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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report_MinutesMay 26, 2005 ITEM N FILE NO.: LU05-03-02 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - West Little Rock Planning District Location: 7919 West 5th Street Request: Single Family to Suburban Office and Public Institutional Source: Brian A. Tinnel PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the West Little Rock Planning District from Single Family to Suburban Office and Public Institutional. The suburban office category shall provide 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 convert an existing Single Family house into a Real Estate Office Prompted by this Land Use Amendment request, the Planning Staff expanded the area of review to include an area southeast of the property. This expanded area is located behind two existing Public Institutional uses These changes are to recognize land ownership by the adjacent synagogue. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is developed with one single family home on a mostly vacant parcel of land zoned PCD (Planned Commercial Development) for use as a garden nursery and R-2 (Single Family District) The application area is 4.3 acres t in size. Immediately north and east of the application area is land zoned R-2 with a CUP (Conditional Use Permit) for operation of a synagogue. North and northwest of the application is zoned R-2 (Single Family District) partly developed with a single family home subdivision north of Fifth Street and one home on a large lot at the northeast corner of Fifth Street and Sunnymeade Drive. Northeast of the application are lands zoned PRD (Planned Residential Development) and R-5 (Urban Residence District) developed with apartment complexes. Immediately east of the southern portion of the application is R-2 land with a CUP for operation of a church. Further east of the application at Fifth Street and Rodney Parham Road is land zoned 0-3 (General Office District) occupied by a senior nursing and rehabilitation center. Southeast, south and west of the property is low lying undeveloped R-2 zoned land alongside land alongside Rock Creek and R-2 land representing the right of way for Interstate 630. May 26, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-02 FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: On November 4, 2002 multiple changes were made from Commercial to Mixed Office Commercial; Single Family and Multifamily to Office; Single Family to Office; Single Family to Multifamily; Single Family to Low Density Residential; and Office to Commercial between Interstate 630 and Kanis Road less than one quarter mile south of the site to recognize existing conditions and provide for future development. The property in question is shown as Single Family. Northwest of the application land is shown as Single Family and northeast is shown as Multifamily. Immediately east and southeast is shown as Public Institutional. Along Rodney Parham Road to the east is shown as Multifamily. South and west of the property is shown as Open Space. Bicycle Plan: A Class I bikeway is shown at the western edge of this property following Rock Creek. A Class I bikeway is built separate from or alongside a road. This bikeway is currently developed and links the links the area to nearby parks, street, schools, and a nearby bikeway. It should not be affected by this application. Master Street Plan: West Fifth Street (Capitol Avenue) is shown as a Local Street on the Master Street Plan. The primary function of a Local Street is to provide access to adjacent properties. West Fifth Street may require half street improvements and be constructed to Local Commercial Street Standards, including a 60 foot right- of-way and 14 foot travel lanes. At the northwest edge of the site is a bridge that is structurally not sound. This bridge may need to be repaired or replaced. Addition of Offices uses to this site would result in assess off of Rodney Parham Road from nearby Sunnymeade Drive and West Fifth Street. This could lead to added congestion at their non -signalized intersections with Rodney Parham Road and increased traffic on local residential streets. PARKS: This property is not located in a park service deficit area. Less than a quarter mile southeast of this application is Kanis Park. Within one mile of the development are two additional parks, University Park to the southeast and 2 May 26, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-02 Weedman Park to the west. Kanis Park is a 46 -acre Community Park and University Park is a 27 acre Community Park. Weedman Park is undeveloped park land paralleling Rock Creek on the north side of Interstate 630 between Interstate 430 and the Baptist Medical Center exit. Just west of the application is Henderson Magnet Middle School which has several sports fields that could be utilized for recreation. The Parks Plan recognizes school playgrounds and equipment as park areas. A Class I bicycle trail runs along Rock Creek along the western edge of the property linking the site to Cunningham Lake Road. This same bike path connects with the Interstate 630 bike path which parallels Interstate 630 from Barrow Road to War Memorial Park. This path provides direct access to Kanis Park from the site. The Parks Master Plan does not show any new parks in the area but does indicate potential greenbelt trail continuing northward along Rock and Grassy Flat Creeks. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. City Recognized Neighborhood Action Plan: The applicant's property lies in the area covered by the Briarwood Neighborhood Action Plan. The Land Use and Zoning goal is "To maintain the character of homes in the Briarwood Neighborhood," with an action statement, "Identify rental property in the neighborhood to maintain the character of the neighborhood." Construction of a large office building in the neighborhood could harm the residential atmosphere of the small neighborhood around the application area possibly leading to an increase in rental properties in the area. ANAI YRIR- The application is in unique part of west Little Rock having single family subdivision, open space trails, institutional uses, and apartment complexes. At the intersection of West Fifth Street and Rodney Parham Road is an area shown as Multifamily on the plan. Adjacent to the Multifamily areas are two Public Institutional areas that represent the operation of a synagogue and church. The area proposed for change to Public Institutional area is 1.7 acres ± in size, owned by the synagogue, and accessible only through the synagogue's property. The expanded area is currently undeveloped and Staff does not feel that single family development is likely because of its limited accessibility and close proximity to Rock Creek. 