explore that issue if the
Commission desired.
Vice Mayor Rundle said Brouillette brought up a new wrinkle in opting
out of the restriction against selling wine in grocery stores. He asked if
that was part of the non-uniform.
Corliss said that was part of the Retail Liquor Act. The Retail
Liquor Act sets out the Sundays sales issue. It also would say who, as far
as the licensees, could sell retail liquor.
Vice Mayor Rundle asked if the state considered wine and spirits to
be of the same class.
Corliss said yes. He said that was the act that allowed retail
liquor stores to sell, but did not allow anyone else to sell which included
grocery and convenience stores. The thought was being explored by some
communities, but he was not aware of any ordinance. He said there was a
concern about whether the grocery or convenience store would be able to get
alcoholic liquor from the distributor because the distributor couldn't
legally provide it to someone because of that state restriction.
Commissioner Schauner said some of the liquor stores did provide
other services such as ice and snack foods. He asked if that was
permissible if there was a physical segregation between the sales floor for
alcohol and those other products.
Corliss said there were "party shops" which were essentially separate
instruments of a liquor store.
Bob Longino, Director, Alcohol Beverage Control, said retail liquor
stores by statue sell 4 types of items:
1. Sell alcoholic liquor;
2. Sell lottery tickets;
3. Other packaged items;
4. Consumer advertising specialties.
He said what had happened over the years were the party shops and
those were technically a separate business which was by a neutral vestibule.
It would not be a business of the liquor store. Ice machines needed to be
placed outside.
Commissioner Highberger asked if the Commission could approve this
issue by referendum.
Corliss said yes. He said this issue could be placed on a ballot.
Commissioner Highberger asked when the next regularly scheduled
election was.
Wildgen said the Primary Election would take place August of 2004.
Commissioner Hack asked if a conversation had taken place about
liquor sales on holidays during the time she was absent.
Mayor Dunfield said no. He asked staff to draft a report concerning
Sunday liquor sales, hours of operation and the holiday issue in other
areas. He said if Sunday liquor sales were allowed, then the hours and
holidays would have to be further refined.
Commissioner Highberger said the Commission could adopt the charter
ordinance allowing Sunday sale, but have the clause that the hours and
holidays would bet set by the regular ordinance at a later date.
Commissioner Hack said a protest petition of 10 percent of the voters
in the last City election could cause it to go as a referendum.
Commissioner Highberger would like to avoid a special election if
possible. He said considering the volume of feedback, he would like to move
forward on the charter ordinance that allowed regulations to be set by the
City Commission by regular ordinance at a later time.
Commissioner Hack agreed. She said the response from the public has
been positive.
Vice Mayor Rundle was surprised that there had been so little
negative comment. He was in support of the charter ordinance.
Mayor Dunfield said this was a step in modernizing the liquor laws.
Commissioner Schauner said Kansas had a long history of talking out
of both sides of its mouth regarding alcoholic beverages. This was another
chapter in that long history of saying one thing and doing something else.
He said the Mayor was correct in modernizing the liquor laws, but he thought
the Commission was doing it backwards, because it should be a State law
function. He said this was another example of the State Legislature taking
a pass on doing the right thing. They had opened the door for an argument
that this was a non-uniform application. It would be interesting to watch
the progression of Sunday liquor sales all the way to the Colorado border,
based on sales competition between Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City,
Missouri. He was opposed to the way that public policy was being made, but
he was in support of Sunday liquor sales in Lawrence. He said his anecdotal
view of whether this was good or bad for liquor stores wasn't any more
accurate than any other anecdotal view of whether it was good or bad. He
said the consuming public could determine whether Sunday sales was good for
Lawrence or not and he supported moving forward with a charter ordinance, an
ordinance that would identify those hours on Sunday and holidays when they
would not be available.
Mayor Dunfield asked if the Commission wanted to take the next step
and talk about hours and holidays. He said based on other nearby
communities, the opening hours averaged from 11:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m., and
the closing hours averaged from 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.
Commissioner Highberger asked the liquor store owners present, if
there was a preference for the opening hours on Sunday.
Blomgren preferred to be opened from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 12:00
p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Hassen would be open the hours that were legally available from a
competitive point of view.
Commissioner Highberger asked what the hours were that a micro
brewery could legally sell beer on Sunday.
Longino said 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., but he would verify those
times.
Commissioner Hack was in favor of 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and also in
favor of closing on Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Vice Mayor Rundle said the Commission could settle on those proposed
times and holidays. He encouraged all of the liquor store owners to weigh in
on what they prefer.
Corliss said the charter ordinance would allow the City Commission to
set the hours and days by an ordinary ordinance. That would give this
Commission flexibility, but you could set the actual hours and holidays in
the charter ordinance itself.
Vice Mayor Rundle asked if it would be easier to change those hours
in the future if those hours and holidays were set by a regular ordinance.
Corliss said yes. He said it would be a benefit to pass the charter
ordinance and regular ordinance at the same time so that when the charter
ordinance became effective, there was a strong forecast for the hours and
holidays.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to direct staff to draft a
charter ordinance allowing retail liquor sales on Sundays and directed staff
to draft a regular ordinance regarding the Sunday sales hours of operation
and sale of retail liquor on certain holidays. Motion carried unanimously.
(13)
Receive a letter from Lawrence Homebuilder Association concerning the
renaming of 15th Street west of Iowa, as Bob Billings Parkway.
Bobbie Flory, Executive Director, Lawrence Home Builders Association,
presented a letter concerning renaming 15th Street west of Iowa, as Bob
Billings Parkway. She said several months ago Frank Salb, past President of
LHBA, came to the Board of Directors to suggest that it was important to
commemorate all the stewardship and good work that Bob Billings had done in
our community by renaming 15th Street. The Board of Directors concurred and
that set off a series of letters communicating with property owners and
organizations that Billings had supported in giving his time, energy and
resources through the years.
She said 15th Street was most appropriately to be renamed because
most of Billings' professional career was spent working and developing the
growth of 15th Street. Almost everywhere you look from Iowa street westward
in some way had been touched by Billings. The reason why they were
proposing that street be renamed starting at Iowa Street was because it was
consistent with Clinton Parkway. The other reason was because of the strong
connection that Billings had with the University of Kansas touching that on
the east side. As it moved westward it went past many Alvamar neighborhoods
that Billings had visions for families, beautiful neighborhoods, open space
in the golf course and then reaching the research park on the west all the
way to the trafficway.
She hoped the Commission would recognize that this type of request
should be reserved for extraordinary citizens like Billings.
She said one of the concerns with this process was the inconvenience
for the people that reside on 15th Street. She said because 15th Street was
so well planned as an arterial, there were few people that would be affected
given the length of Iowa Street, westward.
If the City Commission concurred that this was an appropriate name
change to be made, that the change be effective one year from now. She said
this would meet some of the concerns of the homeowners and businesses with
their letterhead, contacting their customers, making a change in the yellow
pages to get through all those issues. After that one year, they still had
an additional year that the post office would allow before they no longer
deliver. She said they did not want to force any type of financial
hardship, however, they were happy to assist business and homeowners in
making this transition in any way that they could.
