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HomeMy WebLinkAboutstaff reportJanuary 5, 2006 ITEM NO.: 1 FILE NO.: LU05-08-03 Name. Land Use Plan Amendment - Central City Planning District Location: East of Park from Daisy Bates to 16th Street Request: Single Family to Transition Source: Kwendeche PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the Central City Planning District from Single Family to Transition. Transition classification is designed to allow low-density multi -family residential and office uses, which are compatible with quality of life in nearby residential area. A Planned Zoning District is required if an Overlay is not in place. The application is to convert several single-family homes to office, research, education spaces and a bed and breakfast, while maintaining the street frontage and outside of the structures in their residential character. Prompted by this Land Use Amendment request, the Planning Staff expanded the area of review to include the entire frontage along Park from Daisy Bates to 16th Street. With this change, the entirety of Single Family along Park in front of Central High School would be eliminated. It is thought that the additional area would make the boundaries more logical. EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The amendment area is occupied with single-family homes currently zoned 'R-3' Single Family and is 2.2 acres t in size. To the West is the Central High School Campus that is zoned 'R-4' Two-family. North and south of the site are public uses, a church to the south and the Visitor's Center for Central High National Historic Site to the north. Both of these have an office zone. The church is '0-3' General Office and the Visitor Center is Planned Office District. It should be noted that the Visitor Center site is owned by the Federal Government and is not controlled or constrained by zoning. To the east and the general neighborhood is zoned a mix of 'R-3' and 'R-4' Residential. The use pattern is general single family in this area with some duplexes, garage apartments and structures that may have been divided into more than one unit. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: October 4, 2005, several changes were made from Single Family, Mixed Use, Mixed Office Commercial and Industrial to Single Family, Low Density January 5, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 14 (Cont. FILE NO.: LU05-08 Residential, Mixed Use Public Institutional, Commercial and Light Industrial. These changes were made to more accurately reflect the existing and probable future development pattern of the area. On March 19, 2002, several changes from Public Institutional, Mixed Office Commercial, Mixed Use and Single Family to Public Institutional and Mixed Office Commercial and Public Institutional to Multifamily were made in the area between Daisy Gatson Bates Drive —1630 and Schiller to Bishop. This was done to better reflect the Children's Hospital campus plan and surrounding uses. On January 4, 2000, a change was made from Single Family to Mixed Use at 2311 Spring to the east of the application area to accommodate a proposed development. The application area is shown as Single Family. To the west, north and south the Plan shows Public Institutional use. Further to the north and south are Single Family use areas. To the east the Plan shows Single Family use. A couple blocks to the northeast is a large area of Public Institutional and Mixed Office Commercial for Children's Hospital and related uses. A little over a block to the east is a Park Open Space area — Centennial Park. MASTER STREET PLAN: Daisy Gatson Bates Drive is shown as a Collector on the plan. Park and 16th Streets are Local Streets. With the development of non -single family on both sides of Park, a `Commercial Street' standard may be recommended for this street. Collector streets are to move traffic from neighborhoods to the Arterial system and provide access to adjacent property. Local Street's primary function is to provide access to adjacent property. Additional right-of-way or paving width may be required. Due to the historic nature of the streetscape no changes may be desirable. BICYCLE PLA The Master Street Plan shows a Class II Bicycle Route along Daisy Gatson Bates Drive. A Class II Route is part of the roadway with a portion of the paving dedicated solely for the use of bicycles. No additional right-of-way is proposed. PARKS: The Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan indicates the application area meets the standards for access to recreation or open space. Centennial Park is two and a half blocks to the east-southeast of the application area. The Plan classifies Centennial Park as a mini -park (under 5 acres). 2 January 5, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 14 Cont. FILE NO.: LU05-08-03 HISTORIC DISTRICTS: The applicant's property is located in the Central High National Historic District. However this is not a local historic district and there are no requirements to meet any historic standards or guidelines. 