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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report_MinutesMarch 3, 2005 ITEM NO.: 10 FILE NO • LU05-03-01 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - West Little Rock Planning District Location: 8500 Block of Rodney Parham Road Request: Single Family to Suburban Office Source: Steve and Jana Fergusen PROPOSAL/REQUEST Land Use Plan amendment in the West Little Rock Planning District from Single Family to Suburban Office. The Suburban Office category provides for low intensity development of office or office parks in close proximity to lower density residential areas to assure compatibility. A Planned Zoning District is required. The applicant wishes to use the existing home for an insurance office use. Staff is not expanding the application. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is developed with a single family home currently zoned R-2 (Single Family District) and is .3 acres t in size. Rodney Parham Road runs northwest to southeast adjacent to the property and is lined with R-2 zoned land developed with single family homes northwest of this property. North and northeast of the property is additional land all zoned R-2 and developed with single family homes. Southeast of the application and fronting the Markham Street and Rodney Parham intersection is land zoned C-3 (General Commercial District) developed with a retail center with several large tenants including USA Drug, an antique store, Southern Trading and Loan, and an Office Furniture Store. A pad site is developed with a Bank of the Ozarks at the intersection. Immediately south of the site is an area zoned 0-3 (General Office District) developed with a multilevel office building. Further southeast is additional C-3 Commercial at the intersection of Rodney Parham Road and Markham Street developed with a Kroger Grocery Store, a postal facility, a Jack's outdoor equipment store, and a Red Lobster. Currently under construction at the intersection is a Burger King restaurant. Immediately west and southwest of the site is land zoned R-2 developed with single family homes. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: There have been no recent Land Use Plan Amendments in the area within the last five years. The property in question is shown as Single Family. Immediately southwest, west, northwest, north, and northeast of the property are additional area shown March 3, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-01 as Single Family. An area of Public institutional is shown at the intersection of Rodney Parham Road and Van Lee Drive to represent a church and school. Immediately south of the property is an area shown as Office that buffers the Single Family area from a Commercial node shown on three of the four corners of the Rodney Parham and Markham Street intersection. The southeast corner of Rodney Parham Road is shown as Office. An area of Multifamily is shown southeast of the site on Markham Street as well as additional Office southeast of the Commercial area shown on Rodney Parham Road. MASTER STREET PLAN: Rodney Parham Road is shown as a Minor Arterial and Markbrook Lane is shown as a Local Street on the Master Street Plan. A Minor Arterial provides connections to and through an urban area and their primary function is to provide short distance travel within the urbanized area. The primary function of a Local Street is to provide access to adjacent properties. These streets may require dedication of right-of-way and street and sidewalk improvements. BICYCLE PLAN: Existing or proposed Class I, II, or III bikeways are not in the immediate vicinity of the development. PARKS: This property is not located in a park service deficit area. Less than a mile southeast and northwest of this site are two parks, Kanis and Butler, respectively. Kanis Park is a 46 -acre community park and Butler Park is a seven -acre Neighborhood Park. The Parks Master Plan does not show any new parks in the area but does show a potential Greenbelt along Grassy Flat Creek about a quarter mile west of the property. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. FA March 3, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-01 CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN The applicant's property lies in the area covered by the West Markham Neighborhood Action Plan. The Land Use Goal states: "Use existing vacant structures to house new businesses so that the current commercial/residential ratio in the neighborhood is kept intact," with an objective, "Prevent conversion of residential property into non-residential uses." The Action statements "Limit expansion of non-residential development to areas shown as non-residential on the Future Land Use Plan," and "limit businesses to areas zoned for non- residential activity," supports this objective. The Infrastructure Goal is to "Build a better and safer neighborhood with sidewalks, street lights and an adequate drainage system," and listed several objectives and action statements related to the conditions of sidewalks in the area." Any redevelopment in the area should help to repair existing sidewalks and fill in gaps that exist in the area. With new curbs, gutters, and sidewalks drainage, pedestrian circulation, and aesthetics could improve in the area. ANALYSIS: Overall this area has developed in a suburban fashion with multiple single-family neighborhoods and higher intensity uses at major intersections and established commercial areas along arterials. The applicant's property is located at the edge of an established residential subdivision and fronts onto Rodney Parham Road, as do other homes nearby. Immediately south and southeast of the property are areas shown as Office and Commercial which both have a significant relationship to West Markham Street. The Midtown Center development has changed recently with the addition of Southern Trading in Loan in 2001 and USA Drug in 2003. In 2004 Construction of the Bank of the Ozarks replaced a burned out Burger King, which has now relocated to the southwest corner of Rodney Parham Road and Markham Street replacing a Texaco Service Station. These new developments and redevelopments all have access off of Rodney