The cost of the signs might be an issue for the City, but the
Homebuilders Association would pay for the cost of replacing the existing
15th Street signs.
Commissioner Highberger asked how many property owners would be
affected.
Flory said not including the University of Kansas and the City, she
said there were approximately 21 property owners that have addresses on 15th
Street. She did not include the City of Lawrence or the University of
Kansas because they were aware of this request.
Commissioner Highberger asked how many property owners Flory heard
from.
Flory said there were 2 property owners that were opposed to this
issue and she had received 1 telephone call from a business owner. She
spoke to another business owner who after she explained to him how they
would like to wait for a year before the 15th Street Address became
effective, that resolved all their issues as a business regarding stationary
and yellow pages ads.
Wildgen said there were 120 addresses, as opposed to property owners
according to the post office.
Commissioner asked if Flory contacted all of the addressees.
Flory said yes, but she did not send letters to apartment renters.
A property owner on 15th Street requested that the City Commission
not rename 15th Street, west of Iowa to Bob Billings Parkway. He stated his
reasons.
First, 15th and Iowa was a major intersection in this town and was a
reference point for visitors to the University of Kansas. He said it was a
pathway to many residential areas to the west of the intersection. While
there was a precedent for this action, that was the naming of Clinton
Parkway, 23rd Street, west of Iowa, he believed this action at 15th would
have a greater consequence. The University of Kansas, west campus had
expanded with the addition of the Lied Center and the new Dole Center and
the vision of continuing education with its offices off of 15th and Kasold.
He thought that Bob Billings would take that under serious consideration
since he was so intricately involved in service to the University.
Second, 15th Street defined the northern edge of the development
brought about by Bob Billings. Those of them on the north side of the
street did not necessarily feel affinity for Alvamar and its neighborhood,
though they did not dislike them. A much more appropriate action would be
to rename one of the many streets within the development or some facility
connected with the golf course after the person who developed the area.
This might prove confusing for awhile to far fewer people than to rename a
major numbered artery through the western side of town.
Third, was the obvious inconvenience of changing addresses which were
120 addresses and 21 property owners. One of the major address changes was
the Lawrence Police Department's Information and Training Center. Personal
expenses as well as those of information and training center should be
subsidized through this action if it went forward.
Fourth, the cost of changing the signage from 15th and Iowa Street to
the west would run approximately $7,000 to $8,000. In this time when the
City was raising property taxes and levies struggles to keep law enforcement
on the street and looked to the budget of social services to balance its
own, was this wise for us to use our resources in this way.
He said Billings deserved recognition for his contributions to the
community, but he hoped that even Billings would pause before giving a nod
to that project on those grounds alone. He suggested that if this proposal
was not rejected, then this proposal be delayed and reconsidered at a time
when the City had more resources to devote to such a project.
A property owner on 15th Street said there were issues that were
brought up concerning costs for homeowners which those costs would be out of
their pockets. He thought the LHBA would not want to pay the cost for those
changes. He suggested the following as solutions:
1. Making the street a memorial drive which meant retaining the 15th
Street name;
2. Rename an existing park to Bob Billing Park;
3. At one time there were plans to develop a park on City property
referred to as West 40, he suggested the Commission look at that avenue and
name that park Bob Billings Park;
He said by the Commission renaming west 15th Street to Bob Billings
Parkway the Commission would be setting a precedent for other developers.
Greg DiVilbiss, Lawrence, wanted to offer his support. He said Bob
Billings love for Lawrence and the University was quite intense. He said
Billing's would not ask for this type of honor for himself, but he would
have felt honored. He asked the City Commission to approve the renaming of
west 15th Street.
Commissioner Schauner recognized that Billings was a significant
catalyst for the westward development for the City of Lawrence and he
thought there wasn't anybody who more positively reflected on that
development than Billings. He supported the idea of renaming 15th Street
westward from Iowa, but he was not sure of a specific name for that street.
He proposed that the City Commission consider dual naming of that street in
which they could have the street 15th Street and also known as the name that
was ultimately selected. He said that would assuage the concerns of some of
the property owners about changing addresses as well as honoring the good
work that Billings did in this community.
Vice Mayor Rundle asked which would be the superior name 15th Street
or Bob Billings Parkway.
Commissioner Schauner said he would suspect the street would
ultimately find its own name, but you could send mail to either address.
Commissioner Hack was concerned about the dual naming of a street
because it would make it even more confusing. She said the comment about
Billings not asking for this honor nor wanting to draw attention to him was
why the Commission should approve the renaming of this street.
She said the LHBA providing for the costs of the signs certainly did
help out this City. She hoped that the Commission would approve this street
to be named Bob Billings Parkway.
Vice Mayor Rundle supported the renaming of this street. He made
sure that Flory found everyone that might be inconvenienced and made sure
that the level of inconvenience was relatively low in terms of the numbers
that were impacted.
He said Billings did not accomplish everything he set out to do, but
he certainly set the bar high. He said Billings' leadership and community
interest were also high. He said Billings was one of the instrumental
people in the development of the Research Park. He said there was also that
generosity of spirit that people had mentioned in their letters that he had
did behind the scenes in many ways.
Mayor Dunfield had some reservations about this change. Certainly
there was no question that Bob Billings deserved to be memorialized in a
significant way in this community. He said the LHBA had made a good case
when talking about 15th Street and the relationship between that street and
Billings work. He did have concerns about precedent setting. There were
other extraordinary individuals in the history of Lawrence whose work was
tied to particular places in one way or another. He was also concerned
about this issue from a historical point of view in terms of how we perceive
the geography of the City. He said the progression of streets from the
river heading south was a significant part of the way we thought about
Lawrence and 15th Street had a particularly strong place in that type of
mental image of Lawrence because of the location of the campus, in
particular, Fraser Hall which divided the City, but also tying 15th Street
to east and west across the City.
Commissioner Highberger said it was clear that Bob Billings loved
Lawrence and he had an enormous amount of respect from the people in this
community. He thought by honoring Billings in some way would be
appropriate.
He had discussed the park idea with Flory and found out that would
not be the way Billings would like to be remembered. He was supportive of
the idea. He suggested that the LHBA in addition to off setting the City's
costs on this project, to off setting the affected homeowners who were not
happy about this idea by making a small contribution. He said changing an
address could be inconvenient.
He also had a concern about setting precedent, but not in this case
because there were not many people who had affected Lawrence the same way
Billings had. He supported the proposal.
Vice Mayor Rundle asked if a dual address could be done.
