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HomeMy WebLinkAboutstaff reportOctober 21, 2004 ITEM NO.: B FILE NO.: LU04-19-02 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Chenal Planning District Location: Southeast and Southwest corner of Cantrell Rd. and Chalamont Dr. Request: Single Family to Commercial Source: Brian Dale, White - Daters & Associates, Inc. 0 PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Chenal Planning District from Single Family to Commercial. The Commercial category includes a broad range of retail and wholesales 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. The applicant wishes to develop the property for commercial uses. Staff is not expanding the application since there is undeveloped land shown as Commercial located along Cantrell Road at the Chenal Parkway intersections and at the Ferndale Cutoff Road intersection. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The applicant's property consists of two pieces of vacant land along the south side of Cantrell Road at Chalamont Drive currently zoned R-2 Single Family with 3.8 acres t east of Chalamont, and 5.7 acres t west of Chalamont for a total area of about 9.5 acres t in size. All of the surrounding property is zoned R-2. A vacant non -conforming car repair garage sits on the north side of the Cantrell / Chalamont intersection. The Robinson Elementary, Middle and High schools are located to the east of the application area. The property to the west along Cantrell Road consists of single-family housing built on large lots. Further to the west of the application area a dirt hauling business occupies a Planned Development - Industrial, which lies on both sides of Cantrell Road. The land to the south of the study area is largely vacant. However, a subdivision of single- family houses is in the process of developing and expanding towards the applicant's property along Chalamont Drive. This area was preliminary platted on the October 15, 1998 planning commission agenda. October 21, 2004 ITEM NO.: B (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-19-02 FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: On February 17, 2004, multiple changes were made from Single Family, Multifamily, and Office to Office, Park Open / Space, Commercial, and Multifamily along Chenal Parkway north of Cantrell Road starting about 1 mile east of the applicant's property to accommodate proposed development. On December 2, 2003, a change was made from Low Density Residential to Commercial on the southwest corner of Ferndale Cutoff and Highway 10 about 1 mile to the west for proposed commercial development. On January 2, 2002, A change was made from Single Family to Commercial, Suburban Office, and Park / Open Space near the Southeast corner of Chenal Parkway and Cantrell Road starting a little over one mile east of the application area to accommodate proposed development. On March 6, 2001 a change was made from Single Family to Commercial in the 19,900 block of Highway 10 about 2/3 of a mile to the east of the amendment area to accommodate proposed development. The applicant's property and all of the surrounding land is shown as Single Family except for the Robinson schools, which are shown as Public Institutional. MASTER STREET PLAN: Cantrell Road is shown as a Principal Arterial on the Master Street Plan and built as a rural two-lane road. At the area fronting the schools, Cantrell Road provides an additional center turn lane. Chalamont Drive and Morgan Cemetery Road are shown as Collector Streets. Chalamont Drive is built to Master Street Plan standards. Morgan Cemetery Road is built as a rural road with open drainage. A Class II Bikeway is shown on Cantrell Road from Ferndale Cutoff Road to Chenonceau Boulevard. Class II Bikeways do not require any additional Right of Way or paving and would be subject to any half street improvements made by the applicant. The applicant may be responsible for half street improvements along Cantrell Road. PARKS: The Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan of 2001 includes public school facilities within the Eight -block strategy of providing park and open space facilities within an eight -block walking distance of all City of Little Rock residents. The Robinson schools, which are east of the application area, are included in the plan's Eight -block strategy. Additional park facilities may need to be developed in the future to serve a broader group of citizens. 2 October 21, 2004 ITEM NO.: B (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-19-02 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: The east boundary of this amendment area is located about 1 mile to the west of the developing commercial node at the Chenal / Cantrell intersection. Cantrell Road / Highway 10 has been planned utilizing commercial nodes that are distinct and separate. Most of the Commercial nodes on Cantrell Road are located at intersections with Principal and Minor Arterials. The applicant's property is located at an intersection with a Collector Street and a Principal Arterial. This action would add a commercial node in an area that has been shown as Single Family. The applicant has not shown a need to add Commercial to the plan in an area where Commercial has not been shown before. Staff has concerns that the length to depth ratio of the property in questions might result in strip commercial development rather than node commercial development. The