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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes deniedDecember 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Otter Creek Planning District Location: 9222 Stagecoach Rd. Regaest: Mixed Use & Single Family to Multi -Family Source: Rollin Caristianos; Rector, Philips, Morse, Inc. PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Otter Creek Planning District from Mixed Use & Single -Family to Multi -Family. Multi - Family accommodates residential development of ten to thirty-six dwelling units per acre. The applicant wishes to develop an apartment complex with a maximum density of eighteen units per acre. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is currently zoned Planned Development Commercial, is approximately 19.1+ acres in size, and is currently used as a golf driving range. The property on all sides of the applicant's property is zoned R-2 Single Family. To the north are single family residences and at the intersection of Baseline Road and Stagecoach Road are two convenience stores and a small strip center zoned C-3. Directly across Stagecoach Road are houses and to the south of them are two churches and vacant property zoned MF -18 multi -family, 0-2 Office and Institutional and the churches have MF -18 with a CUP and R-2 single Family with a CUP. To the south on the west side of Stagecoach Road is largely undeveloped land and the new Westfield Subdivision. Another new subdivision lies to the immediate west of the property. Westfield has homes on approximately 80% of the lots while the other has about 20%. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: On August 17, 1999, a change was made from Multi -Family to Mixed Use and Single Family along Stagecoach Rd., extending up to Baseline Rd., including the current applicant's property. On October 6, 1998, A change was made from Community Shopping to Commercial at the northeast corner of the I- December 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 30/I-430 interchange about a mile east of the applicant's property. On August 5, 1997, a change was made from Multi -Family to Single Family south of Baseline Rd. east of Wimbledon Loop west of the applicant's property. On July 1, 1997, a change was made from Community Shopping to Commercial at 12024 I-30 north to Otter Creek Rd. about a mile southeast of the applicant's property. On April 2, 1996, a change was made from Multi -Family to Single Family at Otter Creek Pkwy near Black Walnut Circle a half -mile southwest of the applicant's property. The applicant's property is shown as Mixed Use and Single Family. The neighboring property to the north and south is also shown as Mixed Use and Single Family. Public Institutional and Office are shown to the east of the applicant's property across Stagecoach Road. All of the property to the west is shown as Single Family. MASTER STREET PLAN: Stagecoach Rd. is shown as a minor arterial on the Master Street Plan. The State Highway Department is currently widening this section of Stagecoach Road, Highway 5, into a five -lane road. A Class II Bikeway is designated along Stagecoach Rd. from Brodie Creek to County Line Rd. PARKS: The new Otter Creek Park is under development further to the southwest on Stagecoach Road. CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN: Currently a city recognized neighborhood action plan for this area does not exist. The Otter Creek / Crystal Valley Neighborhood Action Plan is in the process of being formulated. ANALYSIS: This area is a developing suburban area. Otter Creek subdivision is currently expanding to the northwest along with the new Westfield subdivision located to the south of this application and Wedgwood Subdivision located to the west. New businesses are locating in the area of the 2 December 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 Baseline and Stagecoach intersection and the Otter Creek Parkway and Stagecoach intersection. Two areas near the applicant's property are currently shown on the Land Use Plan as Single Family and Mixed Use but contain MF -12 Multifamily zones. Two MF -12 zoned tracts of land lie to the south of the applicant along the west side of Stagecoach Road. A MF -18 zoned tract lies on the east side of Stagecoach Road. Half of the area has a Conditional Use Permit for the Calvary Apostolic Church while the remaining half lies vacant. The Mixed Use category supports a mixture of residential, office and commercial uses. A Planned Zoning District is required if the use not residential. Mixed Use can support wholly commercial or office developments when a PZD is used. A pure commercial area would be a much more intense development than any residential development. As stated before, the Mixed Use category does support residential uses, which includes multi -family. If the entirety of the application had fallen within the Mixed Use area, no plan amendment would have been necessary. The reason that a land use plan amendment was filed was because more of the 19+ acres fell within the Single Family area than the Mixed Use area. It is considered an intensity change since both multi -family and single family area residential. The vast majority of the area shown on the map west of the application, east of Otter Creek Subdivision, and south of Baseline has been preliminary platted for single family housing. Streets