Bill Reynolds, Lawrence Post Master, said they had the utmost respect
for Bob Billings. He said they had to separate the practical side from the
humanitarian side. He said the post office would use one address for a
mailing address which applied to real estate records, tax records, and 911
emergency records. If you try to hyphenate or slash 15th Street/Bob Billing
Parkway, then you exceed the number of characters for most computer programs
for addressing. He said a dual street name did cause confusion because
eventually someone would start using Bob Billings Parkway and since 15th
Street was in their database then that letter would be rejected and returned
to the sender. He said it was not that it was impossible, but there was a
practical side to it that went beyond just the addressing for the residents
that were there and the precedent the City Commission might set.
Vice Mayor Rundle asked if the Commission completely changed the
street name, did the Post Office have a system for delivering to both
addresses.
Reynolds said when the City determined what the name of that street
would be, the Post Office would be notified and it would be changed in their
database. He said they would continue to deliver to that old 15th Street
address for one year and six months after that, they would return the mail
to sender with the new address inscribed on the label. After a total of 18
months then the mail would be returned to sender as "no such address."
Commissioner Hack said with a one year delay, they were looking at a
2 1/2 year timeframe to get everything changed.
Reynolds said yes. He said those types of things affect people that
were involved for a while, but from their standpoint, they could change the
name of the street in a day.
Commissioner Schauner said based on those comments, he suspected that
dual naming did not make practical sense.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to direct staff to prepare an
ordinance renaming 15th Street west of Iowa as Bob Billings Parkway. Motion
carried unanimously.
(14)
Moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to recess for 5 minutes. Motion
carried unanimously.
Receive the Clinton Lake Area Master Plan and consider authorizing execution
of a lease of additional property from the US Corps of Engineers.
Fred DeVictor, Parks and Recreation Director, presented the Clinton
Lake area master plan. He said this would be a 25 year plan. He said staff
provided opportunities for citizens to provide input on this plan.
He said staff had evaluated the current uses below the dam at Clinton
Lake and anticipated growth in the community. He said staff also looked at
existing conditions of Y.S.I. such as current traffic problems and how to
resolve those problems.
As a long range plan staff knew they did not have a lot of money to
fund this plan, but they anticipated some opportunities in the future, for
example, the Rotary Arboretum that had previously been approved several
weeks ago.
He said staff wanted to take time to answer questions for the City
Commission. In addition to reviewing and hopefully adopting the plan, part
of the recommendation was to add 97 acres to the lease and the Corp of
Engineers had already approved that recommendation.
Doug Pickert, Landscape Architect, Project Manager, said this was a
long-range plan that they planned a facility for a community. This was a
land use diagram to set aside land within this unique opportunity for the
community so that as they anticipated elements to come along, there would be
a place to put those.
He reviewed for the Commission what they provided in terms of public
outreach and public meetings. He said they did "out reach events" in which
instead of inviting the community to come to them in the public meetings
format, they tried to go out to make the community aware that this planning
process was taking place. In terms of public meetings, their first public
meeting was October 24th to review what was in the park land at this point,
provided some review of existing facilities, and listen to initial comment
from the public and what they would like to see in terms of change or
additional uses. On November 18th, they had a second public meeting to
present some early concepts to the community to get some review and feedback
and recap for them the type of public input they had heard up to that point.
The final public meeting was in February where they presented the proposed
final plan for the project. He said they also invited special interest
groups to discuss soccer, baseball, football, theatre, remote control
airplane, wheel chair softball, golf, and equestrian disc golf. He said
several natural resource interest research groups were invited to those
meeting and they had discussion with them about their needs.
He said much of the public comment was about the following:
1. Improve the entries into the park and the circulation especially related
to the northeast quarter, the Y.S.I. adult sports complex;
2. The use for a number of sport uses;
3. The amphitheater concept; and
4. The open space and native habitat concerns.
He said all of those listed were strong concerns from the community
or interest they had in how this land would be used.
He said extending from the SLT on the north down to County Road 458
on the south over to the dam and east to the Wakarusa Drive extension with
the existing facilities, they had worked around all of those facilities as
shown in the plan. He said there were some initial potential cultural
resource sites at the southern portion. He said there was some additional
information in the final report on how the Corp expected that area to be
addressed should park development occur.
John Chamberland, LandPlan Engineering, said one of the reoccurring
themes that was addressed through this process was the concerns that many
users of the existing facility had in regards to the intersection of the SLT
and Wakarusa Drive and the ability, particularly on weekends during sporting
events when both soccer and softball activities occurring within the
complex, was the difficulties in and out of the facility in terms of access.
He discussed three topics in terms of the access which were:
1. Review of the existing roads and access points that served the area as it
exited today;
2. The regional roadway system serving the area and process that was went
through when working with different organizations such as the State of
Kansas, Douglas County, and the City of Lawrence when looking at those
long-range planning issues; and
3. The local roadway system as presented in the Master Plan to serve the
park in its future development.
He said when looking at the existing roadway and access, the
intersection of the SLT and Wakarusa Drive which was the main focal point
serving the facility as it existed today. At the west end would be the 27th
Street extension and the lower dam road was a short section of gravel road
that currently existed which came into the off-leash dog area. They had the
existing roadway, the lower road that served the interest into the existing
Eagle Bend Golf Course and the two access points, one on the east boundary
where County Road 458 came up against the leased area and down along the
southern end where County Road 458 went along outer dam road. He said this
was the existing access that served the facility as it existed today.
He discussed the regional roadway system process. He said the first
documents they reviewed were the Transportation 2020 Plan which identified
the major roadway network for the future development of the City of
Lawrence. One of the areas of particular interest was the proposed
alignment of Wakarusa Drive as it came through this property. Other factors
that were looked at in meeting with other organizations that had interest in
regional traffic planning in this area was Douglas County in regards to
Kasold extension in which they had spent a significant amount of time
studying in the past several years and what efforts they wanted to put into
possible improvements from 31st Street down to the SLT and in future
intersection improvements at that location.
He said when talking about Kasold Drive extension, during their
meetings with the County, they looked at what made sense for a logical
southern entryway into the City as Lawrence continued to expand to the south
in the future. He said they looked at some of the existing physical
constraints that were in the area and also constraints that were imposed by
the Federal Highway Administration and their desire to maintain a minimum of
two mile spacing for any interchange access points. He said this was one of
the fatal flaws that were looked at as they looked at a future interchange
location at Kasold Drive and the SLT because it was only located one mile to
the west of Highway 59 interchange. From that standpoint, a future
expansion and interchange of Wakarusa Drive and the SLT from an interchange
spacing made more sense from the State's view and the County was in
agreement. He said the plans were now going forward that the future
extension of Wakarusa would be considered one of the main southern entryways
into the City of Lawrence.
He discussed the proposed alignment and how it was currently in the
Transportation 2020 Plan and how it impacted the park. He presented a
diagram to the City Commission. He said the alignment of Wakarusa Drive
that was currently in Transportation 2020 Plan and he showed the Commission
a dashed line along the eastern edge in which they proposed the alignment as
part of this Master Planning. The transportation section began to play a
significant role in defining a lot of what happened in the planning of the
land use in this park. He said the western alignment of Wakarusa Drive
ended up bisecting the southern portion of the park which they felt was
undesirable from that standpoint. It also had some significant impacts on
the existing model airplane lease which was located in that area. It would
bisect that lease and the lease as shown in the plan has been rotated and
moved slightly from their current lease, but they were still able to use
their basic facilities.
