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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutesNovember 13, 2008 FILE NO.: LU08-23-01 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment—Arch Street Pike Planning District Location: East of Arch Street Pike, south of 1-30 Request: Mining to Park/Open Space Source: R. Wingfield Martin, Agent for 3M Company PROPOSAL/REQUEST: A Land Use Plan amendment in the Arch Street Pike Planning District from Mining to Park/Open Space. Park/Open Space represents all public parks, recreation facilities, greenbelts, floodplains, and other designated open space and recreational land. Prompted by this Land Use Amendment request, the Planning Staff expanded the area of review to include all of the area located south of 1-30, east of Arch Street, north of the railroad and west of 1-530. With these changes, the entirety of the Mining north of the railroad would be eliminated. It is thought that the additional area would make the boundaries more logical, since this area is all floodway. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The amendment is zoned R-2 Single Family. The R-2 zoning extends north, south, east and west as most of this area is either interstate right of way, railroad right of way or floodway and was zoned R-2 when it was annexed to the City as was general practice. Fourche Creek runs through this area as do Interstate 30 and Interstate 530. Further south is zoned Mining and is used for gravel mining. To the southeast is zoned PR Park and Recreation District for Gillam Park. To the northwest is also zoned PR for Interstate Park. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: The amendment is currently shown as Mining. Mining continues south of this area to Dixon Road. To the north, west and east of this area is all shown as Park/Open Space to represent the Fourche Creek floodplain. The area southwest of this amendment is shown as Industrial along the west side of Arch Street Pike. There have been no future land use plan amendments in this area since 2000. MASTER STREET PLAN: Arch Street Pike is shown as a Principal Arterial. The primary function of a Principal Arterial is to serve through traffic and to connect major traffic generators November 13, 2008 ITEM NO.: 1 (Cont. FILE NO.: LU08-23-01 or activity centers within urbanized areas. Entrances and exits should be limited to minimize negative effects of traffic and pedestrians on Arch Street Pike since it is a Principal Arterial. This street may require dedication of right-of-way and may require street improvements for entrances and exits to the site. This area is also bounded to the north by the 1-30 freeway and to the east by the 1-530 freeway. These right of ways are controlled by the State Highway Department. BICYCLE PLAN: There is a proposed Class I bike route near this application area. A Class I bikeway is built separate from or alongside a road. Additional paving and right of way may be required. According to the Master Parks Plan, this area is within eight blocks of a city park. Interstate Park is northwest of this area and Gillam Park is east of the area. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN: The property under review is not located in an area covered by a City of Little Rock recognized neighborhood action plan. ANALYSIS: This area has been shown as Mining on the Future Land Use Plan for many years, but it has never been developed or rezoned for an actual mining use. All of the amendment area lies north of the railroad right of way, south of Interstate 30, west of Interstate 530 and east of Arch Street Pike. Fourche Creek runs directly through this amendment area flowing from west to east and all of this area is shown as floodway on the FEMA maps. This amendment would change the area as described above from Mining to Park Open Space on the Future Land Use Plan. Park Open Space is ideal for floodways/floodplains to recognize open space and recreational land. This application was spurred by a rezoning application on the south side of the railroad tracks from R-2 to Mining. The applicant requested that a portion of their land on the north side of the railroad tracks be amended to Park Open Space to protect the existing floodway. Staff expanded the area to include approximately 48 acres of city owned land in this vicinity and approximately 36 acres of private 2 November 13, 2008 ITEM NO.: 1 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU08-23-01 land. These 36 acres of privately owned land include the original application area. Floodway land is not appropriate for the construction of structures or filling. One of the purposes of the floodway designation is to assure that the area needed to move water in a creek or stream is left free for the flow of water. Also, with the increasing concerns about protecting our water and drainage systems, the preservation of the land along a creek or stream is desirable. Audubon Arkansas and others have been working to rebuild and protect Fourche Creek to assure that it works to protect both the natural environment and the built environment. Most of the land along Fourche Creek both up and down stream from this location is currently shown on the Land Use Plan for Park Open Space. The eastern corner of the expanded change area is owned by three different private entities. Staff notified the owners of the expansion and has heard from them, their desire not to have their property changed to Park Open Space. Since the total area has been advertised and the entire area is floodway, Staff is bringing the entire expanded area to the Commission for action. If the Commission believes it should honor the requests of the Property Owners, Staff would not oppose the removal of the northeast corner of the amendment area (the ownership requesting not to have the change). NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood association: Southwest Little Rock UPS. Staff has received no comments from area residents. The land in expanded area, which is private ownership, has objected to the change. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff believes the change is appropriate. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (NOVEMBER 13, 2008) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral to the January 8, 2009 hearing at the request of the applicant. By a vote of 7 for 0 against 2 vacancies the consent agenda was approved. 142 January 8, 2009 ITEM NO.: B Cont. FILE NO.: LU08-23-01 PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JANUARY 8, 2009) The item was placed on the consent agenda for approval. By a vote of 10 for and 0 against the consent agenda was approved. .19