Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes withdrawalSeptember 27, 2007 ITEM NO.: A FILE NO.: LU07-18-01 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Ellis Mountain Planning District Location: the north side of Kanis Road between Kirby and Asbury Roads Request: Mixed Office Commercial to Service Trades District Source: Joe White, White-Daters PROPOSAL/REQUEST: The applicant has requested that this item be deferred to April 12, 2007. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MARCH 1, 2007) The applicant on February 15, 2007 requested this item be deferred to the April 12, 2007 Planning Commission Hearing. The item was placed on consent agenda for deferral. The consent agenda was approved by a vote of 9 for, 0 against with 2 absent. STAFF UPDATE: The applicant has requested that this item be deferred until the April 26 agenda. Staff is supportive of this request. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (APRIL 12, 2007) The Item was placed on consent agenda for deferral to April 26, 2007. By a vote of 10 for 0 against the consent agenda was approved. STAFF UPDATE: PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Ellis Mountain Planning District from Mixed Office Commercial to Service Trades District. Service Trades District represents a selection of office, warehousing and industrial park activities. The applicant has proposed a self storage facility for this site. September 27, 2007 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: A (Cont. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: FILE NO.: LU07-18-01 The property is currently zoned R-2 and C-1 and is 5.57 acres ± in size. The site has three homes in good repair facing Kanis Road, a vacant commercial building on the corner of Kanis and Kirby, two manufactured homes and several accessory buildings on it. An area east and adjacent to this application was zoned PDO Planned Development -Office in 2005 for a real estate office inside a single family house. To the east and north is zoned R-2 Single Family and has been developed with single family subdivisions. The intersection of Kanis and Cooper Orbit just west of this application is zoned C-1 Neighborhood Commercial and is currently undeveloped. To the southeast is a POD Planned Office Development for single family homes, patio homes and offices, which is in the construction phase. Directly south of this area is an expired Planned Residential Development that included some non-residential use but has not developed. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: The application area and the surrounding areas to the south and west are currently planned for Mixed Office Commercial. Beyond the Mixed Office Commercial to the west is Single Family. To the north is also planned for Single Family. To the east and southeast is planned for Suburban Office. These areas were all amended in 1999 under Ordinance 17,951 in an effort to update the Kanis Corridor. MASTER STREET PLAN: Kanis Road is shown as a Minor Arterial on the plan. A Minor Arterial provides connections to and through an urban area and their primary function is to provide short distance travel within the urbanized area. Kirby Road is shown as a Collector. The primary function of a Collector is to provide a connection from Local Streets to Arterials. These streets may require dedication of right-of-way and may require street improvements for entrances and exits to the site. BICYCLE PLAN: A Class III bike route is planned along Kirby Road and south across Kanis Road. A Class III bikeway is a signed route on a street shared with traffic. No additional paving or right-of-way is required. Class III bicycle route signage may be required. PARKS: According to the Master Parks Plan, the application area is within eight blocks of a park or open space. This park area is along Rock Creek, which runs between the lanes of Chenal Parkway. 2 September 27, 2007 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: A (Cont. HISTORIC DISTRIC FILE NO.: LU07-18-01 There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN: The property under review is covered under the Rock Creek Neighborhood Action Plan. The Plan's Office and Commercial goal states: "Adopt a policy of adhering to the Land Use Plan. Amendments should be made very rarely, only with neighborhood input, and only when it can be clearly demonstrated that the amendment will enhance the quality of life in the Rock Creek Neighborhood." ANALYSIS: The Land Use Plan along Kanis Road has been the subject of extensive study. This area of Kanis is on the edge of development in the City of Little Rock. The last major changes to take place along the Kanis corridor were the result of Ordinance 17,951 in 1999. This Ordinance changed most of the corridor to the categories that are now shown. It has taken time, but these land use categories are beginning to be utilized with the development of small offices and new residences. The Kanis area has emphasized that lower intensity uses are the most desirable for the region. The Rock Creek Neighborhood Action Plan specifically requested that the Future Land Use Plan be adhered to more closely with very limited amendments. This area has been growing almost continually over the past twenty years. The changes made by Ordinance 17,951 have been in place for eight years. A change in conditions