He said the other driving factor in this area was the existing
wetlands that were located along that proposed alignment as shown in the
Transportation 2020 Plan which that future roadway would impact. He said
they looked at those factors and in working with the County, they determined
that the eastern alignment of the SLT connecting County Road 458 at a future
intersection location and realigning part of the lower dam road would better
serve the needs of the southern end of the park making it more of a
congruent continuous piece of property and also eliminated some of our
future entanglements that they would encounter with the wetlands if that
other alignment was considered.
He walked the City Commission through the methodology concerning the
Y.S.I. access point or the intersection of the SLT and Wakarusa Drive. The
City was able to provide them with traffic counts that were taking during
active use of the Y.S.I. facilities and the softball facilities so they
could get an indication of what type of traffic the existing facilities were
generating. In its current state, there were approximately 44 sports field
located within the park ground. During the programming part of this
project, in meeting with all of the different interest groups, they started
to identify what they felt like their future program was going to be. He
said what came out of that process was the identification of an additional
33 sport fields in order to meet what they perceived as their future need.
Basically the future program was looking at doubling the amount of active
sports use that initially was being considered in the northeast section of
the park and the reason that was being considered at that location was the
existing infrastructure maintenance facilities that were already in place to
serve that area. He said there was a desire to play off and use those
facilities for future expansion of sport fields.
As they were getting into the evaluation of the intersection, they
evaluated underneath existing conditions. What was found was that on a
typical weekend, when all the sport facilities were active, that they had
several hours of the day that intersection would operated in level of
service F for the northbound/southbound movement which was the movement
trying to cross the SLT. This was caused for a couple of reasons which was
the way the SLT functions in that it was a major arterial expressway, high
speed facility so there was more green-time setup to the trafficway then
there was green-time for crossing on Wakarusa Drive. He said the State
Transportation Department wanted to maintain that signal in its current
function. One of the issues that were looked at was did they have the
capability of retiming the signals and assigning additional green-time for
the crossing movement on Wakarusa Drive to enhance the ability to carry that
crossing traffic across the intersection.
They also looked at, in terms of what future traffic would do on the
trafficway, was at some point, the connection to K-10 was going to occur and
they expected a significant increase in traffic on the SLT at that time as
it occurred and it would further complicate the issue at this intersection.
The evaluation that they looked at under existing conditions and under
future conditions did not consider future traffic on the trafficway. It
only looked at existing traffic and what would only be generated by the site
and even under those scenarios that intersection was operating in a failed
condition. He said that led them to their current Master Plan where they
rearranged the location of some of the active sport uses to a different
location within the park where it could be served by its own access points.
He presented a diagram to the City Commission concerning improvements
to the intersection of the SLT and Wakarusa Drive. The northwesterly
movement of the intersection would remain unchanged because under current
configuration, there was an exclusive left turn lane, through lane, and an
exclusive right turn lane. On the south easterly approach to the
intersection, under current condition, they had an exclusive left turn lane
and through lane. One issue that might be considered would be the inclusion
of a future right turn lane into this facility although that traffic
movement would not have a lot of traffic that approaches the Y.S.I. area
from that direction. However, in order to try to improve the ability to
separate and enhance the cross access movement across Wakarusa Drive,
currently on one leg of the intersection they had one lane that was shared
by all movements. He said they proposed that improvement be made at that
location to install and exclusive left turn lane, a through lane, and an
exclusive right turn lane in order to help enhance the movements at that
location. On the opposite side of that intersection, they would have a
through shared right-turn movement and exclusive left-turn movement and do
some minor reallocation of green-time at the intersection so they could
have an exclusive left-turn phase to help relieve part of the problem there
where they had one left turn where it hung up the entire vehicle cue.
In terms of looking into the future and what might happen at this
intersection and based off of their conversations with the State knowing
what there long-range plans were for the trafficway, they anticipate at some
point that would become a four lane facility. He said it became logical
assumption it would most likely when it expanded to a four lane
configuration from its current two lane configuration, that would be an
appropriate time to look at the installation of a grade separated
interchange at Wakarusa Drive and the SLT. He said there would be a new
park entry that would be located approximately a quarter mile south of the
interchange that would be one of the main entrances to the northern end of
the park.
The other item they looked at as part of the roadway improvements in
this area was the extension of 27th Street through to the west and its
connection to the lower dam road. He said they were looking at this
improvement under interim conditions because they thought it was necessary
in order to provide a secondary access point to relieve some of the existing
traffic problems at this intersection.
He said the overall plan as it existed today in terms of the proposed
future roadway improvement included: future interchange with the trafficway
and Wakarusa Drive; the new park entry; the extension of 27th Street over to
tie into the lower dam road; and the realignment of the lower dam road into
the future Wakarusa Drive Extension providing the southern entry into the
park.
Doug Pickert explained the different uses that were identified as
part of the project. He explained the western portion of the park as the
plan was proposed. He said to the north was the Outdoor Amphitheater area
with an associated Sesquicentennial Plaza. Within this park they came to
the conclusion that combining that plaza with the amphitheater made it part
of a large active community space. Surrounding that would be additional
picnic area on the north bluff area. All of the area on the northwest
corner was elevated well above the lower part of the park and had beautiful
views to the south and southeast.
The Corp of Engineers would continue to have a small material site
area within the expanding area. Everything was within that possible lease
expansion area to the north of the east/west connector, 27th Street
extended. There was parking for the amphitheater as well as the opportunity
to use that space for large community events. To the south encompassing
around the outlet channel was proposed land set aside for a golf course
expansion, should that facility be needed in the future. To the south of
that land was the existing golf course and to the south of the existing golf
course were the youth and adult soccer fields.
He said the reason why they had proposed the youth and adult soccer
complex being built in this area was to pull that traffic use to a different
part of the park which would allow two different ways to get in and out of
that facility and allowing those other active uses to stay up into the
northeast corner. He said the existing soccer fields would be used as
multi-purpose practice fields so the infrastructure would remain and an
investment that was placed there would not be lost and there still would be
usable sport fields and the football fields would be rearranged. A lot of
infrastructure in the Y.S.I. area was pulled into this plan. In terms of
the long term future use and need for the soccer facilities, they needed to
look for a different place and this was an area that served them well in
terms of the ability to construct that and service that with access from the
north, south, and southeast. Also, the opportunity to create an irrigation
lake to help supplement the irrigation needs for those fields.
Moving south of those fields, the disc golf course was shown as a
more predominate element than it would be, but that was basically the area
that they anticipated it could be worked into that larger greenspace
encompassed by the lower dam road and the upper dam road as it swung around
and cuts across the south bluff. All of that area was set aside as open
space for trails. The south bluff area at the end of the dam was being used
for development of an overlook facility and had tremendous views in all
directions and to the south of the dam road as it tied into County 458 Road.