Parham Road and Markham Street. In the event that the subject property is shown as Suburban Office it will be the only non-residential property on Rodney Parham Road north of Markham Street that is not accessible from Markham Street. Over the last few decades this home has served as a single family residence as well as other homes located on Rodney Parham Road, a Minor Arterial, which is common development style in the West Little Rock Planning District. Similar 9 March 3, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-01 development patterns have occurred on nearby Markham and Mississippi Streets as well as in other places like Cantrell Road. This current pattern of development has worked for a number of years. In 1989 a similar zoning change for this particular site was requested. At that time Planning Staff did not support a change and the applicant faced opposition from the neighbors. The Planning Commission turned down the request by a vote 0 yes, 8 noes, 2 absent, and 1 abstaining. Planning Staff did not support this change because it could set an unwanted precedent for conversion of established homes fronting Rodney Parham Road to higher intensity uses. A similar amendment request was requested about a half mile west of this application at Markham and Pryor Streets in 1998. At this location single-family homes face Markham Street with a similar Office buffer between the nearby Commercial area. The Amendment called for a change from Single Family to Suburban Office to convert an existing home to an insurance office. The Planning Commission turned down the request by a vote 0 yes, 9 noes, 1 absent, and 1 abstaining. Planning Staff did not support that change in intensity because of the adjacent residential area and that Pryor Street could not adequately separate use intensities. Similarly, the current application could do the same. Showing this property as Suburban Office could lead to more intense office development on a small parcel of land and be a catalyst for additional requests in similar situations and Markbrook Lane will not be able to hold the line between intensities. For many years Single Family areas have existed adjacent to Arterials. Staff does not feel that a higher intensity use is necessary just because of its location being on an Arterial. The West Markham Neighborhood Action Plan covers this location and does not support the addition of non-residential uses to the neighborhood in areas that are not zoned appropriately. The major goal stated regarding land use is to utilize existing vacant structures and vacant big boxes for new businesses in order to maintain the current commercial -residential ratio. In an established area of town, Staff encourages the utilization of existing business properties already in the area rather than to duplicate businesses (and business structures) that may or may not be utilized. At the present time there are several vacant businesses nearby that already have the appropriate zoning and land use designation that could house this business along Rodney Parham Road and Markham Street, which would preserve the existing structure's residential use. The action plan further suggests that new businesses do not expand into areas shown as residential. Converting this Single Family area to Suburban Office would go against a March 3, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-01 majority of the land use goals aimed at preventing this type of conversion. The vision statement of the action plan states: "Minimize the impact of change in our neighborhood to maintain our quiet and serene neighborhood." The conversion of this residence could create added pressure to convert other homes along Rodney Parham into similar uses and would encroach on the neighborhood immediately to the west, which could put at risk the quality of life in nearby neighborhoods. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Apache Crime Watch, Normandy -Shannon Property Owners Association, Robinwood Property Owners Association, Andover Square Residence Association, Evergreen Neighborhood Association, South Normandy Property Owners Association, Overlook Property Owners Association, Meriwether Neighborhood Association, Briarwood Neighborhood Association, Treasure Hills Neighborhood Association, Santa Fe Heights Neighborhood Association, Penbrook/Clover Hill Property Owners Association, and Sturbridge Property Owners Association. Staff has not received any comments from area residents or neighborhood associations. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate because a buffer to the Commercial area already exists, the Suburban Office Category will impede on an existing single-family neighborhood, and this change could lead to additional amendment requests along Rodney Parham Road in the future. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MARCH 3, 2005) Brian Minyard, City Staff, made a brief presentation to the commission. Donna James made a presentation of item 10.1 so the discussion could coincide with the discussion for item 10. See item 10.1 for a complete discussion concerning the Ferguson Short Form Planned Development Office. Steve Ferguson, the applicant, spoke in favor of the item and the small amount of traffic in and out of his office. He stated that it would keep its residential appeal with the baths and kitchen in place. 5 11A M -Mir -WIN SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-01 Commissioner Floyd asked if he had approached the property owner to the south to get an access easement for vehicular traffic. Mr. Ferguson said no. Commissioner Floyd continued that this was not going to be a desirable place to live in the future and that this change made sense. Kathleen Oleson, Pulaski County League of Women Voters, stated concerns about the signage and the outwards appearance of the house. A motion was made to approve the item as presented. The item failed with a vote of 4 ayes, 6 noes, and 1 absent. 0 Vicinity Map AREA ZONING Case: LU05-03-01 N Location: 8501 RODNEY PARHAM ROAD A Ward: 6 PD: 3 0 75 150 300 Feet CT: 21.01 TRS: T1NR13W2 Vicinity Map PLAN AMENDMENT Case: LU05-03-01 N Location: 8501 RODNEY PARHAM ROAD SF TO SO Ward: 6 PD: 3 CT: 21.01 TRS: T1NR13W2 0 75 150 300 Feet