are shown (but without houses) on two of the subdivisions to the west and south (Wedgwood and Westfield, respectively). This multifamily would be limited from expansion to the west by these newly constructed subdivisions. A buffer could be appropriate to screen the multi -family from the single family to the rear because of differing scales of the buildings between the single family houses that are being built and the typical size of multi -family structures. This buffer would not be needed to screen the multifamily from the mixed use area to the north and south. Staff checked occupancy rates at the three existing apartment complexes in the area. The two that responded to the inquiry stated that they had occupancy rates of 99 and 3 December 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 100% occupied. The high rate of occupancy is evidence that there is demand for additional multi -family units in the area. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Meyer Lane Neighborhood Association, Otter Creek Homeowners Association, Quail Run Neighborhood Association, Rolling Pines Neighborhood Association and the Crystal Valley Property Owners Association. Staff has received ten comments from area residents. Six are opposed to the change and two were neutral. Crystal Valley and Otter Creek Neighborhood Associations, which border this site, are opposed to the change. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is appropriate and would recommend a 50' PK/OS strip to buffer the Single Family along three sides of the development. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (DECEMBER 2, 1999) Brian Minyard, of Planning Staff presented the item. He noted that the applicant has agreed to a 50' PK/OS strip along the south, west and north sides of the property where it abuts Single Family. Chairman Hugh Earnest change to Mixed Use. in the MX area and wh Minyard stated that i and 11 acres in the S Earnest commented upo immediate west. asked Mr. Minyard about the previous He asked what amount of acreage lies t lies in the Single Family area. Mr. was about 8 acres in the Mixed Use ngle Family, approximately. Chairman the Wedgwood Subdivision to the Commissioner Bob Lowery commented on the occupancy rate of the apartments and asked how many units were in each complex. Mr. Minyard stated that he had that information in his file but did not have it at that moment. Commissioner Lowery continued to ask what the distances were between the proposed and existing apartments. Mr. Minyard estimated it 4 December 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) was about 1200' to Eagle Hill, a mile to Otter Creek Villas, and to Westwood. Staff picked those there proximately to the site. there were other complexes in th that the other complexes were on FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 half to three-quarters of a a mile to a mile and a half three complexes because of Commissioner Lowery asked if e area. Mr. Minyard replied the east side of 430. Mr. Jim Lawson, Planning and Development Director, gave history of the site. When the zoning was changed for the driving range, Staff did not support commercial, but agreed to the driving range as a holding zoning as a temporary use. Staff's opinion now is that multi -family is a desirable zoning because commercial stripped along Stagecoach is not desirable. Staff saw this as a step down from the Commercial. He continued to speak about the traffic along Stagecoach as a shortcut from 430 to the county line. Commissioner Lowery asked what acreage was zoned multi- family at the present. Mr. Minyard stated those areas. Chairman Earnest pointed out that the front section of the property would support multi -family under Mixed Use. Mr. Lawson commented on the traffic problems along Stagecoach Road in relation to the freeways. Chairman Earnest stated the limit of 20 minutes per side. Rollin Christianos, of Rector Phillips Morse, spoke in favor of the application. He further stated that the developer would be willing to set a maximum of 264 units on the site with two phases. He continued that there were limitations to the other properties. He spoke of constraints of developing the site for commercial. Maury Mitchell, of Rector Phillips Morse, spoke in favor of the application. He indicated that the developer of the apartment units is Park Development in Jackson, Mississippi and described the complex. Gerald Staley, the applicant, spoke in favor of the application. He spoke of the history of the site and the fact that it was previously multi -family on the plan. He asked to be given multi -family zoning that corresponds to the old plan. He continued to speak of traffic problems in the area. He also spoke of buffers on the property including easements of utilities. A December 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 Cathy Coston, chairman of the Otter Creek/Crystal Valley Neighborhood Action Plan, spoke in opposition to the change. She stated that they are not opposed to growth in the area and spoke of traffic problems. She spoke of the number of units added in the area over the last two years and the density of the area. She continued to speak of the existing 42 acres of non-developed multi -family zoned areas in the neighborhood. Mike Parsley spoke in opposition the change. David Henning, who lives across Stagecoach Road from the site, spoke in opposition