He said they had shown the relocation dog off leash area at the time that
the golf course expansion to the north would possibly be needed and
incorporating equestrian trail head that could then have a connection to the
west into the Corp's equestrian trails.
To the north on the east side, the top elements were the field house
and optional location might go to the existing ball fields. The existing
adult softball complex with an expanded four-plex would be set aside if that
needed to be used. There was also a general location for a field house with
3 to 4 gyms, Skate Park and a wheel chair softball field. All of those were
different elements that would fit well within the context and the use of
this as a regional or community wide Park.
The existing wetland area, there had been plans with the Rotary Club,
about improving and expanding that area and taking it more toward the
effects of an Arboretum. They would also expand the maintenance complex
into the south. The soccer fields would be converted to multi-use practice
fields; the football fields remaining; reconfiguring the four-plex for the
Y.S.I for all youth fast pitch softball with 200 foot fences; the baseball
complex would be in an area to the south; there would be an additional
possibility for multi-use practice which was a big need within the
community; the new east entry into the park; crossing over the Wakarusa
River all of the open space along the river which tied into some prairie
restoration to the north; the Wakarusa Drive Extension to the east side;
environmental demonstration site to access some wetlands, woodlands,
corridor, and prairie restoration type elements would make a useful
facility.
To the south of that blended into a large area of open space and
picnic area. There was a reconfigured model airplane site. He said there
would be a fishing lake created down the southeast corner to create a nice
picnic and open space use which bled into an outdoor pavilion, new park
entry to the south, prairie restoration, large destination play ground
called "community gathering hall" which would be a conditioned space that
could be rented.
He said the trail systems which was biking, hiking, and nature trails
that wound through the entire park.
The Amphitheater Site to the north was an open area that had
commanding views of the park area which had a view across the stage where
you could see the lake and park. Some permanent parking to the east side
with overflow parking in the Sesquicentennial Plaza set higher on the slope.
The plaza area was a small 160 foot diameter circle telling some
history and interpretive timelines around the perimeter. It would also have
a small Amphitheater built into that for educational purposes.
On the northeast corner were the sports fields such as adult softball
with a field house and parking, and the wheel chair softball. The sports
area to the south was the Y.S.I. Complex reconfigured with the baseball
field. He said there were 7 baseball fields of various sizes including the
potential for a baseball stadium in that area.
He presented a possible layout reconfiguring and replacing the youth
and adult soccer areas and how that might happen breaking that into
different nodes distributing the parking throughout the project.
On the south end of the park there would be a community gathering
hall with some addition of lakes to make that a quiet area for people make
to use of several hundred of acres.
Mayor Dunfield called for public comment.
Clenece Hills, speaking on behalf of the Lawrence Sesquicentennial
Commission, said the Sesquicentennial was not about our past, but our
future. She said there were not many people in the room that needed this
park, but they were at home tucked in bed and they were still in their
imaginations yet to come. She said in approving something of this magnitude
would not be up to them, but the people who would be there long after they
were gone. She said it was really easy to talk about how much it might
cost, disturbing the infrastructure, how many other needs there were,
whether it was in the right place, and whether it was the right time. She
urged everyone to think about what if they did not do this now and didn't
take advantage of the leasing of some additional Corp land or thinking big
and planning ahead. No one expected this to be done tomorrow. The
Sesquicentennial Plaza might be something that they were all gathered around
20 years from now.
She said the Sesquicentennial Master Plan was an insignificant part
of this plan in terms of space. She was not there for just the
Sesquicentennial Plaza, but to tell everyone that there were so many reasons
we needed to plan ahead.
She said when LandPlan Engineering staff talked about the input,
there were many requests and every request, LandPlan tried to address. In
terms of the Sesquicentennial, they were prepared to raise funds to pay for
that plaza and have it in place when ever it was finished. She said they
could not proceed unless there was an approval of this Master Plan. She
asked the City Commission to give them direction because if the Commission
wanted the Sesquicentennial to thinking smaller, they would not like it, but
they could think smaller and do something at a much lower key. If the City
Commission believed that the Sesquicentennial was about the future, the
Commission would help them accomplish that task.
Gerry DeBoer, representing the Kaw Valley Soccer Association, said
they were pleased to see in this plan that they finally had a place where
adults could play soccer. Right now there was not a good place designed for
adult soccer, but they did have some interim solutions. This plan that was
presented placed adult soccer on the map. Together with a nice plan for the
youth soccer they were not able to expand their club by adding more teams at
the current facility at Y.S.I. They were basically locked in because of the
traffic situation and with this plan that had moved the soccer facilities
south of the golf course they were able to expand to think about hosting
tournaments, bringing in soccer teams from Kansas as well as neighboring
states. This plan that had been proposed was supporting the soccer
community in general and he asked the City Commission to support this plan.
Stephen Topping, Lawrence, spent most of his career in the music
business. He toured all over the world and toured in a number of
Amphitheaters. He had talked to a friend about Lawrence needing an
Amphitheater for 5 years until they caught wind of this plan.
He said during his touring times he had gone to the Red Rocks
Amphitheater which was built in 1941 by the City of Denver. This
Amphitheater was continually used during the season.
He said they needed a facility like the proposed Amphitheater for
other reasons besides the arts such has high school graduations, musically
events and theater events. He thought the City could see a potential 1/4
million dollars a year minimum just for ticket sales for special events and
that did not include concessions, vendors, or merchandizing. He said a $10
event that was sold out, would bring in $50,000.
A person had been in Lawrence since 1993 and had previously lived in
Phoenix, Arizona, Atlanta, Georgia, Virginia Beach, and Topeka, Kansas, had
lived in Lawrence long enough to know that there was no stage. He realized
there were money problems and he was volunteering to start a fund raising
campaign to help raise money for this theater.
Marci Francisco, Lawrence, was appointed to the Sesquicentennial
Committee because of her connection and interest in the history of Lawrence.
There was an argument that people had made about investing in our central
City. That was one of the difficulties of look at this proposal, but it was
logical parkland for the City of Lawrence. This was the time to be making
the decisions about the layout of roads and intersections and where they
might be in the future.
This was a Master Plan, but actually only part of a larger plan for
parks in Lawrence. She trusted the City Commission to look at expenditures
in this area and in other parks throughout Lawrence as they build in the
future because this needed to be balanced with those investments. She
appreciated the efforts of City staff, LandPlan, and the City Commission has
put into thinking about different types of parks for everyone.
Commissioner Schauner asked what was our investment to date in
engineering and planning for this project.
DeVictor said the contract was $25,500 for this project. He said
there were approximately 10 or 12 firms that were interviewed because they
were interested in this project.
Commissioner Highberger asked if the City was paying a nominal fee
for the lease of the land.
DeVictor said the taxpayers were not paying for the lease of the
land. He said it was the Corps of Engineer land, but the City had a
long-term lease arrangement with them.
