Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report_MinutesOctober 7, 2004 ITEM NO.: E FILE NO.: LU04-01-04 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - River Mountain Planning District Location: Cantrell Road and Pleasant Ridge Request: Suburban Office to Commercial and Public Institutional Source: Joe White, White Daters PROPOSAL/REQUEST Land Use Plan amendment in the River Mountain Planning District from Suburban Office to Commercial and Public Institutional. The Commercial category includes a broad range of retail and wholesale sales of products, personal and professional services, and general business activities. Commercial activities vary in type and scale, depending on the trade area that they serve. Public Institutional includes public and quasi -public facilities which provide a variety of services to the community such as schools, libraries, fire stations, churches, utility substations, and hospitals. Prompted by this Land Use Amendment request, the Planning Staff expanded the area of review to include all of the area to the south and east to Woodland Heights Road and Fairview Road. One residential structure on the southwest corner of Summit and Woodland Heights Road is proposed to be changed to Commercial while the rest of the expanded area is proposed to be changed to Public Institutional. The Public Institutional area would recognize an existing ownership. With these changes, the majority of the Suburban Office would be eliminated. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING Land in the amendment area is zoned as such: land fronting Summit Road is zoned R-2 while property fronting Woodland Heights Road is zoned 0-3, General Office District. North of the site is zoned PCD, Planned Commercial District, for a shopping center that is undeveloped; to the east is zoned 0-3 and is the site of medical offices; to the south is zoned R-2 CUP, Single Family Conditional Use Permit, for a Christ the King Church and school; 0-3 for general offices and MF6, Multi -Family district, for apartments; and to the west is zoned R3, Single Family District, for a single family development, R-2 CUP for a religious institution and R-2 for a large lot single family house. October 7, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: E (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-01-04 FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: October 7, 2003, a change from Transition to Mixed Office Commercial at the southwest corner of Sam Peck Road and Cantrell Road three-quarters of a mile to the west of the site to accommodate future development. On February 18, 2003, multiple changes occurred: Single Family to Public Institutional and Office at Sam Peck on the north side of Cantrell three-quarters of a mile to the west, Transition to Public Institutional, Office and Single Family east of Sam Peck on the south side of Cantrell a half of a mile to the west, Transition to Office on the north side of Cantrell across the street on both sides of the Southridge intersection (not including the fire station) to acknowledge existing uses July 17, 2001, a change from Single Family to Park //Open Space to recognize Panky Park located one and one-quarter miles t the west. The Future Land Use Plans shows Suburban office for the site. To the south, southeast and easterly to 1-430, the plan shows office. To the southeast is Christ the King Church and school shown as Public Institutional. To the west of the site, is area shown as Multi Family along Pleasant Ridge Road. On the northern most portion of Pleasant Ridge Road, there is an area of Office on the south side of the road and on the north is a shopping center shown as Commercial. To the north of the site is shown as Commercial. Further north across Cantrell Road at the intersection of Southridge Road, are areas of Office and Public Institutional for offices. MASTER STREET PLAN Cantrell Road is shown as a Principal Arterial on the Master Street Plan and Pleasant Ridge and portions of Fairview Road and Woodland Heights Road are shown as Collectors. Fairview Road, Woodland Heights and Summit Road will require dedication of right-of-way and street improvements to bring them to Collector or Commercial Street standards. 20;12(. There are not any proposed parks in this area. The closest park, River Mountain, is located in Walton Heights to the north. It is an undeveloped park of 378 acres. This application is not in a service deficit area as described in the Master Parks Plan. October 7, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: E (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-01-04 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 River Mountain Neighborhood Action Plan. The Traffic and Transportation goal listed an action statement of "Amend the Master Street Plan to realign Pleasant Ridge Road with Southridge Drive - High Priority". In the Sustainable Natural Environment Goal listed action statements of 1) Preserve the Highway 10 Overlay District, 2) vigorously enforce the ordinance for hillside protection, and 3) Vigorously enforce the ordinance for the preservation of trees. These goals and objectives would not have a significant impact on the proposed land use plan amendment. ANALYSIS: West of 1-430, Cantrell Road has developed more as an Office corridor with residential developments of single family subdivisions and scattered multi -family developments. Cantrell Road has established nodes of Commercial areas. This subject area is the expansion to the south of the easternmost nodes. The proposal to change to PI, Public Institutional, is to recognize existing ownership of property by Christ The King Church and school. The proposal to change to Commercial could be appropriate since it is a single large-scale development for the entire area. This commercial center proposed within the planned unit development process utilizes some of the "village concepts" with more traditional design concepts, as opposed to strip commercial development. 