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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSTAFF REPORTJanuary 19, 2006 ITEM NO.: 2 FILE NO.: LU06-18-01 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Ellis Mountain Planning District Location: Either side of Lawson Road, north of David O Dodd Road Request: Office to Commercial Source: Randy Gattis PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Ellis Mountain Planning District from Office to Commercial. Commercial represents services for a broad range of retail and wholesale sales of products, personal and professional services and general business activities. A request has been filed to rezone a 'R-2' Single Family tract to 'C-3' General Commercial. Prompted by this Land Use Amendment request, the Planning Staff expanded the area of review to include the area either side of Lawson Road north of David O Dodd Road. With this change, all the land either side of Lawson Road from Lawson Cut-off to Colonel Glenn Road would be commercial use. It is thought that the additional area would make the boundaries more logical. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is a large lot occupied with a home currently zoned 'R-2' Single Family. The expanded area is zoned 'R-2' and '0-3' General Office. Most of the land is vacant though there are a couple of homes within the application area. The area is 6.75 acres t in size. To the northeast is a large area zoned 'C-2' Shopping Center and is vacant. To the southeast is large area zoned 'C-3' General Commercial which is partially developed with a movie theater and several small office and commercial uses and 'C-4' Open Display which is developed with several automobile dealerships. To the northwest is land primarily zoned 'R-2' with some 'AF' Agriculture and Forestry. This land is rural in nature, some is partial developed and all is beyond the City limits. To the southwest is land zoned 'R-2', this land is mostly vacant. The area is beyond the City limits, with some annexed a couple of years ago, but yet to develop. January 19, 2006 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont) FILE NO.: LU06-18-01 FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: July 20, 2004, a change was made from Mixed Use to Mixed Office Commercial along the north side of 36th Street between Bowman Road and 1-430 — about half a mile to the north. This change was made as a result of a rezoning request for office zoning. April 6, 2004, a change was made from Single Family to Suburban Office at the southeast corner of Kanis and Pride Valley Roads — over two miles to the north northwest of the site. This change was for the redevelopment of a structure for an office use. February 4, 2003, a change was made from Multifamily to Mixed Office Commercial south of Brodie Creek west of 1-430 — about half a mile to the north. This change was made to incorporate all the land south of Brodie Creek into one large proposal for a shopping center development. January 7, 2003, a change was made from Office to Commercial at Colonel Glenn and Lawson Roads — just east. This change was made for the redevelopment and expansion of a non-residential site. August 20, 2002, a change was made from Low Density Residential to Multifamily at Cooper Orbit and Capital Lakes Blvd — over two miles to the northwest of the site. This change was made to accommodate a planned development for apartments. July 3, 2001, a change was made from Low Density Residential, Mixed Office Commercial, and Neighborhood Commercial to Single Family — over a mile to northwest. This change was made to replace the proposed 'Brodie Creek New Towne' development with the 'Woodlands Edge' residential subdivision. The Land Use Plan shows the application area as part of an Office area between the Commercial node at 1-430 and Colonel Glenn Road and the Single Family further to the west and south. There is a large amount of Mixed Office Commercial, Commercial and Community shopping at the interchange of 1-430 and Colonel Glenn Road. This continues west to the Bowman -David O Dodd intersection with Colonel Glenn Road. The Office use area surrounds the commercial on the west and south. Then Single Family use follows. MASTER STREET PLAN: This portion of Lawson is a Local Street. A local street is to provide access to adjacent properties. Lawson Road just to the south is a Minor Arterial (from 2 January 19, 2006 ITEM NO.2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU06-18.01 David O Dodd). David O Dodd and Colonel Glenn Roads are also arterials. Arterials primary function is to move vehicles and goods through and around the urban area not to provide access to adjacent properties. Since Lawson Road was built as a county road, street improvements may be required at the time of development. BICYCLE PLAN: The Bike Plan section of the Master Street Plan shows a Class I Bike route along David O Dodd Road and another along Colonel Glenn Road. Class I Bike routes are a separate paved surface for bicycles. These routes may be within the right- of-way of an Arterial road or along a stream. PARKS: The Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan shows this area to currently be a deficiency area. That is, currently there is not a park or open space within 8 -blocks. Counting proposed but not currently owned recreational areas, this area would have a park or open space within 8 -blocks of the site. The "Take it to the Extreme" trail would be just to the southwest and west of the site. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION P The property under review is not located in an area covered by a City of Little Rock recognized neighborhood action plan. ANALYSIS: The application is in an area, which has recently seen an increase of interest in non-residential development. The Colonel Glenn Road — 1-430 interchange area has experienced commercial and a small amount of office development in the last couple of years. Three of the four corners have large amounts of commercial zoning in place. Most of the 'C-4' Open Display Commercial zoned land has been developed, primarily with auto dealerships. However most of the 'C-3' General Commercial and 'C-2' Shopping Center zoning remains undeveloped. On the west side of the interstate a multi -screen theater, a bank, a convenience store with pumps and a Trane retail center have been built. Several office warehouse uses have been built on the north side of Colonel Glenn Road on both sides of the freeway. K January 19, 2006 ITEM NO._:_ 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU06-18-01 Three new single-family subdivisions have been started to the south-southeast of the area. The closest subdivision is immediately south of JA Fair High School at David O Dodd and Lawson Cut-off Road. To the west of the application area, development is of a rural to extra -urban nature. The city limits line is the western boundary of the application area. Lawson Road, which bi-sects this amendment area, is a rural two-lane road. With the City's construction of David O Dodd Road to the Bowman — Colonel Glenn intersection, this segment of Lawson Road is to serve as local access. Historically Lawson Road, including this segment, had been an important east - west arterial route connecting a large area of western Pulaski County to the City and the freeway system at Colonel Glenn Road. This is a section of Little Rock, which has only recently begun to experience development pressures. Large areas have been zoned to commercial and office at the intersection of Colonel Glenn Road with Interstate 430. Most of the area has been zoned to some form of commercial. The first developments in the area were office warehouse developments. The Rave Theater was the first major retail use in the area since Sam's left. That structure is now the site of Clear Channel Communication (several radio stations). Since the theater was built several auto dealerships have been developed along the southern frontage of Colonel Glenn Road. Much of the commercially zoned land either side of Interstate 430 is yet to develop. Almost all of the commercially shown land on the Plan has been zoned. There is not much office shown in the interchange area. The office areas are generally located to transition from the intense commercial developments at the interchange to the single-family developed or proposed beyond. In the past Staff has expressed concern about extending the commercial use areas to JA Fair High School. Staff recently opposed a commercial change, which overlaps with a portion of this amendment area. The traffic pattern and possible uses, which could locate in a commercial designated area, are not always positive and compatible uses for a high school. There are very limit amounts of Office Use shown on the Plan. Much of the area shown,for Office is yet to be zoned on the west side of the Interstate. No need for additional commercial land has been shown. There are acres of vacant zoned commercial land at the interchange to the northwest of the application area. 0 January 19, 2006 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU06-18-01 NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the John Barrow Neighborhood Associations. Staff has received one comment from area residents, which was informational. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate. With the limited amount of office proposed, the proximity of a high school and the abundance of yet to be development commercial land, a change to commercial would not be warranted or desirable. �i a r s MOC 1 Fes, sk s JMwR2 L v a ems,, MOCv q , ❑ Q 0 OTOC o cs c a a SF ap D O a D a r■ SF O 1 SF4 p e Ie ea■ SF PI PI 1 SF Plan Amendment PK/OS 11111 SO 1 Case: LU 06-18-01 N O To C Location: 12,624 Lawson Road Ward: 7 PD: 18 CT: 42.07 0 14(280 560 Feet TRS: T1NR13W20 v Area Vicinity Map Case: LU 06-18-01 N O To C Location: 12,624 Lawson Road Ward: 7 PD: 18 CT: 42.07 TRS: T1NR13W20 0 170340 680 Feet