Commissioner Highberger asked if adding the 97 acres would not change
that lease arrangement.
DeVictor said there would be no addition costs.
Commissioner Schauner said if the lease was zero cost to the City,
what was the annual maintenance for the current land under lease with the
Corps of Engineers.
DeVictor would research that cost for the Commission. He said there
would be some maintenance cost for this facility. The golf course operation
was approximately $1,000,000 a year. Revenue off-sets that costs, but there
were some taxpayer costs associated.
Schauner said when all the revenue was added up, did it equal the
cost of operation of what the City currently had at the lake.
DeVictor said no.
Mayor Dunfield asked DeVictor to comment briefly on the relative
merits of having things like soccer fields located all in one location.
DeVictor said when you have a number of fields together, you could
accommodate tournaments and bring major events to the community. The
disadvantage would be that people in the community would need to get to that
location. It was less costly for maintenance at one facility than scattered
sites throughout the community. He said you could take advantage of
concession operations and things of that nature that were more profitable at
a site like this.
Commissioner Schauner said DeVictor indicated that the current rules
from the Federal Government either required or preferred a 2 mile interval
between interchanges.
Chamberland said correct.
Commission Schauner said if they started at 6th and the SLT and went
south and east along the SLT, he asked where the first available interchange
would be located.
Moved by Rundle, seconded by Hack, to extend the meeting until 10:30
p.m.
A person said the Federal Highway had seen an interstate system
within urban areas over the last 30 years and how the one mile interchange
spacing had created the congestion problems. They had looked at revising
that in the design of new facilities in order to try to maintain or keep
that capacity in tact into the future for the interstate system.
Commission Schauner said first there would be the 6th and the SLT and
then Wakarusa and the SLT as the next logical interchange.
Chamberland said now you have the interchanges at Clinton Parkway.
The next interchange would be Wakarusa Drive and the next, Highway 59.
Commissioner Schauner said under that 2 mile spacing, they would be
the only available interchanges along that western leg of the SLT.
Chamberland said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said following that 2 mile interval those would
be the two logical places.
Chamberland said correct.
Vice Mayor Rundle was familiar with the complexes in Johnson County
with multiple playing fields, he asked if Pickert knew of any place that had
that many playing fields.
Pickert said Heritage Park operated by the Johnson County Parks and
Recreation District. He said they were doing a Master Plan update for that
facility and they had a similar situation. He said they had 18 soccer
fields in the southern part of that park with two entries in that park.
They also had 11 football fields. In terms of acreage of the total park it
was similar.
Commissioner Hack asked if the City of Lawrence was looking at a 20
year plan.
Pickert said it was the same structure that they were operating under
the Master Plan which was a 20 year plan.
Commissioner Schauner asked how it would be envision integrating the
road system improvements with the one to five and six to ten year plan in
the Master Plan. At what point would interchanges need to built or
additional entry points to the park need to be created.
DeVictor said the roadways to the interior part of the park were part
of that one to five year and six to ten year plan.
Pickert said in terms of a one to five year plan would be the
geometric improvements with the lane additions to the intersection of the
SLT and Wakarusa Drive and the extension of 27th Street to the west over the
lower dam road. Those would be the first two transportation improvements
that would be necessary.
Commissioner Schauner asked if in Pickert's view would those
transportation improvements be necessary as part of any initial improvements
if this additional ground would be leased.
Pickert said part of what needed to be looked at was under current
conditions there was a deficiency. He said those transportation
improvements would be to address those deficiencies within current
conditions.
Commissioner Schauner asked in the Master Plan were those Park Drive
segment A1, A3, B1, H1, were those the roads that Pickert was discussing.
Pickert said yes. When looking at the interchange and the future
improvements to that intersection you would be looking at what time would it
be warranted to take the SLT to a four lane facility. He said that would be
driven by the State and City. When that improvement was necessary, that
would be the logical time for that interchange to be installed.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the costs of those four segments of
Park Drive would be a temporary service level improvement awaiting the
movement to a four lane SLT at that location.
Pickert said correct.
Commissioner Schauner at that time there would be a need for a
separated grade.
Pickert said Wakarusa Drive would go over the top of the trafficway.
Commissioner Schauner asked if part of the increased traffic at that
location would be determined by the completion of the eastern leg of the
trafficway.
Pickert said that would have a certain amount of impact on the amount
of traffic that the SLT carries when that connection was made because it
would enhance its desirability as a bypass around the City of Lawrence. It
would be driven to a certain extent in regards to development south in the
City and what occurred in that area was there was a need for another
southern connection into the City of Lawrence and that would certainly have
an impact on the timing for the extension of Wakarusa Drive south down to
County Road 458.
Vice Mayor Rundle appreciated all the work. He said it was important
to think big, but they had to put that into the context of this community's
needs and population. He had a concern about traffic in that area. He said
it was important for the Planners to recognize that we could not see the
future or the limitations on vehicle traffic or need to be environmental.
He said it was nice to lease this amount of land to have the opportunities
secured. He said it was important to recognize that this was a conceptual
plan and that the people in the future would determine their needs.
Commissioner Hack said Lawrence was a community that was known for
its parks. She said one of the City Commission's goals was planned growth
and this certainly falls into that category. She said this plan truly adds
to our downtown. She supported the plan.
Mayor Dunfield said the discussion that had gone on over the last
couple of years about the south of the Wakarusa potential for Lawrence
really fit into this whole Master Planning process. He appreciated the
process and he looked at the proposal for the alignment of Wakarusa Drive as
it extended south because it would clearly be a key element of that southern
expansion of the City whenever it did occur. That Wakarusa extension had
gone from being a fairly arbitrary line on a map to one that had a much
deeper level of thought and a much more particular tie to the conditions of
the land. That was the type of planning the Commission was looking for as
they try to grow in a sensible and sustainable way. He approved of the
lease extension and Master Plan.
Commissioner Highberger said it was an impressive piece of work, but
he had concerns about the traffic impacts and concentrations of resources in
one area. Part of the traffic problem was because they were concentrating
so much in one place. He said it would be up to future City Commissions to
make sure the needs of the rest of the City were taken care while this plan
was being fulfilled. He supported adding the 97 acres to the leasehold and
the plan.
Commissioner Schauner said it was a dream project for a Landscape
Planner because there were not many opportunities to plan 1500 acres.
Obviously people who work on a plan for a long period of time get a vested
interest in the outcome. He did not believe this was planned growth because
it was taking a particular type of activity, putting it in place and then
planning around it. He thought there should be a Master Land Plan that as
part it, included activities like soccer fields and baseball fields. He
said they needed to look at the whole community and what they could support
and get to with reasonable transportation effort and build that into the
Master Plan for the City's land use not just a Master Plan for developing a
park. He did not want his comment to be taken that he did not support those
types of park activities, but he thought they needed to look at how they
share these opportunities with all parts of town, not just the western part
of the City. He supported the extension of the leasehold, but he was
concerned that they were committing themselves to a 20 year plan. He asked
how land use would be planned in the community that would incorporate those
activities, not just approve a Master Plan for a park.
