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HomeMy WebLinkAboutstaff reportJuly 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 18 FILE NO.: LU05-08 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment — Central City Planning District Location: Between 1-630 and Roosevelt Rd., from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. and Woodrow Request: Single Family, Mixed Office Commercial, Mixed Use, Commercial, and Industrial to Single Family, Low Density Residential, Multifamily, Mixed Use, Public Institutional, Neighborhood Commercial, Commercial, and Light Industrial. Source: Staff PROPOSAL / REQUEST AND EXISTING CONDITIONS: A rezoning request was made just east of Centennial Park, which was in conflict with the Plan in mid -2004. Staff, when reviewing the request, noted that the Central High/Wright Avenue area had not had a Land Use Plan Review in over a decade. Therefore, staff under took a clean-up review of the area. The following Plan changes are the result of this review with the Neighborhood Associations and Major Institutions in the area contacted throughout the process for suggestions and comment. All the proposed changes are in the Central City Planning District. In the Capitol Hill Addition/Central High School section of the study area there are four changes. The first is north of 10th Street and east of the railroad from Industrial to Light Industrial. Light Industrial classification represents light warehousing, distribution and storage uses or other industrial uses in a well- designed `park like' setting. The existing uses in this area are warehousing, with a 'salvage yard' and church. The zoning is primarily'I-2' Light Industrial. The current Land Use Plan recognizes the 1-2 zoning with an Industrial designation. The use and zoning to the east and southeast is single-family. To the north is the State Capitol complex shown Public Institutional. The second area is a change from Industrial, Open Space and Single Family to Mixed Use, south of 10t" Street along the east side of the railroad. The Mixed Use classification represents a mixture of residential, Office and Commercial uses with a Planned Zoning District required if it is not totally residential. The existing uses in the area are vacant land and single-family homes. The primary zoning is 1-2 and 'R-4' two family residential with some 'R-3' single-family. The current Land Use Plan recognizes most of the 1-2 as Industrial with an Open Space Strip to buffer and stop the industrial from the single family to the east. To the east is single-family use and zoning; to the north is industrial zoning and primarily light industrial use; to the south is commercial zoning and use. July 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 18 Cont. FILE NO.: LU05-08-02 The third area is also along the east side of the railroad between 13th Street and Daisy Gatson Bates Drive. The proposal is to change from Industrial to Mixed Use. The Mixed Use classification represents a mixture of Residential, Office and Commercial uses with a Planned Zoning District required if it is not totally residential. The existing use is vacant and an auto repair business, with a zoning of 1-2. The current Land Use Plan designation is Industrial. To the east, north, and south are single-family areas -- zoning, land use and planned. The fourth area is along the south side of 12th Street from Park east of Dennison Street. This change is from Single Family to Mixed Use. The Mixed Use classification represents a mixture of Residential, Office and Commercial uses with a Planned Zoning District required if it is not totally residential. The existing use is commercial businesses and a vacant lot. The area is zoned 1-2, C-3' General Commercial and R-4. The current Land Use Plan designation is Single Family. The use in all directions is single-family with most of the area zoned R-3. In the Centennial Addition/Children's Hospital section of the study area there are seven chanes. The first area is along the west side of Summit from 15th Street south of 16t Street. The change is from Single Family to Multifamily Residential. The Multifamily classification represents residential development of ten to thirty- six dwelling units per acre. The existing uses are multifamily structures, with one single-family structure and a funeral home. The current zoning pattern is 'R-5' Urban Residential, '0-3' General Office, R-3, and `PDR' Planned Development Resident. The current Land Use Plan designation is Single Family. The uses to the north, south, and west are single family with most of the area zoned R-3. To the east is a city park zoned 'PR' Park Recreation. The second area is generally between Daisy Gatson Bates Drive and 13th Street, from Wolfe to Battery. The change is from Single Family to Low Density Residential. The Low Density Residential classification represents a broad range of housing types from single family to attached housing to multifamily with a density of 6 to 10 units. The existing use is a mix of duplexes, four to six unit apartments, single-family and vacant lots. The predominate zoning is R-4 with some R-5, R-3 and PDR zoning. The current Land Use Plan designation is Single Family. The uses to the south and west are single-family with a zoning generally of R-3. To the north is land owned by Arkansas Children's Hospital and zoned C-3. To the east is land zoned `PDO' Planned Development Office and PRD for apartments and offices in the former Westside Junior High school building. The third area is along the east side of Bishop between 10th and 11th Streets. The change is from Mixed Office Commercial to Public Institutional. The Public Institutional classification represents public or quasi -public facilities such as schools and hospitals. The existing uses are offices related to Arkansas Children's Hospital with a zoning of 0-3. Uses to the north and west are 2 July 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 18 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-08-02 Arkansas Children's Hospital related and are zoned '0-2' Office