114[e1:1'Zilyp[�Z�7Zdi uI�I�IXUlt. Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Walton Heights-Candlewood Neighborhood Association, Pleasant Valley Property Owners Association, Pankey Community Improvement Association, Pleasant Forest Neighborhood Association, Westbury Neighborhood Association, Westchester/Heatherbrae Property Owners Association, Secluded Hills Property Owners Association, Piedmont Neighborhood Association, River Valley Property Owners Association, Walnut Valley Neighborhood Association, Echo Valley Property Owners Association. Staff has not received any comments from area residents. October 7, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: E (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-01-04 STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Approval. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JULY 15, 2004) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral to the August 26, 2004 Planning Commission meeting. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda and was approved with a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. STAFF UPDATE Several issues have been raised about the intensity and design of the proposed commercial center, which initiated this Plan change. These concerns and issues are important and critical to the successful functioning of the transportation system in the area and the establishment of this new development in a basically developed section of Little Rock. The surrounding arterial system is already at, near or above the desired design traffic volumes; thus any change in use that increases the traffic even a little is an issue. The Land Use Plan amendment is for the Summit Road area, expanding commercial into an area currently developed as residential -single family. This is a change from Suburban Office, which had been implemented to allow for possible conversion of this small single-family area to a more intense use due to the impact of surrounding development. Suburban Office would require careful design to minimize any impacts of the remaining homes. A large change, from single-family to commercial, such as is now being considered must be done at one time in one development. This is to minimize any negative impacts the change might have to the existing neighborhoods if done in a piece -meal method. The City is not opposed to the concept of a small single-family neighborhood changing, but it must be done as a unit if at all. The new development must be done to be sensitive to the existing developments, whether homes or businesses. It must fit into the fabric of the area. This does not mean that the new development cannot become the new center of activity for the general area, however. The original concepts brought to the City proposed to use'Village" and "Neo- traditional' design. This is and was seen as a positive change from the October 7, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: E (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-01-04 previously approved strip -commercial center along Cantrell Road from Pleasant Ridge to Woodland Heights. The City wishes to encourage creative and innovative design concepts. The inclusion of "Neo -traditional' elements is believed to be positive to the surrounding area and for the future customers of the uses. A "Town Center" or "Village" neo -traditional type of development, which does not turn its back on the immediate neighbors and attempts to address the scale and massing of the surrounding developments could be a positive impact on the general area. Staff would encourage inclusion of well -landscaped areas with native lower maintenance vegetation as suggested by the Neighborhood Plan for the area. And consideration of realigning Pleasant Ridge Road to Southridge as suggested by the area Neighborhood Plan might help with traffic impacts on Cantrell Road. For all the described reasons, Staff believes a change to Commercial on the Land Use Plan (while if done carefully and well, could be a positive to the area) is not desirable with the various possibilities that brings. However a change to Mixed Use, which might result in a commercial development or office or even a truly mixed development, would be preferable. In any case a change in the use from single-family to non -single-family should only be done using the Planned Zoning District process to assure compatibility with the surrounding area and that the various issues related to redevelopment of the site are addressed. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: August 26, 2004 Brian Minyard, City Staff, made a brief presentation to the commission. In that presentation, he stated that Staff would be supportive of a change to Mixed Use and Public Institutional. Commissioner Pam Adcock asked if a change to Mixed Use was to guarantee a planned zoning development of some sort. The answer was yes. Commissioner Bill Rector questioned if Staff still supported the Public Institutional on the amendment. Mr. Minyard stated that Staff supported it, and that if the amendment passed; it would be changed on the plan. If the amendment did not pass, Staff would not take just it to the Board of Directors. Donna James made a presentation of item 1.1 so the discussion could coincide with the discussion for item I. See item 1.1 for a complete discussion concerning the Pleasant Ridge Long Form Planned Commercial Development. October 7, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: E (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-01-04 Dick Downing, representing Walter Smiley, stated that they withdrew their objection to the Future Land Use Plan amendment if it was changed to Mixed Use on the plan, and would work with the staff on buffering issues. Ruth Bell, Pulaski County League of Women Voters, stated that the Commercial on the Plan was an open-ended category. She continued that with infill development, a category with a PZD required works best. She stated that she thought Mixed Use on the Plan was a better option. Craig Williams, Pleasant Forest Neighborhood Association, stated that he was not in support of the Land Use Plan change and that it was not a good fit. He referenced the River Mountain Neighborhood Action Plan of 2002 and stated that the neighborhood plan did not support this development. Suburban Office, which is now shown on the plan, requires a PZD, as well as Mixed Use. He stated that a requirement of a PZD was a necessity. Julie Hancock, a resident of Cedar Branch Subdivision, has views of homes now, but will only see the shopping center later on if built. She stated that she and others bought their homes and made investments based on the zoning and Future Land Use Plan and the change should not be made. Sandy Bowman, a Cedar Branch resident, looked at the zoning and Future Land Use Plan prior to buying her house. She stated that the buffer would not be sufficient. She asked the commissioners to uphold the Future Land Use Plan. She stated that the center would have activity for 20 hours a day, seven days a week. Commissioner Adcock asked how many neighborhood associations were present. Five associations were represented at the meeting. A motion to defer item I to the October 7, 2004 meeting and was approved with a vote of 8 ayes, 1 no, and 2 absent. STAFF UPDATE: The applicant has submitted a new site plan. This new site plan does not have an affect upon the land use application as filed. October 7, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: E (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-01-04 PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (OCTOBER 7, 2004) Brian Minyard, City Staff, made a brief presentation to the commission reiterating the position of Staff. Mr. Minyard then asked the applicant to confirm for the record of the amendment to the application to change the request to Mixed Use instead of Commercial. Mr. Phil Kaplan, requested the change in the application. Donna James made a presentation of item E.1 so the discussion could coincide with the discussion for item E. See item EA for a complete discussion concerning the Pleasant Ridge Long Form Planned Commercial Development. Mr. Kaplan spoke in favor of the application and stated that this application proves the value of the Planning process. Craig Williams, representing several neighborhood associations, spoke in opposition to the plan. He commented on the grading and access to the site and increased traffic as a result of the site. He showed photos of traffic conditions around the area, and gave traffic numbers for Cantrell Road. Concerning the Future Land Use Plan, he stated that it had been reviewed in 2003 for this area. He stated that Mixed Use supported a PCD for commercial and that the Suburban Office was compatible with the adjacent residential. He asked what was different today that warranted the change to the plan. He continued that growth was good, but.this was too high of a cost. Stacy Fletcher represented the Jewish Center and spoke in opposition to the change. The commissioners discussed extending the time allowed for the opposition to speak and extended the time frame to allow those that had cards to speak. A motion was made to approve the item as amended. The item was approved with a vote of 9 ayes, 0 noes, and 2 absent. PK/OS SF PK/OS©moo �wno pQ F ie o SFMF p\ o PK/OS O WRO o RIO p 9 p®a ©©©pOo 40 .0 fl o o i o n cfl n o o mem o •.6 0BE8� o d aao_o e© p o p O _�fi2F356b o 0 0 _ kig©codr, o d c 19 --- O a SF 0 Vicinity Map PLAN AMENDMENT Case: LU04-01-04 Location: SOUTH EAST CORNER OF CANTRELL ROAD AND PLEASANT VALLEY RIDGE ROAD SO TO C AND PI Ward: 4 PD: 1 0 250 500 1,000 Feet v CT: 42.09 TRS: T2NR13W21 Vicinity Map AREA ZONING Case: LU04-01-04 Location: SOUTH EAST CORNER OF CANTRELL ROAD AND PLEASANT VALLEY RIDGE ROAD Ward: 4 PD: 1 0 250 500 1,000 Feet v CT: 42.09 TRS: T2NR13W21