Mayor Dunfield said this was a particular Master Plan for an area
that grew out of a larger Master Plan for parks community wide. The
Commission had been purchasing land since the passage of the sales tax and
providing projects beginning with the Outdoor Aquatic Center, East Lawrence
Center, Indoor Aquatic Center, Parkland purchases in the southeast as well
as the northwest. He said there were different scales of planning going on
and what we're seeing here was a more detailed scale of a particular portion
of the parks system that was identified as part of that larger Master Plan.
He said there would not be a lot of opportunities for a 1,500 acre park
around Lawrence especially when the City was leasing the land at no costs.
He thought they were doing land use planning for parks throughout the
community because they were placing more emphasis on a study for this
particular park.
Commissioner Schauner was not talking about land use planning for
parks, but land use planning for the community that would have as a
component, parks. He said they were told that they were likely to grow
significantly to the south and east. He said the Commission needed to think
about the park planning was in part planning for the entire variety of uses
within the community not just limited to parks.
Commissioner Hack said that was when they look at Horizon 2020 as
their Comprehensive Plan as well as the urban growth area.
Commissioner Schauner said Horizon 2020 was not a land use plan. It
was a plan for shopping centers.
Vice Mayor Rundle said the planning process brought to light the
needs unrealistically. He said their might not be an expanded golf course,
but more trails. Based on further study they had actually thought through
the transportation a lot better then he thought they did. He agreed with
Commissioner Schauner in that they needed to keep an opened mind and not
look at this as written in stone.
Mayor Dunfield did not disagree that they needed to extend this level
of thinking to other areas of town throughout the City and throughout the
urban growth area. This was an example of doing the right thing in looking
further ahead and with the recognition that not every item that was shown on
the Master Plan was going to become a reality.
Commissioner Hack said it was like the Capital Improvement Plan in
which it was a wish list.
Vice Mayor Rundle said a good Comprehensive Plan was updated
regularly because you needed to respond to changing times.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to receive the Clinton Lake Area
Master Plan and authorized the execution for lease of additional property
from US Corps of Engineers. Motion carried unanimously.
(15)
Vice Mayor Rundle suggested that the Amphitheater and
Sesquicentennial Plaza be placed on a future agenda for discussion.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to extend the meeting until
11:30. Motion carried unanimously.
Receive a staff report concerning the possible traffic signal improvements
at 31st and Louisiana Street and 31st Street and Haskell Avenue.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, presented the report on the 31st
Street Corridor Study. He said last March, Transystem presented to the
City and County Commissions their report on the 31st Street Corridor Study.
He said they looked at the intersections and the capacities were evaluated
for the levels of service. He said short-term recommendations were made to
improve the level service at the intersection at 31st and Louisiana and 31st
and Haskell Street. He said the recommendations included signalizations of
the intersections on span wire. The County and City Commission wanted more
information on what the improvements were. Span wire was susceptible to
wind and fixed time. He said fixed time didn't give you all the options and
didn't operate as efficiently as the video detection. He said the option of
video detection would add approximately $20,000 to each intersection. The
improvements recommended by Transystems at these intersections were
temporary. He said they were only needed because of delay and convenience
issues. They were not a safety issue.
Another option would be a temporary roundabout. He said those would
be built with asphalt curbing backfilled with dirt and they wouldn't cost
anymore than what a temporary signal with video detection. He said the
advantage would be there was no maintenance.
The cost split at 31st and Louisiana was the northeast quarter of the
intersection and was the only part of the intersection that was within the
City limits. At 31st and Haskell the southwest quarter was the only quarter
that was not within the City limits. Essentially both the City and County
had one full intersection to contend with.
Currently the City has a contract with KDOT with the SLT for the
intersections. The City would do the maintenance on that signal for
approximately $4,800. He said the County Commission suggested that the
signalization of those improvements were a City/County responsibility. He
said the County Commission thought the temporary improvements made sense,
but they thought they should wait until the record of decision from the Corp
was received.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was a history of accidents using
the four-way stop approach.
Soules said there was no history of accidents at those two
intersections.
Commissioner Schauner asked what the warrants on the two
intersections were and did they need to do something now.
Soules said on the level of service, during the peak hour the evening
the level of service at those two intersections failed. That means the
delay people had exceeded the industry standards. At 31st and Louisiana
during the peak evening hour there was a delay of 60.1 seconds, and at 31st
and Haskell there was a delay of 80.1 seconds. The industry standards were
if it was greater than 50 seconds at an un-signalized intersection then it
failed.
Joyce Wolf, President of Indian Hills Neighborhood Association, said
last December a fairly lengthy opinion survey was sent out to 500 of their
residents. One question asked in the survey was: "How would you rate
neighborhood facilities and services?" On the high end the neighborhood
thought trash, fire, and police was great. On the low end, unfortunately,
were traffic controls. Opportunities were given in the survey to share
comments regarding the questions asked. Throughout the comments on traffic
controls, there were consistent complaints about Louisiana and 27th Street
regarding the amount of traffic, speed and noise. If the proposal would
assist in taking additional traffic off of 27th Street, then the
neighborhood would be in support.
She traveled 31st and Louisiana regularly, and it seemed to function
well as a four way stop. She said as a taxpayer, spending approximately
$100,000 on those intersections was warranted at this time.
Mayor Dunfield was skeptical that they would see any difference on
27th or Louisiana with a temporary traffic signal. He said with all the
uncertainties considered about the future of this road and if there was no
safety warrant involved, this would be a good project to skip for now.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to direct staff to not proceed at
this time regarding possible traffic signal improvements at 31st Street and
Louisiana Street and 31st Street and Haskell venue. Motion carried
unanimously. (16)
Conduct a public hearing on a proposed vacation of right-of-way at 1817
Castle Pine Court adjacent to Lot 25, Block 3, Foxfire Addition No. 4.
Mayor Dunfield called a public hearing on a proposed vacation of
right-of-way at 1817 Castle Pine Court, adjacent to Lot 25, Block 3, Foxfire
Addition No. 4.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, said all utilities and Planning
were notified and they were in agreement. He said staff would like to
maintain the easements for pedestrian, roadway, and utilities.
Upon receiving no public comment, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Hack, to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.
Moved by Rundle, seconded by Highberger, to approve the Order of
Vacation for 1817 Castle Pine Court adjacent to Lot 25, Block 3, Foxfire
Addition No. 4 and authorize the Mayor to sign the vacation order. Motion
carried unanimously. (17)
Conduct a public hearing on the proposed maximum special assessments for the
improvement of Research Park Drive.
Mayor Dunfield called a public hearing on the proposed maximum
special assessments for the improvement of Research Park Drive.