3 May 26, 2005 SUBDIVISION NO.: 5 (Cont. FILE NO.: LU05-03-02 Traffic concerns could should be a major factor in determining the intensity of uses that would be allowed in this proposed change to Suburban Office. Currently two Local Residential Streets provide access to this area, Sunnymeade Drive and West Fifth Street. A change to Suburban Office in this area could result in a more intense office uses on the site creating additional traffic on the local residential streets. Sunnymeade Drive and West Fifth Street intersect with Rodney Parham Road at areas with limited sight distance (approximately 500 foot site distance at both intersections) . Since speed limits on Rodney Parham Road are 40 miles per hour through this section, and the intersections are not signalized, an increase in traffic entering and leaving the area could result in additional conflicts at the intersections. Vehicles traveling to this site would either use West Fifth Street or Sunnymeade Drive to access the Suburban Office area. Since Rodney Parham Road, the nearby Minor Arterial, runs diagonally southeast and northwest near this location it may be reasonable to assume that Sunnymeade Drive will provide access to the area from and to the north and West Fifth Street will provide access to and from the east. Since buildings along West Fifth Street are not single family in nature and are not oriented towards the street the effects might not pose a great threat on the surrounding uses. However, Sunnymeade Drive is 100% single family in nature and increased traffic could pose a problem to pedestrians, bicyclists, and driveway access. Even more possibly damaging is the thought that people coming and leaving the Suburban Office area could use Cunningham Lake Road to gain access to the Suburban Office area to avoid the West Markham Street / Rodney Parham intersection, or to avoid making northbound turns on Rodney Parham Road. Cunningham Lake Road currently aligns with West Fifth Street but is not joined because of a missing bridge connection. This would result in traffic using Carpenter Drive and Sunnymeade Drive to bypass the missing link. Parts of and Cunningham Lake Drive and all of Carpenter Drive are developed as a single family neighborhood fronting on the respective streets and additional traffic on those residential streets could result in conflicts. Staff believes that this traffic scenario would result if the entirety of the Suburban Office area was developed for office use. This area immediately north of the application is residential in nature and introduction of a Suburban Office use adjacent to an established single family subdivision could result in decline of the neighborhood. Adding Suburban Office at this location may result in additional requests for office on the north side of West Fifth Street. Any addition of Suburban Office in the area would result in the reduction of a Single Family area. Less than one quarter mile south of this property near Riley Road, south of Interstate 630, and east of Barrow Road are areas shown as Mixed Office 4 May 26, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-03-02 Commercial and also as Office on the plan. These areas were established in November of 2002 to recognize existing development patterns and allow for future office growth. The 49 acres ± of Office has not developed yet and can absorb future demand in the area. Suburban Office also allows for small scale office development such as small professional offices and banks. Along Rodney Parham Road and nearby Markham Street areas shown as Office and Commercial that have vacancies that may be able to support such demand. 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, Pennbrook/Clover Hill Property Owners Association, Twin Lakes "B" Special Improvement District, Twin Lakes B Prop. Owners Association, Twin Lakes "A" Neighborhood Association, John Barrow Neighborhood Association, Brownwood Terrace Neighborhood Association, Leander Neighborhood Association, University Park Neighborhood Association, and Santa Fe Heights Neighborhood Association. Staff has received five comments from area residents. Two are in support and three are opposed to the change. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS.- Staff ECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate to allow intensification with office uses. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 26, 2005) Brian Minyard, City Staff, made a brief presentation to the commission. Donna James made a presentation of item 5.1 so the discussion could coincide with the discussion for item 5. Brian Tinnell, of McClelland Engineers, representing the applicant, spoke in favor of the application. Several citizens and neighbors spoke in opposition to the zoning application. See item 5.1 for a complete discussion concerning the Capitol Place Addition Short Form Planned Office Development. 5 May 26, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont. FILE NO.: LU A motion was made to approve the item as presented. The item failed with a vote of 0 ayes, 9 noes, and 2 absent. C. Vicinity Map R2 R2 INTERRTATFRm AREA ZONING Case: LU05-03-02 Location: 7919 WEST 5TH STREET Ward: 6 PD: 3 CT: 21.01 TRS: T1NR13W2 R6 0 75 150 300 Feet / ♦„ ROKE I f L,j1 3 APACHE R2 R2 INTERRTATFRm AREA ZONING Case: LU05-03-02 Location: 7919 WEST 5TH STREET Ward: 6 PD: 3 CT: 21.01 TRS: T1NR13W2 R6 0 75 150 300 Feet Vicinity Map PLAN AMENDMENT Case: LU05-03-02 /N SF TO SO AND PI Location: 7919 WEST 5TH STREET Ward: 6 0 75 150 300 Feet PD: 3 s CT: 21.01 TRS: T1NR13W2