to the change. He addressed traffic concerns and accidents. He continued to speak of drainage issues of runoff and the ecosystem of the Fourche Creek. He indicated he now regrets the previous Land Use Plan change of his property to Office. George Ingram, of 9106 Stagecoach, spoke in opposition to the change. He spoke of drainage, traffic, and crime problems. Norm Floyd spoke in opposition to the change and of deteriorating conditions of multifamily. He spoke of occupancy rates and the economics of multi -family. Oley Rooker, President of Crystal Valley Property Owners Association, spoke in opposition to the plan. He spoke of improvement to the area and of traffic concerns and existing zoned property for multi -family. He stated that density was the problem in neighborhoods. Necole Kerie spoke in opposition to the change. She spoke of working on the neighborhood plan and the desires of the people and asked the commissioners to respect their wishes. Julie Hall Barrow spoke in opposition. She is a new resident to Little Rock and spoke of memories of living in apartments. She is a homeowner and does not want to live next to apartments because of prior experience of what goes on there. Commissioner Judith Faust asked of Staff if there are rules of thumb or formulas to the proper mix of multi and single family in a particular area. Mr. Lawson stated that Staff L December 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 has not done research on that. Commissioner Craig Berry stated that the dynamics of residential living are changing and that establishing ratios may not be beneficial. Mr. Lawson stated that in other areas of the city, large numbers of apartments function together well. He continued that apartments were built outside the city limits in the past and some of those have gone downhill. Management is the key to keep away decline of the neighborhood. Commissioner Mizan Rahman spoke about what happens to the Property if it is not changed to multi -family. Mr. Lawson spoke of the number of units in an area and how those affect the neighborhood. Commissioner Herb Hawn spoke about the rental inspection program. He desired to speak about the issue of Land Use, not zoning. He stated that utility easements and wide buffers bound this area. Commissioner Rahman stated that things are dynamic and asked if this had a negative impact on the area. Commissioner Pam Adcock asked Ms. Coston about other zoned property for multi -family in the area. Mr. Malone explained where the parcels of multi -family are located. Ms. Coston addressed the issue of Land Use and stated that the steering committee looked at the Land Use Plan and stated that the group had reached consensus about eliminating the possibility of further multi -family. Commissioner Berry asked Staff what the maximum density allowed in the area shown as Multi Family. Mr. Malone stated that the Mixed Use area would not require a Land Use Plan change for multi -family. Commissioner Berry continued that the proposed use is less dense than what could be developed on that site. He continued to speak about sprawl in the city. Commissioner Adcock stated that she did not agree with one of his comments on this issue and continued to speak about the past involvement of the neighborhood. Commissioners Berry and Adcock continued in a conversation about developments in their own neighborhoods and the expectation of neighborhoods concerning multi -family. Commissioner Adcock made a motion to approve the Land Use Plan and was seconded. Chairman Earnest reminded the 7 December 2, 1999 ITEM NO.: 2 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-16-04 commissioners that the motion was concerning changing the Land Use Plan. Commissioner Rahman asked that the applicant be recognized. Mr. Mitchell indicated that there are other multi -family zoned properties in the area are owned by the Otter Creek Land Company'or have floodplain and price problems. He stated he would buy another site if possible, but they would not sell. He continued to speak about drainage and the unfair comparison of this area to other areas of the city. Mr. Lawson wanted to clarify that the motion included the amended 50' PK/OS strip. It was noted that the PK/OS strip was part of the motion. Chairman Earnest mentioned that this area was changed recently to mixed use after discussion and thought by the planning commission. The motion was denied with 4 ayes, 5 noes and 2 absent. A discussion ensued between the commissioners about the bylaws and if the motion failed or passed. Mr. Steve Giles, of the City Attorney's Office, stated that he did not have his bylaws but that he thought it took six votes either way to pass or fail. He continued that the item would be forwarded to the Board of Directors with a recommendation of denial. Mr. Malone asked for the names of the four commissioners who voted for the item for the record. Those with aye votes are Bill Rector, Craig Berry, Herb Hawn and Judith Faust. STAFF UPDATE: Upon further review of the bylaws between Planning Staff and Mr. Giles, it was discovered that since the item did not "receive a positive vote from the majority of members present" and failed to "receive the required six votes for approval or denial", it shall be declared to be denied. The applicant was notified he would have to appeal to the City Board of Directors if he wished them to hear it. 8