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Service Director, said
the notice had been published and there had been discussion with the
property owners. He said this was the improvement to Research Park Drive,
south of west 15th Street, to the terminus near 18th Street. This public
hearing was establishing the maximum special assessments for that project.
Upon receiving no public comment, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Hack, to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to place on 1st Reading,
Ordinance No. 7658, approve the proposed maximum special assessments for
improvement of Research Park Drive. Motion carried unanimously.
(18)
Consider approval of the City/County Cooperative Agreement and Resolution
No. 6477 authorizing general obligation bond authority for the City share of
the improvement to O'Connell Road.
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Services Director,
presented the City/County Cooperative Agreement for financing O'Connell
Road. He said the project was in the Capital Improvement Plan and in the
Capital Improvement Plan Budget. The City and KDOT had entered into a
cooperative agreement to improve O'Connell Road from 23rd to 31st Streets
alignment. He said pursuant to the City/KDOT agreement, the City had been
responsible for the design of the project, property acquisition, and also
for 20 percent of the construction and inspection costs. The total project
estimated to be 3.6 million and KDOT was paying 2.4 million.
When this project was discussed earlier, it was envisioned that the
Commission would proceed with consideration of annexation of the area. Most
of the property on the west side of O'Connell Road was in the City, with
exception of the farmland property. The property on the east side was not
in the city. The property owners had raised concerns regarding annexations
and what they would trigger. The property owners had a number of questions
about when they were annexed they would then be subject to sanitary sewer
special assessments if they did a regional sanitary sewer line and pump
station.
If the City wanted to stay on KDOT's time frame to build this road,
then there needed to be a different dept financing authority than what was
originally planned, which was the main trafficway authority. He said the
only way a main trafficway designation could be done was if the street was
within the city. It was staff's preference that a cooperative agreement be
entered with the City and County. The County would not be paying for any
money for the project, but would be signing off on the plans. The
annexation could then be considered at a more separated timeframe. The
County Commissioners were supportive of the financing agreement and it would
be approved by their consent agenda tomorrow night.
Mayor Dunfield asked if what they were talking about obligated the
City to its portion of the costs.
Corliss said the City was already obligated to the financing.
Mayor Dunfield asked by establishing this method of financing, do
they eliminate the possibility of recovering those cost by some other method
once the annexation went through.
Corliss said they never planned on this project being a benefit
district. It was difficult to do a special assessment benefit district in
coordination with a KDOT project. This was similar how North Michigan had
been approved.
Mayor Dunfield said there were two central issues that were driving
this project. One issue was KDOT financing 80 percent of the project and
the other issue was that O'Connell Road already served City residents badly
because of the substandard road. Even without the annexation proceeding,
this was a project that needed to be addressed.
Corliss said correct and that had been recognized since the City
allowed the Prairie Park to be developed that O'Connell Road was
substandard. He said the City was fortunate enough to get on KDOT's Service
Transportation Program list. He said KDOT would pay 80% of this project and
the City would debt finance the balance.
Commissioner Highberger asked if there had been thought in trying to
get County participation regarding funding those types of projects.
Corliss said during the North Michigan and Riverridge projects, the
county did participate. With this project, the City had always been the
lead and they had not looked to the County for any financial assistance on
this project.
Mayor Dunfield called for public comment.
After hearing no public comment, it was moved by Rundle, seconded by
Hack, to adopt Resolution No. 6477, authorizing general obligation bond
authority for the city share of the improvement to O'Connell Road. Motion
carried unanimously. (19)
Commissioner Schauner asked if the City was paving a road in the
County using KDOT and City money.
Corliss said the road was in some cases in the City and in some cases
all in the un-incorporated County.
Commissioner Schauner said paving this road would accelerate the need
to annex that area or make it more certain that it would be annexed.
Wildgen said it was part of an adequate public facility, long-range.
He said it might accelerate the grouping of some of those properties. He
said some of that land was owned by farmland, at one time, as a buffer and
they had no intention of doing anything with that land. There circumstances
had changed and there was more of an interest.
Mayor Dunfield said if there was issue that was leading the
Commission to move more quickly toward annexation was the release of that
farmland property. He said this was part of a development and part of the
City Comprehensive Plan.
Consider motion to recess into executive session to discuss matters relating
to employer/employee negotiations for 20 minutes.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Highberger, to recess into executive
session to discuss matters relating to employer/employee negotiations for
twenty minutes with the justification for the executive session to keep
confidential the matters related to negotiations and personnel issues.
Motion carried unanimously. (20)
After returning from executive session, it was moved by Schauner,
seconded by Highberger, to schedule a July 8th public hearing for the
purpose of receiving explanation and supporting documentation regarding the
Lawrence Police Officer's Association's and City Management's respective
positions regarding a Memorandum of Understanding. Motion carried
unanimously.
(21)
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to adjourn at 11:25 p.m. Motion
carried unanimously.
APPROVED:
_____________________________
David M Dunfield, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
CITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES - JULY 1, 2003
1. Bid - Geometric Improvements for 6th & Comet Ln., to LRM for $247,880.18.
2. Computer Equipment - for Lawrence P.D. for $11,650.12.
3. Ordinance No. 7659 - 1st Reading, Rezone (Z-04-11-03).31 acres, M-2 to
C-4, 311-317 N 2nd.
4. Ordinance No. 7660 - 1st Reading, Rezone (Z-04-08-03) 4.45 acres from A
to O-1, W of SW corner of W 6th & E 1000 Rd.
5. Ordinance No. 7662 - 1st Reading, alcoholic consumption at Burcham Park,
4:00 - 11:15., Aug 23, 2003.
6. Lawrence Arts Center financial obligation.
7. 2000 Uniform Plumbing Code adoption.
8. CDBG Funds - $33,000 to Tenants to Homeowners for 1108 Connecticut.
9. Release of Mortgage - David Wheaton, 1005 E Home Circle.
10. Subordination Agreement - Donald & Tina White - 1328 E 16th.
11. City Manager's report - Unified Govt of Wyandott/KS City Regional
Community Dev.
12. Rezone Request - Lot 2 of Sigma Nu Add., No. 2.
13. Retail Liquor Sales on Sunday.
14. Renaming 15TH - Bob Billings Parkway.
15. Clinton Lake Area Maser Plan.
16. Traffic Signal Improvements - 31st & Louisiana & 31st & Haskell.
17. Order of Vacation - 1817 Castle Pine Ct., Lt 25, Balk 3, Foxfire Add No.
4.
18. Ordinance No. 7658 - 1st Reading, Research Park Dr.
19. Resolution No. 6477 - GOB for O'Connell Rd.
20. Executive Session - Employer/employee negotiations.
21. LPOA - Schedule July 8th for MOU
July 1, 2003
City Commission Minutes
Page 58
_____________________________
Lisa K. Patterson
Communications Coordinator
City of Lawrence
PO Box 708
Lawrence, KS 66044
(785) 832-3406
fax (785) 832-3405
lpatterson@ci.lawrence.ks.us
http://www.lawrenceks.org