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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutesOctober 16, 2014 ITEM N FILE NO.: LU14-12-01 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment — 65th Street West Planning District Location: SEC of Colonel Glenn and Talley Road R guest: Light Industrial to Commercial Source: Pat McGetrick, McGetrick Engineering PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the 65th Street West Planning District from Light Industrial 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 use specified on the application is for future development of C-4 uses. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property has two houses built on it and is currently zoned R- 2 Single Family and is 4.5 acres ± in size, to the north is 1-1 showroom/warehouse uses, to the south are undeveloped 1-1 uses along Remington Cove, to the east is and 1-2 industrial use for a landscape chemical company and to the west is a hotel and commercial uses on C-3 zoned land. This land is currently shown as Light Industrial on the Future Land Use plan and that Light Industrial is on both sides of Shackleford Road. On the north, Service Trades District (STD) is shown and to the west, the land is shown as Commercial. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: Changes have been proposed along this stretch of Colonel Glenn Road in the last ten years, but none have been successful in amending the Future Land Use plan, including this site with an application to change to Commercial in 2003 and 2005. Both applications were withdrawn from the agenda. The Commercial and Office to the west of this site was changed in 2001. MASTER STREET PLAN: Colonel Glenn Road is shown as a Principal Arterial on the plan. The primary function of a Principal Arterial is to serve through traffic and to connect major traffic generators or activity centers within urbanized areas. Entrances and exits should be limited to minimize negative effects of traffic and pedestrians on Colonel Glenn since it is a Principal Arterial. October 16, 2014 M NO.: 3 [Cont. FILE NO.: LU14-1 Talley Road is considered a Local Street. The primary function of a Local Street is to provide access to adjacent properties. Local Streets which are abutted by non-residential zoning/use or more intensive zoning than duplexes are considered as "Commercial Streets". These streets have a design standard the same as a Collector. Talley Road has been built to a collector standard since it has non-residential zoning abutting it. Both streets could be subject to boundary street improvements which would result in widening of the roadway. The Master Street Plan shows a Collector Street headed north from the intersection of Colonel Glenn and Talley Road. This proposed Collector intersects Old Shackleford Road which then connects back to Shackleford. With Talley Road built to collector Standards to the south of Colonel Glenn, this, in effect, makes this a Collector/Arterial intersection. BICYCLE PLAN: The closest Bike route is along Shackleford Road and is a Class II. A Class II bikeway is located on the street as either a 5' shoulder or six foot marked bike lane. Additional paving and right of way may be required. PARKS: The Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan of 2001 shows that the applicant's property is located in a service deficit area. Service deficit areas are areas identified by the Parks and Recreation department that consist of properties located at a distance of more than eight blocks from the nearest park or open space amenity. A park and open space amenity would need to be developed within an eight block walking distance to conform to the parks and recreation Master Plan `Eight Block Strategy.". HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. ANALYSIS - This site was the subject of two land use plan amendments, in 2003 and 2005. At the time, this area was largely undeveloped. On the four corners of the freeway intersection was the radio station/event center in the former Sam's Club building and the small office use on the northwest corner, which has since been removed. In 2005, the Rave Theater and the Trane building were built on the southwest corner of Colonel Glenn and 1-430. In 2003 and 2005, this 2 October 16, 2014 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.] FILE NO.: LU14-12-01 amendment was premature. Since then, the majority of the land shown as Commercial on the Future Land Use Plan has been built out. 21 new commercial buildings have been built in the areas shown as Commercial and 10 buildings with Office uses have been built. The majority of land that is shown as Commercial and Office has been developed in this node. In the southeast quadrant of the intersection of 1-430 and Colonel Glenn, four parcels of land shown as Commercial are undeveloped totaling 6.7 acres±. In the southwest quadrant, there are 31.9 acres± undeveloped with four parcels, the northwest quadrant has 12.8 acres± undeveloped also with four parcels, while the entire northeast quadrant is totally developed; part of the area shown as Commercial is right of way for the freeways. Vacancies in the buildings are small in the area. For Commercial areas, the majority of the vacancies are in the strip retail buildings. All of the single use buildings appear to be occupied. The clear Channel Metroplex has a sign offering up to 35,000 square feet for rent, which is about one-third of their building. In Little Rock planning area, there are five major areas shown as Industrial (Slackwater harbor/1-440 , 65th Street/Scott Hamilton/1-30, Arch Street, Asher Avenue/railroad, and Bond street area west of the airport) with other scattered smaller areas. The overall total is 7900 acres± of land shown as Industrial. Six Light Industrial areas are shown in the city (Otter Creek/1-30 corridor, adjacent to the runways at the Airport, the Shackleford Road Corridor, Pratt Road/South Loop/1-530 and other scattered smaller areas). The overall total is 2700 acres± of land shown as Light Industrial. This Light Industrial area (the Shackleford Road Corridor) is closest to one of the fastest growing parts of Little Rock and could provide employment opportunities for west Little Rock residents. This area has 186 acres± of Light Industrial shown on the Plan. Possible employees and industrial traffic would be able to utilize easy access to Interstate 430. Vacancies are small for the Light Industrial uses/Service Trades District uses. The single use buildings all appear to be occupied. The office/showroom/warehouse buildings are where any vacancies are and most of the spaces are occupied or visibly under construction for a tenant. There is one building under construction at the southeast corner of Shackleford Road and Colonel Glenn. Of the 186 acres± that is shown Light Industrial, more than 108 acres is wooded, or cleared land. Four buildings (and one under construction) have been built on Light Industrial land since the 2005 amendment. The demand for Light industrial, in this location, would appear to be slow based on the undeveloped land and the rate of new building. 3 October 16, 2014 ITEM_ NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU14-12-01 Of the areas shown as Light Industrial, this change of 4.5 acres is negligible (.0016 % of the total in the Planning area and .024% of the property in this area on Shackleford Road). If this additional 4.5 acres in this amendment area were to be changed to Commercial, this would add only one percent of area to the existing node of Commercial and Office. Being located on a Minor Arterial at an existing/proposed Collector street, an area of Commercial could be appropriate. However, if additional areas of Light Industrial are proposed to be changed to Commercial, further study would be needed to assess the need for the Light Industrial in the area. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: John Barrow and Southwest Little Rock United for Progress. Staff has received no comments from area residents. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is appropriate. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (OCTOBER 16, 2014) The item was placed on the consent agenda for approval. The consent agenda was approved with a vote of 10 ayes and 1 absent. 4