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HomeMy WebLinkAboutstaff reportNovember 15, 2001 ITEM NO.: 8 FILE NO.: LU01-08-03 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - Central City Planning District Location: 2416 S. Chester Street Request: Single Family to Suburban Office Source: Joyce M. Raynor PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Central City Planning District from Single Family to Suburban Office. The Suburban Office category provides for low intensity development of office or office parks in close proximity to lower density residential areas to assure compatibility. A Planned Zoning District is required. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is currently zoned R-4 Two Family and consists of a vacant house at 2416 Chester Street, and a vacant lot at 2414 Chester Street. Combined, the applicant's property is approximately .32+ acres in size. The lots north of the applicant's property are zoned R-4 Two Family with a house located on the lot neighboring the applicant's property. The vacant lots to the east lie in the Capital Zoning District and are zoned M where Single Family and Two Family uses are permitted. The lots south of the site under review are zoned R- 4 Two Family. The neighboring lot to the south is vacant while houses are located on the remaining lots to the south. A11 of the property to the west is zoned R-4 Two Family and consists of houses and vacant lots. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: On January 4, 2000 a change was made from Single Family to Mixed Use at 2311 S. Spring Street about a 1-� mile east of the applicant's property. On June 15, 1999 a change was made from Single Family to Mixed Use and Public Institutional at Wright Avenue about 9/10 of a mile northwest of the application area. On June 1, 1999 a change was made from Mining to Single Family, November 15, 2001 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 8 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU01-08-03 Industrial, and Park/Open Space at I-30 and Arch Street about :h of a mile southeast of the property in question. On April 20, 1999 a change was made from Commercial, Low Density Residential, and Public Institutional to Mixed Use on Scott Street from 16th Street to I-630 about 1 mile northeast of the study area. On April 20, 1999 a change was made from Single Family to Commercial on Scott Street from 17th Street to 19th Street about 1 mile northeast of the area under review. On April 2, 1999 a change was made from Multi -Family to Low Density Residential on Arch Street from 13th Street to 15th Street about :h of a mile northeast of the amendment area. On August 18, 1999 a change was made from Single Family to Mixed Use on the 1900 and 2000 block of Commerce Street about 1 mile east of the review area. The applicant's property is shown as Single Family on the Future Land Use Plan. All of the surrounding property is shown as Single Family on the Future Land Use Plan. MASTER STREET PLAN: Chester Street is shown as a Collector Street on the Master Street Plan from Wright Avenue to Roosevelt Road. A Class III Bikeway is shown on Chester Street from S. 14th Street to Roosevelt Road. The 2001 Little Rock Park and Recreation Master Plan proposes an eight -block strategy of providing facilities within an eight block radius of all residential areas. The applicant's property is located about six blocks south of Dunbar Park, which is shown as a Neighborhood Park in the plan. This application area is far enough away that Dunbar Park would not be greatly affected by this amendment. CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN: The applicant's property is located in an area covered by the Downtown Neighborhoods Plan for the Future. The Housing Goal of the plan contains an objective of repairing or demolishing 2 November 15, 2001 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 8 (Cont. FILE NO.: LU01-08-03 condemned houses. Four action statements support this objective. The first statement calls for the creation of a city policy to rehabilitate condemned houses rather than demolish them by promoting salvage of the condemned houses. The second action statement calls for the creation of a list and map addresses of condemned houses to promote rehabilitation, by publicizing the list. The list is contained in the plan's appendix and shows the structure at 2414 Chester Street on both the map and the list contained in the appendix. The second action statement calls for the establishment of a city program of incentives for repair rather than demolition. The final action statement calls for city funding of demolishing burned houses and public nuisance structures. ANALYSIS: The applicant's property is located in a stabilizing residential neighborhood with houses oriented towards Chester Street. Most of the Office uses in the area are located along Broadway Street, Main Street, and Roosevelt Road. The streets where Office uses are shown in the neighborhood are listed as either Principal Arterials or Minor Arterials. This portion of Chester Street is not listed as either type of arterial. A change to Suburban Office would place isolated office uses on a collector street in an area surrounded by residential uses. This block was hit by the tornado of 1999. Since that time, there have been repairs and renovations to most of the houses in the area in addition to at least four new housing starts in the immediate area. This reinvestment into the residential neighborhood was made based on the area zoning and Future Land Use Plan showing residential for this area. The City should honor those investments by maintaining the area as residential. A temporary non-residential use, which maintains that residential feel and is designed to be converted back to residential at a later date might be considered. The property in question sits across the street from the Governors Mansion Historic District. The historic district is intended to preserve the neighborhood surrounding the historic site. The purpose of the guidelines is to provide standards to preserve the area's unique architectural heritage. However, the applicant's property would not be affected by the regulations of 3 November 15, 2001 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 8 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU01-08-03 the historic district due to its location outside the district's boundaries. Nevertheless, any development of this property would need to respect the character of the surrounding residential neighborhood. The Capital Zoning District map shows the property across the street zoned as M where Single Family and Two -Family uses are permitted. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Capitol Hill Neighborhood Association, Central High Neighborhood Association, East of Broadway Neighborhood Association, Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association, MLK Neighborhood Association, South End Neighborhood Association, South End Neighborhood Developers, and Wright Avenue Neighborhood Association. Staff has received four comments from area residents. None are in support, four are opposed to the change. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate. This amendment would intensify possible uses in a revitalizing residential area isolated from other compatible uses. 4