and Institutional. Uses to the east and south are a mix of office and commercial with zoning of C-3 and 0-3. The fourth area is the intersection of Daisy Gatson Bates and Martin Luther King Jr. Drives. The change is from Mixed Use to Neighborhood Commercial. The Neighborhood Commercial classification represents limited small-scale commercial developments in close proximity to a neighborhood, providing service and goods to that neighborhood. The existing uses in the area are small retail businesses and a vacant lot. The current zoning is C-3. The uses to the southeast, southwest, and northeast are primarily single family with zoning to the northeast and southeast R-4 and southwest R-3. To the northeast is the Children's Hospital ownership zoned 0-2 and 0-3. The fifth change is either side of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive between Daisy Gatson Bates Drive and 16th Street. The change is from Mixed Use to Single Family. Single Family Use designation represents single-family homes at densities not to exceed six dwelling units per acre. The existing uses in the change area are single family with a zoning of either R-4 or R-3. The uses to the east and west are single family with R-4 zoning to the east and R-3 zoning to the west. To both the north and south at the intersections are commercial businesses with a zoning of C-3. The sixth change is the northeast, northwest and southeast corners of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive — 16th Street intersection. The change is from Mixed Use to Neighborhood Commercial. The Neighborhood Commercial classification represents limited small-scale commercial developments in close proximity to a neighborhood, providing service and goods to that neighborhood. The existing uses in the change area are small retail businesses zoned C-3 and R-3. Uses to the east, north, southeast and northwest are single-family with zoning of R-4 to the east and R-3 to the west. To the southwest is the Arkansas Baptist College campus with a zoning of R-4. The seventh change is the northeast corner of the 17th Street -Martin Luther King Jr. Drive intersection. The change is from Mixed Use to Public Institutional. The Public Institutional classification represents public or quasi -public facilities such as schools and hospitals. The existing use in the change area is college offices with a zoning of R-4. The uses to the east and south are single-family with a zoning of R-4. The uses to the west are the college campus zoned R-4. To the north are retail uses zoned C-3. The final area of changes is in the area South of Wright Avenue and consists of three changes. The first change is along Wright Avenue at Summit. The proposal is to change an area of Mixed Use to Single Family use. Single Family use designation represents single-family homes at densities not to exceed six dwelling units per acre. The existing use is single family and the zoning is R-4. IQ July 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 18 (Cont. FILE NO.: LU05-08-02 The uses to the north and south are single-family with R-4 zoning. To the west is also single-family with both R-3 and R-4 zoning. To the east of the area is zoned C-3 and the use is small retail businesses. The second change area is either side of Wright Avenue from Marshall to Wolfe. The proposed change is from Mixed Use to Commercial. The Commercial classification represents a broad range of retail and wholesale sales of products, personal and professional service and general business activities. The existing uses in the area are commercial business and a mosque, with a zoning of C-3. To the north and south are single-family use areas with a zoning of R-4 and R-3. Both to the east and west are retail businesses zoned C-3. The third change area is along Roosevelt Road between Battery and Wolfe. The proposal is to change an area of Single Family to Public Institutional. The Public Institutional classification represents public or quasi -public facilities such as schools and hospitals. The existing use of the area is a church with a zoning of R-4. To the east and south are single-family use areas zoned R-4, To the west is a school zoned R-4 and to the north is a daycare center zoned 'PCD' Planned Commercial Development. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: On January 4, 2000, a change was made from Single Family to Mixed Use at 2311 Spring Street over half a mile to the east of the study area to accommodate proposed development. MASTER STREET PLAN: In the area Roosevelt Road is shown as a Principal Arterial with a special design standard on the Plan. Principal Arterial primary function is to move vehicles and goods through the area connecting major generators and activity centers within the urban area. Roosevelt is proposed to have a 70 -foot right-of-way with a four -lane section and five lanes at major intersections with an additional right-of- way of 80 feet. Wright Avenue is shown as a Minor Arterial with a special design standard on the plan. Minor Arterial primary function is to move vehicles in and around an urban area. Wright Avenue is proposed to have a 60 -foot right-of-way with a three -lane section and additional requirements at major intersections. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Daig Gatson Bates Drive, Battery (from 1-630 to Daisy Gatson Bates Drive) and 12t Street from Battery west are shown on the Plan as Collectors. Collector's primary function is to move vehicles from Local Street to the Arterial system. Their secondary function is to provide access to 4 July 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 18 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-08-02 adjacent property. Additional right-of-way may be required on some or all of these roads. BICYCLE PLAN: The plan shows Class I and II Routes through the area of the Land Use Plan changes. A Class III Route uses the existing roadway with the bicycle sharing the road with automobiles. A Class II Route uses the existing roadway with a portion of the road exclusively for bicycles. In both cases no additional right-of- way or paving should be required. PARKS: The Little Rock Parks and Recreation Plan of 2001 shows that this area means the 8 -Block standard for recreational opportunities — park and open space. Centennial, Ninth Street and Barton Parks provide recreation opportunities in the study area along with school sites and private facilities. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts that would be affected by this amendment. CITY RECOGNIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN: The property under review is not located in an area covered by a City of Little Rock recognized neighborhood action plan. ANALYSIS: A rezoning request was made in mid -2004 to reclassify an existing apartment building on Battery using the Planned Zoning District process. In the review, staff noted the Land Use Plan showed Single Family for the property as well as several other properties currently occupied by and/or zoned for multifamily use. Since the Land Use Plan had not been reviewed in over a decade for this sub- area of Little Rock, Staff undertook a review of the Land Use Plan in August 2004. The first step of this review was to contact the three neighborhood associations in the area as well as the major institutions. This contact was made in September 2004. Each group was asked for recommendations, which they might have to change or update the Plan. By mid-October 2004 none of the groups had contacted Staff with any suggestions for changes to the Land Use Plan. 6i July 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 1$ Cont. FILE NO.: LU05-08-02 Staff continued to review the area and identified several changes thought to be mostly `clean-up'. In a few cases Staff identified a change meant to encourage a use change where physical changes had occurred, in an attempt to create a better use mix in the general area. These changes were mapped and a second letter with the changes was sent to the same groups in mid-November 2004. In addition the owners of property directly affected by the proposed changes were sent letters on December 1, 2004. Staff received comments through mid- January 2005. The Central High Neighborhood Association asked Staff to come to their January meeting (January 11, 2005). At this meeting staff reviewed the proposed changes and there was some discussion about two of the changes as well as the process. The group asked for and was granted two additional months to review the documents and make comments. This time was given to the other groups via mailed correspondence. After almost two months, by phone, Central High Neighborhood Association asked for two additional months to get comments in. This request was granted. During this review time additional comments and suggestions were received from other individuals. These included two additional areas for changes: one on Bishop between Daisy Gatson Bates Drive and 15th Street from Single Family to Commercial; and the other on 23rd Street between Wolfe and Bishop from Single Family to Public Institutional. Three areas were requested to be removed from consideration for a change. These are: east of Jones between 16th and 17th Streets, a change from Industrial to Mixed Use; Daisy Gatson Bates Drive from Marshall to Bishop Streets, a change from Public Institutional to Mixed Office Commercial; and the southeast corner of 11th and Bishop Streets, a change from Mixed Office and Commercial to Public Institutional. Staff reviewed the areas considering the information provided. From this analysis the three areas requesting no change were reviewed. However Staff could not justify adding the new change areas to the package. The Bishop site is mid -block surrounded by single-family and no traditional commercial structures located along this locate residential street. The 23rd Street site is also mid -block. While the church is across the street on the south side of the street there are existing homes either side of requested ownership change. A change of one vacant lot surrounded by homes seems premature -- a specific development in the future may warrant a change but not a small unknown possible development adjacent to these existing homes. A revised package of changes was developed in May of 2005. Staff did remove and alter several of the proposed changes due to comments and suggestions received. The Central High Neighborhood Association invited Staff to their June meeting (June14, 2005). There was discussion again about the changes, but no agreement or disagreement with the proposal. The final package was developed 6 July 21, 2005 ITEM NO,; 1$(Cont.). FILE NO.; LU05-08-02 for the Commission's review. Most of the changes are those which staff believes are clean-up (to more accurately reflect existing land use, zoning and mostly future use of the land). These are as fellows: The area along the east side of the railroad tracks from 7th to 10th Streets is currently zoned 1-2, with several small warehouses, a salvage yard and vacant land. Single Family homes are to the east and the State Complex is to the northeast. With the existing street pattr)rn, traffic can flow to either 7th or 12th Streets, however the access to Woodrow has been removed. The current Plan had shown this area for Industrial. Industrial could result in manufacturing and distribution uses which would result in large and more truck traffic through the area. With the existing use and zoning pattern, together with impacts on the surrounding neighborhood a more realistic and desirable future use pattern is Light Industrial for this land. The area along 12th Street from Dennison to Park is already zoned Commercial (C-3) and Industrial (1-2), with commercial uses. The current use of the land is a strip center, a commercial building with a 'bike' club and other retail uses and a parking lot. The Plan had shown this area for Single Family use. With the existing use and zoning pattern a more realistic future use pattern is Mixed Use for this land. Bishop Street from 12th to 13th Streets is land owned by Arkansas Children's Hospital and currently used by the hospital