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HomeMy WebLinkAboutstaff report NovemberNovember 10, 2005 ITEM NO.: F FILE NO.: LU05-17-02 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Crystal Valley Planning District Location: Northwest corner of Stagecoach and Crystal Valley Roads Request: Single Family to Commercial and Park / Open Space Source: Robert McFarlane The applicant has requested a deferral to the November 10, 2005 Hearing. Staff supports the deferral request. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (SEPTEMBER 29, 2005) The item was placed on the consent agenda for deferral to the November 10, 2005 Planning Commission meeting. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda and was approved with a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Crystal Valley Planning District from Single Family to Commercial and Park/Open Space. 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 Park/Open Space category includes all public parks, recreation facilities, greenbelts, flood plains, and other designated open space and recreational land. The applicant has proposed a Commercial Development with a 50 foot greenbelt buffer between the development and the existing single family development. Prompted by this Land Use Amendment request, the Planning Staff expanded the area of review to include an area immediately to the southwest of the application to make the boundaries more logical. This will expand the Commercial area to the adjacent Park/Open Space. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is mostly undeveloped, wooded, and zoned R-2. A small portion of the application area is zoned C-2 and developed with a parking lot for an auto sales business. North and west of the property are lands zoned R-2 and developed with a single family subdivision. To the northeast is a PDO with a dental office. East of the property is land zoned R-2 and developed with a single November 10, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: F (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05717-02 family home and a church. Southeast of the property is undeveloped and wooded land zoned R-2 and directly to the south is land zoned C-4 and developed with an auto dealership. Further south is land zoned 1-2 and developed with a technology services company. Southwest of the application is undeveloped and wooded land zoned R-2. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: No changes to the area land use plan has occurred in the immediate area in recent years. The application area is the southeast portion of a large Single Family area. The application wraps around a Commercial area focused on the northwest corner of Crystal Valley and Stagecoach Roads. East of the property are areas shown as Suburban Office and additional areas shown as Commercial and Public Institutional. Further southeast of the application are lands shown as Commercial and Mixed Office Commercial. Just south of the application area is a Park/Open Space band separating the Single Family area from an area shown as Suburban Office. MASTER STREET PLAN: Stagecoach Road is shown as a Principal Arterial on the Master Street Plan and Crystal Valley Road is shown as a Minor Arterial. The primary function of a Principal Arterial is to serve through traffic and to connect major traffic generators or activity centers within urbanized areas. The purpose of a Minor Arterial is to provide connections to and through an urban area. The Master Street Plan indicates a future expansion of Crystal Valley Road creating a link to Colonel Glenn Road via David O. Dodd Road. The connection to David O. Dodd Road will make this part of Crystal Valley Road the terminus of a major north south arterial. Entrances and exits to the site should be limited since it is located at the intersection of two arterials. Both streets may require dedication of right-of- way and may require street improvements. BICYCLE PLAN: A Class II bikeway is developed on Stagecoach Road. A Class II bikeway is located on the street as either a 5' shoulder or six foot marked bike lane. A Class I bikeway is shown on Crystal Valley Road and is not currently developed. A Class I bikeway is built separate from or alongside a road. Additional paving and right of way may be required to facilitate the Class I bikeway. K November 10, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: F (Cont. PARKS. FILE NO.: LU05-17-02 This application is located in the Southwest Parks Planning District. The Southwest Parks Planning District is characterized as having predominantly mature neighborhoods served by small parks and a few large parks. The largest developed park in the area is Otter Creek Park, a regional park with a playground, several soccer fields, picnic areas, and fishing and boating activities. This park is over a mile southwest of the property. Undeveloped parkland and open space exists near the application paralleling the Fourche Creek and remains mostly undeveloped. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN: The applicant's property lies in the area covered by the Otter Creek - Crystal Valley Neighborhood Action Plan. The Office and Commercial development goal listed an objective maintaining as much of the existing topography, trees, and green space as possible. Three relevant action statements encourage the use of Planned Zoning Districts for new business developments, encourages intense uses to be located at the peripheral of the study area, and discouraging intense uses at the heart of the study area. The plan defines the heart of the study area as the section of Stagecoach Road roughly between Otter Creek and Baseline Roads and the proposed development would not be in the heart of the study area. ANALYSIS: This application is located in an area of southwest Little Rock that has seen new development over recent years. This development includes new commercial development immediately south of the application, commercial construction at the Interstate 430 interchange, and commercial construction at the Baseline Stagecoach intersection. Residential construction has also occurred within the last decade that includes new single-family homes in the adjacent single family area; and new apartments, single family homes, and a golf course southwest of the application near Baseline Road. This amendment would add approximately seven acres of Commercial to the area, and expand an existing Commercial area by 300%. The expansion would K3 November 10, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: F (Cont.) FILE NO.: LUO also encroach on an established Single Family neighborhood. The applicant has indicated that a 50 foot undisturbed buffer will exist between their proposed development and the adjacent single family area, and has requested the Land Use Plan recognize the buffer as Park/Open Space. Staff agrees that a buffer may be necessary to minimize use conflicts between Commercial and Single Family area and the residential area but does not feel that a 50' open space strip would be adequate. Staff may be more supportive of a larger open space strip representing a one hundred feet or better which was landscaped with evergreen trees that produced a solid screen of greenery. At the Stagecoach and Baseline Roads intersection a 20 -acre Commercial area exists and is roughly 25% developed with commercial activities. Additionally, there are existing areas close to the site along Stagecoach Road that the land use plan recognizes as appropriate for commercial activities and are presently undeveloped and underdeveloped. This includes a Mixed Office Commercial area roughly 13 acres in size to the southeast, which is minimally developed; and an 8 acre Commercial area east of the application that is approximately 50% developed. Stagecoach Road has the potential to become lined with Commercial activities because of present day non -conforming uses and non residential land use categories indicated on the north and south sides of the roadway. This Commercial expansion could extend the potential strip commercial pattern westward towards the commercial node at Baseline and Stagecoach Roads. If the expansion were to occur, it would result in the potential for commercial development for over 85% of the property fronting Stagecoach Road between Baseline Road and Interstate 430. The remaining areas would also have non- residential uses. Focusing larger scale Commercial uses at this section of Stagecoach Road could be considered appropriate since they are not located in the Neighborhood Action Plans Primary focus area. The Otter Creek — Crystal Valley Neighborhood Action Plan calls for more intense Commercial uses to be located in areas more accessible to traffic. This application area is less than a quarter mile west of Interstate 430 and located at the intersection on a Principal Arterial (Stagecoach Road) and a Minor Arterial (Crystal Valley Road). Recent subdivision and development activity north of the application will result in the extension of Crystal Valley Road north to David O. Dodd Road. The ultimate completion of this major north south arterial will connect this Commercial area to new residential developments in west Little Rock. n November 10, 2005 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: F Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-17-02 NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Crystal Valley Property Owners Association, Plantation House Homeowners Association, and Otter Creek Homeowners Association. Staff has received one comment from area residents. The comment was neutral in nature and had concerns about some types of uses that could be located in the commercial area. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate because it encroaches on an established Single Family area. Staff would be supportive of the application if a larger Open Space area separated the Commercial from the Single Family area. 5 ------i SO 1 F 3 ! 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