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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes withdrawalAugust 26, 2004 ITEM NO.: 28 FILE NO.: LU04-18-03 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Ellis Mountain Planning District Location: Kanis and Cooper Orbit Roads Request: Suburban Office to Commercial Source: Pat Malmstrome PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Ellis Mountain Planning District from Suburban Office to Commercial. 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. The applicant wishes to utilize an existing building for an indoor dog run and kennel. Staff is not expanding the application since the Land Use Plan in this area was reviewed within the last eight months. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is mostly vacant with one existing structure and currently zoned R- 2, Single Family, and is 1.8 acres t in size. The subject property lies in an area of rural type development. Kanis Road runs diagonally southeast and northwest creating the lot's northeastern edge. Immediately surrounding this site is land zoned R-2 with several existing buildings. Just under a quarter mile to the north is a development (Parkway Place) consisting of single family homes. Almost immediately to southeast is an abandoned mobile home park consisting of a handful of vacant mobile homes zoned MF6 Multifamily District. Less than a quarter mile to the southeast lie several pieces of property zoned C-1, Neighborhood Commercial, and a large section of land zoned for a PRD, Planned Residential Development. Most of these parcels consist of small buildings on large parcels of land. Less than quarter mile northwest of the property is mostly undeveloped land zoned POD, Planned Office Development, and further to the northwest is more undeveloped land zoned for 0-2, Office and Institutional District. Northeast of the property, homes exist and several are vacant or for sale marketing non-residential potential. Southwest of the property is a parcel zoned PRD and R-2 with several new multi -level apartment buildings and curbed streets for construction of new single family residences. August 26, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 28 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-18-03 FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: April 6, 2004, a change was made from Single Family to Suburban Office southeast of Pride Valley and North of Kanis Road to convert an existing structure into an office. July 3, 2001, a change from Low Density Residential, Mixed Office Commercial, and Neighborhood Commercial to Single Family in an area bounded by Bowman Road, Panther Creek, Cooper Orbit Roads, and Bowman Creek to remove non- residential uses to develop a single family subdivision. MASTER STREET PLAN: Kanis Road is shown as a Minor Arterial on the plan and is built as a rural two- lane road and will be subject to street improvements. A Minor Arterial provides connections to and though an urban area and their primary function are to provide short distance travel within the urbanized area. A portion of Cooper Orbit Road is a Local Road that connects with Kanis Road about a quarter mile to the southeast of the site. However, the Master Street Plan shows the proposed alignment for Cooper Orbit Road to intersect with Kanis Road immediately southeast of the property. This extension of Cooper Orbit Road is a Minor Arterial and will lessen traffic at the five -way intersection with Kanis Road and Kirby Drive. To the south of this application, Cooper Orbit Road has been realigned and improved due to development of a PRD and residential subdivision. This alignment built Cooper Orbit Road to its Minor Arterial classification and provided a safe intersection into the new development. The roadway improvement and alignment of Cooper Orbit Road is consistent with the Master Street Plan. PARKS: Parkland is located less than one mile to the north in the median of Chenal Parkway between Wellington Hills and Gamble Road. This is considered one of Little Rock's "Green Fingers" that will be used to link existing and proposed parks to one another. This "Green Finger" is an area where residents can enjoy passive and active recreation. A trail through this area is presently being developed per the Master Parks Plan. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. OA August 26, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 28 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU04-18-03 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 is a rural area located in Pulaski County within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Southwest of this site is an area that is developing with multi -family and single family homes. An additional item of concern for this site is the identification of the new Cooper Orbit Road and Kanis Road intersection immediately southeast of the property. With recent development southwest of the property, the residential population is increasing and the new intersection is anticipated in the future. With new residential development occurring in this area it is important that future commercial development is kept in designated areas to reduce possible land use conflicts that might occur. The applicant's property is in an area shown as Suburban Office on the Future Land Use Plan which also parallels the southern side of Kanis Road from the MOC to the east, through the future intersection of Kanis Road and Cooper Orbit Road and just past the applicant's property. The Suburban Office category provides for low intensity development of office or office parks in close proximity to lower density residential areas to assure compatibility and requires a Planned Zoning District. The applicant's request to change to a Commercial land use will place Commercial adjacent to Single Family, near Low Density Residential, and divide the existing Suburban Office area into two sections. The applicant's area is shown as Suburban Office to facilitate an orderly flow of uses between the area's Mixed Office Commercial and Residential areas. The Mixed Office Commercial area on the Land Use Plan is located just to the east, at the present intersection of Cooper Orbit Road, Kirby Drive, and Kanis Road. Changing this site from Suburban Office to Commercial would allow for a more intense use in the middle of an area designated for lower intensity uses. The amendment to the Land Use Plan might also encourage other properties in the area to look to amend their land to Commercial uses, placing more intense uses adjacent to low intensity uses. Just because the property is located alongside a Minor Arterial does not mean it is appropriate for Commercial uses in a vacant area shown as MOC. The present intersection of Cooper Orbit, Kirby, and Kanis Roads has space readily available for possible commercial development as well as properties shown as Commercial less than a mile to the north along Chenal Parkway. Demand for Commercial property near the applicant's the property in question has been low, which has left MOC land nearby vacant. 3 August 26, 2004 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 2 FILE NO.: LU04-18-03 Previous use of the property in question was heavy commercial which is foreign to the area's present Single Family and Suburban Office designations. Use of a pre-existing building would be an adaptive use to the site, and the new use could be looked upon as a positive improvement to the area. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Parkway Place, Spring Valley Manor Property Owners Association, and Gibralter/Pt. West/Timber Ridge. Staff has received no comments from area residents. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate. Presently demand for Commercial development in the area is low, and land available for Commercial development is available nearby. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (AUGUST 26, 2004) The item was placed on the consent agenda for withdrawal. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda and was approved with a vote of 9 ayes, 0 noes and 2 absent. 4