and zoned for office use, 0-3. The hospital's future plans show the land to be used for medical and research uses by the hospital. Thus while Mixed Office Commercial may be the general use pattern Public Institutional would be more informative for those who might use the Plan to make decisions about other properties. This change is intended to reflect the long-range plan for the hospital property. The area between Daisy Gatson Bates Drive and 13th Street from Wolfe to Battery Streets is currently more dense than Single Family. It is primarily duplexes and buildings with four to six units. The zoning ranges from R-3 to R-5, with most of the area zoned for more than single units. Based on the existing use and zoning pattern, the current Plan showing Single Family for this area miss -represents the current and likely future development pattern of the area. A change to Low Density Residential is more representative of both the existing conditions and likely future development of the area. The intersections of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive with both Daisy Gatson Bates Drive and 16th Street are currently zoned C-3 General Commercial with existing small retail businesses. The current Plan shows Mixed Use. However with the existing zoning and use pattern it is not likely that residential use would be introduced while office use is possible, it is more likely that the intersections will continue to be commercial in nature. Thus a change to Neighborhood 7 July 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 18 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-08-02 Commercial is more reflective of the existing and likely future development pattern of both of these intersections. The area along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive between these two intersections consists of single-family homes, zoned R-4 and R-3. The homes are in good condition and there is no reason why they should not continue to be single-family homes. A change from Mixed Use to Single Family would help re -enforce the current conditions and discourage stripping of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. A lot at the northeast corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and 17th Street is the former President's home for Arkansas Baptist College. The building is now used for college related office space. A change in the Plan from Single Family to Public Institutional would be more representative of the current and likely future use of the land. The properties along the west side of Battery from 15th Street south of 16th Street are Multifamily in design and use, except for two. One of these is zoned R-5 (Multifamily) but used for a single-family home, the other is a funeral home. Based on the existing uses and zoning pattern it is unlikely that these properties will become single family. A change to Multifamily would be more reflective of the current and likely future development pattern of these tracts. The area between 13th Street and Daisy Gatson Bates Drive east of the railroad tracks has one business (an auto repair business) with the remaining land vacant. The area is zoned 1-2 and shown as Industrial on the Plan. The surrounding area is single family. The current business is commercial not industrial and a designation of Mixed Use might encourage the vacant area to be more compatible with the neighborhood than a true industrial use would be. This change both reflects the less intense current use and is trying to encourage any new development to be more `neighborhood friendly'. The eastern end of the Mixed Use area along Wright Avenue at Summit is actually single-family houses. The homes are oriented to the side street. Since the area is used and zoned for residential, a change to Single Family from Mixed Use would better reflect the current and likely future development pattern of the land. A stretch of Mixed Use along Wright Avenue from Wolfe to Marshall is actually zoned C-3 and used for businesses. There is a mosque in a former movie theater in the stretch as well. Based on the current use and zoning pattern, it is unlikely that residential will be introduced on this stretch of Wright Avenue. A more likely future development pattern is a continuation of commercial uses. 0 July 21, 2005 ITEM NO.: 18 (Cont, FILE NO.: LU05-08-02 Along the north side of Roosevelt Road from Battery to Wolfe Streets there is an existing Church. A change to Public Institutional from Single Family would better reflect the current and likely future development pattern of this land. The remaining change in the package is not designed to reflect the current use and zoning pattern. It is intended to try to encourage future development pattern, which might be more compatible with the neighborhood than what the existing Land Use Plan would allow. This change is in the Capitol Hill Addition area. It is south of 10th Street beyond 11 th Street and east of the railroad. With the removal of access across the railroad at 10th Street, this area is not as desirable for industrial uses. The zoning is mostly 1-2 and R-4. The Mixed Use designation would allow for office, commercial, residential or a mix of any or all of these uses. The Planned Development process would have to be used. This would help assure that any new development was compatible with the neighborhood to the east and south. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Capitol Hili, Central High and Wright Avenue Neighborhood Associations. In addition notices were sent to over one hundred owners of property included as part of this request. Staff has received four comments from area residents, and all were neutral. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the changes better reflect the likely future development pattern of the area. Q7 Vicinity Map AREA ZONING N Case: LO05-03-03 Location: Central High Area Ward: 1 PD: 8 0 270 540 1,080 Feet CT: 10 & 11 TRS: T1NR12W4 & T1N12W9 Vicinity Map LANDUSE N Case: LUO5-08-02 Location: Central High Area Ward: 1 PD: 8 0 310 620 1,240 Feet CT: 10& 11 TRS: T1NR12W4 & T1N12W9