should be identified for further modification of the plan. The application area was changed under this ordinance from Transition and Neighborhood Commercial to Mixed Office Commercial. Throughout this period of time, the use has remained mostly single family with several Planned Office Developments for this section of Kanis. A pattern of residential mixed with office uses is developing along Kanis. These land use categories need to be used as a guide for the future development of the Kanis corridor. The applicant has requested a change from Mixed Office Commercial to Service Trades District to allow a mini storage facility. This would be an increase in the intensity of the allowed uses for the site. Service Trades District provides for a selection of office, warehousing and industrial park activities that are intended to serve other office, service or industrial businesses. This land use category is ideally found near an industrial area or a major intersection with access to the interstate. The application area is not near any industrial or service businesses. The heavy truck traffic generally associated with a Service Trades District is not desirable along Kanis Road. Any changes in development along Kanis will have an impact on the amount of traffic. Service Trades District would be better on a high traffic road in the area such as Chenal Parkway. The development pattern to the north and 3 September 27, 2007 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: A (Cont. FILE NO.: LU07-18-01 west is predominately single family detached houses. Most of the houses are of similar size and lot size, with a mix of large lot single family and smaller lot subdivisions. To the east is planned for Suburban Office. There are currently single family houses and single family houses that have been converted to offices in this area. These buildings and any future Suburban Office or Single Family buildings would all be on a similar scale. Service Trades District generally involves large massive structures, and those large scale structures would overwhelm its neighbors. This juxtaposition of opposing uses and massing can be detrimental to the smaller scale residential homes. This site is currently planned for Mixed Office Commercial. There are 24 acres of Mixed Office Commercial at the intersection of Kanis and Cooper Orbit, and this amendment would change 6 of those acres to Service Trades District. There is no other Mixed Office Commercial or Commercial within one mile of this site. Service Trades District is preferred at the intersection of two arterials. Kanis is a Minor Arterial and Kirby Road is a Collector. While there is a demand for more Service Trades District in west Little Rock, staff believes another site would be more suitable. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Gibraltar Heights Pointe West Timber Ridge POA and Parkway Place Property Owners Association. Staff has received two comments opposed to the change from area residents. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (APRIL 26, 2007) The item was placed on consent agenda for deferral at the request of the applicant. By a vote of 10 for and 0 against the consent agenda was approved. STAFF UPDATE: There have been no changes to this request. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 24, 2007) The item was placed on consent agenda for deferral to the July 5, 2007 meeting. By a vote of 6 for, 0 against, 4 absent and one vacancy the consent agenda was approved. CI September 27, 2007 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: A (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU07-18-01 STAFF UPDATE: There have been no changes made to this application. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JULY 5, 2007) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral. By a vote of 8 for, 0 against, 2 absent and one open position the consent agenda was approved. STAFF UPDATE: The applicant has requested that this application be amended. Whereas the original amendment was a request to change to Service Trades District, now the applicant is requesting a change from Mixed Office Commercial to Commercial on the northwest corner of Kanis and Kirby Roads. Commercial would allow a broad range of retail and wholesale activities and intensities similar to those sited in the above analysis. These activities could vary in type and scale. A change to Commercial would bring more traffic into this area. Staff recognizes that this is an arterial intersection, but feels that Mixed Office Commercial is the most intense use that would be appropriate for this location. Staff has not been shown a need to remove the requirement for some office in any development at this location nor the desirability for anything more than one -hundred percent office to be reviewed with a Planned Zoning District. Staff continues to feel that the Kanis Study findings are relevant and that the Mixed Office Commercial recommended at that time is still appropriate. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (AUGUST 16, 2007) The item was placed on consent agenda for deferral to September 27, 2007. By a vote of 7 for, 0 against the consent agenda was approved. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (SEPTEMBER 27, 2007) 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, 1 absent and 1 open position. 5