potential for this area to develop as a Commercial node is limited by the presence of the schools that are located immediately to the east. Conflicts can arise between the intense uses of Commercial and schools. The location of the applicant's property near the schools may cause traffic conflicts from both the loading and unloading of students and the commercial traffic throughout the day. At this location, there are three schools, a high school, a middle school and an elementary school. A change to Commercial may encourage developments that generate large volumes of traffic originating from a large market area. Any potential increase in traffic at this location may be incompatible with the neighboring Public Institutional uses. If Commercial was approved for this location, the close proximity of the two col.lectors (Morgan Cemetery Road and Chalamont Drive) that intersect Cantrell may encourage pressure for future non-residential development in the amendment area. The location of a collector intersecting an arterial in itself does not necessitate Commercial being shown on the land Use Plan. The Commercial development that is occurring nearest the applicant's property is located about a mile to the east at the Chenal / Cantrell intersection. The 3 October 21, 2004 ITEM NO.: B (Cont. FILE NO.: LU04-19-02 Chenal / Cantrell Commercial node contains land available for non-residential development that is not yet developed to its full potential. About 110.5 + acres of land shown as Commercial is located at the Chenal / Cantrell intersection with about 30.2 + acres being developed and about 80.3 + acres remaining undeveloped. The applicant's property is also located to the east of the Cantrell / Ferndale Cutoff intersection. The 21.06 + acres of Commercial shown at the Cantrell / Ferndale intersection is between a Principal Arterial and a Minor Arterial. The applicant's property is about halfway between the Chenal / Cantrell Commercial node and the Cantrell / Ferndale Cutoff intersection. Some changes have just occurred to the east at the Chenal Parkway and Highway 10 existing Commercial node. The changes include adding additional Commercial areas to areas of Commercial that are still vacant. With vacant Commercial land lying both to the east and to the west in existing commercial nodes, it is difficult to justify adding an additional commercial node. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Aberdeen Court Property Owners Association, Bayonne Place Property Owners Association, Carriage Creek Property Owners Association, Chenal Ridge Property, Du Quesne Place P.O.A., Eagle Pointe Property Owners Association, Glen Eagles Property Owners Association, Hillsborough Property Owners Association, Hunters Cove Property Owners Association, Hunters Green Property Owners Association, Johnson Ranch Neighborhood Association, Marlowe Manor Property Owners Association, Maywood Manor Neighborhood Association, St Charles Property Owners Association, Charleston Heights/North Rahling Rd N.A., and Margeaux Place Property Owners Association. Staff has received no comments from area residents at the time of writing. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate. Staff believes that it is not appropriate to create another commercial node along this stretch of Cantrell and have concerns on commercial activities abutting the school property. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 6, 2004) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral to the June 17, 2004 Planning Commission meeting. A motion was made to wavier the by-laws for a five-day notice to defer prior to the Planning Commission meeting. That motion was made and approved with a vote of 11 ayes, 0 noes, and 0 absent. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda and was approved with a vote of 11 ayes, 0 noes and 0 absent. 4 October 21, 2004 ITEM NO.: B PLANNING COMMISSION FILE NO.: LU04-19-02 TION: (JUNE 17, 2004) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral to the June 17, 2004 Planning Commission meeting. A motion was made to wavier the by-laws for a five-day notice to defer prior to the Planning Commission meeting. That motion was made and approved with a vote of 9 ayes, 0 noes, and 2 absent. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda and was approved with a vote of 9 ayes, 0 noes, and 2 absent. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JULY 29, 2004) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral to the September 9, 2004 Planning Commission meeting. A motion was made to waive the by-laws for a five-day notice to defer prior to the Planning Commission meeting. That motion was made and approved with a vote of 9 ayes, 0 noes, and 2 absent. 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: On May 5, 2004, the applicant requested a deferral to meet with staff to discuss possible alternatives. No alternatives have been submitted nor have there been any meetings or communications to date on this item. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (SEPTEMBER 9, 2004) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral to the October 21, 2004 Planning Commission meeting. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda and was approved with a vote of 7 ayes, 0 noes and 4 absent. STAFF UPDATE: The applicant has not submitted any alternatives or scheduled any meetings with staff regarding this application. The application remains unchanged. E