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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutesJuly 24, 2003 ITEM NO.: 4 FILE NO.: LU03-18-02 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Ellis Mountain Planning District Location: 18425 Kanis Rd. Request: Single Family to Suburban Office Source: Bruce Henry PROPOSAL/REQUEST, Land Use Plan amendment in the Ellis Mountain Planning District from Single Family to Suburban Office. The Suburban Office category shall provide 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. Staff has not expanded the application. Expansion of this application to connect with any other non-residential uses would require an expansion of a half mile along Kanis in either direction which would be premature at this time. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is 1.47 ± acres of vacant land zoned R-2 Single Family. Most of the neighboring property is zoned R-2 Single Family with houses built on large lots to the east and west, while the land to the north is vacant wooded property. The property to the south is vacant wooded land zoned AF, Agricultural and Forestry. A barbershop at the northeast corner of Kanis and Denny Roads is zoned C-3 General Commercial. A plant nursery at the southwest corner of Kanis and Stewart Road is zoned C-3. A church is located on the south side of Kanis Road between the intersections of Denny and Stewart Roads. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: On April 17, 2001, multiple changes were made from Single Family, Multifamily, and Park / Open Space to Community Shopping on the west side of Chenal Parkway at Rahling Road about 8/10 of a mile northeast of the applicant's property to accommodate proposed development. On April 20, 1999 a change was made from Office to Commercial on Chenal Parkway east of Kirk Road about 1 mile east of the property in question to accommodate proposed development. The applicant's property, as well as all of the immediately surrounding property, is shown as Single Family on the Future Land Use Plan. The property at the intersections July 24, 2003 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 4 (Cont.) TILE NO.: LU03-18-02 of Kanis with Denny and Stewart Roads is shown as Neighborhood Commercial, with a small area shown as Public Institutional on the south side of Kanis between the intersections of Denny and Stewart Roads. MASTER STREET PLAN: Kanis Road is shown as Minor Arterial on the Master Street Plan with a Class III bikeway from Chenal Parkway to the western planning boundary. Since Kanis Road is built as a rural two-lane road, half street improvements would be needed to improve the road to Master Street Plan standards. The Class III bikeway would not require any additional paving or right-of-way. Denny and Stewart Roads are also shown as Minor Arterials which are currently built as rural two lane roads. A Class III Bikeway is shown on Denny Road from Ferndale Cutoff Road to Kanis Road. A Proposed Principal Arterial known as the West Loop is shown to link Chenal Parkway to the 1-30 interchange. However, the exact route of the proposed West Loop is undetermined at this time. '_:.3 The Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan of 2001 shows that the applicant's property is located south of a strip of land shown as a Potential Recreational Opportunity along the banks of Rock Creek. The applicant's property is separated from the strip of land shown as a Potential Recreational Opportunity by a ridge. Access would need to be provided to link properties located in the application area with any Parks and Recreation development of the land shown as a Potential Recreational Opportunity. HISTORIC DISTRICTS; There are no historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. Citv 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 applicant's property is located in a rural area outside city limits east of a commercial node that has the potential to expand due the close proximity of two Minor Arterials intersecting with Kanis Road. In addition, the status of Kanis Road as a minor arterial will bring pressure for future non-residential development along Kanis Road. The non - 2 July 24, 2003 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 4 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU03-18-02 residential development along this section of Kanis Road should be concentrated at intersections of arterial streets as currently shown on the Future Land Use Plan. This amendment would place office development in the middle of an area shown as Single Family that is isolated from the areas set aside for non-residential uses and therefore could not serve as a buffer between intensities of land use. The area shown as Neighborhood Commercial at the intersections of Kanis with Denny and Stewart Roads contains a little over 3 + acres of vacant land available for non-residential development. The area shown as Commercial at the intersection of Kanis and Edswood Road contains about 12 + acres of land available for non-residential uses. The applicant's property is located about'/4 of a mile from the nearest land available for non-residential uses in the area. In addition there is vacant land available for office development along Chenal Parkway. For this area to develop, infrastructure will need to be developed. The streets shown as Minor Arterial are currently not built to handle the required traffic count of 18,000 vehicles a day. Drainage facilities would need improvement to handle increased storm run-off resulting from new development. Utilities would also need improvements to accommodate future developments. The West Loop, shown as a Proposed Principal Arterial, would require enough right-of-way to handle a traffic count of 25,000 vehicles per day. Although the Master Street Plan map shows the proposed route of the West Loop as located in the vicinity of Edswood Road, the exact location has not been determined and could be located closer to the applicant's property. Any non-residential development of this site needs to be compatible with the surrounding residential properties. If this amendment were approved, the Planned Zoning Development process would govern the development of the applicant's property. If the proposed development has design characteristics similar to residential properties, potential negative impacts from non-residential development would be minimized. The development of the property should be small scale in size dimensions and avoid the mass and bulk typical of office developments that are incompatible with neighboring residential uses. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Gibraltar/Pt. West/Timber Ridge, Parkway Place Property Owners Association, and Spring Valley Manor Property Owners Association. Staff has received two comments from area residents. The one comment was opposed and one neutral. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate. A change to Suburban Office would be premature at this time. 3 July 24, 2003 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 4 (Cont. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: E NO.: LU03-18-02 (JULY 24, 2003) The item was placed on the consent agenda for withdrawal. A motion was made to wave the by-laws for a five-day notice 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