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: The application area is within an existing developed residential neighborhood. The structures have been homes and are zoned for single-family use. They face Central High School, which is a public high school and a National Historic Site. The street is currently orae -way due to the school traffic. This is a `major' block face — two blocks in length, from Daisy Gatson Bates Drive (14th Street) to 16th Street. Both ends of the block are institutional in use with the entire west side institutional i.e. the school. The north end of the block is the current Visitor Center for the National Historic Site. It is a former Mobil Gas Station and has been preserved to look like a gas station, though the use has changed. A new Visitor Center is scheduled to be built and open on the northeast corner of Daisy Gatson Bates Drive and Park. When this occurs the former gas station -Visitor Center will be changed to an archive and research center. On the south end of the block is an existing church with `0-3' General Office zoning. The neighborhood has been a National Register Historic District for several years. The school, along with the other three corners of Daisy Gatson Bates and Park, is a National Historic Site under the control of the Interior Department of the Federal Government. The neighborhood is not a local historic district and thus has no protections or extra requirements for historic preservation. However with the importance of the area as shown by the National Historic Site designation, any changes in appearance should be carefully reviewed and considered by the City prior to approval of any changes. Over the last couple of decades the neighborhood has seen a decline in maintenance and the loss of structures. In addition some of the older large homes have been divided up to be rented by the room or as small apartments. The neighborhood has become predominately absentee landlords. In the last five years or so, there have been signs that the decline is either stopping or reversing in areas. It should be noted that through this period where the 3 January 5, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 14 Cont. FILE NO.: LU05-0$-03 neighborhood has been under stress, changes from single-family to non- residential have been rare. The area north of 12th Street has been greatly impacted by Children's Hospital. The hospital has cleared several blocks of homes with future plans to develop medical or medical related uses on these blocks. Along Wright Avenue, which is three blocks to the south, there have been problems off and on; however, commercial has continued to be present in this area to serve the neighborhood. South of Wright Avenue, while there have been housing issues; the neighborhood has stayed more intact. South of Wright Avenue the homes have stayed predominately owner occupied. The immediate neighborhood, from 12th Street to Wright Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive to Woodrow, still has several pockets of housing deterioration but is experiencing reinvestment in the houses. This can particularly be seen along Schiller and Summit Streets to the east of the application Having homes across the street from schools are goon a ; something the City would advocate. With the Historic Site design: t,1'101'1, Daisy Gatson Bates Drive and Park Street will be impacted by not :;i',j •+y . the school uses and traffic, but also the traffic of tourists and other,5 visaing the Historic Site. Due to the national historic significance of entral High School and the events that occurred there in 1953, pre-spm-li6�+ of the area is important. The Central High neighborhood has started to show signs of reinvestment. There have been several years of disinvestments and deterioration with homes lost. The neighborhood remains `fragile'. The City wants to assure that this neighborhood returns to health. Changes in use within the neighborhood can send the wrong message -- that it is okay to abandon the single-family homes. The message the City wants to send about the neighborhood is to invest in your homes and encourage more home ownership. A strong and stable residential neighborhood in the Central High area is something needed but not yet achieved. It is important to preserve not only the residential `feel' but to strengthen the area. Redevelopment within the neighborhood must be carefully examined to assure that the residential character of the neighborhood is maintained and strengthened. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Central High, Capitol Hill and Wright Avenue. Staff has received Thirty-three comments from area residents. Twenty-nine were in support, two were opposed to the change and two were neutral. Cl January 5, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.:_ 14 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU05-08-03 STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate. The City does not want to take any action that might lead to the further disinvestment in the homes of the neighborhood. 9 -��-� � r � ■ 1 ti � 1 ►all � ■ m- /��lla_ : � r i � ��� LMMMEh!} : a • ,r„�' j ^! • sn m 7 1' s 8 �, ■ i- �II�t11tt 1� �� � F. � a "r 1 1 ■ � �r 1 t, t s� _ ` � • i +■ fir! 1 - � x �r + i ■ ar v r � s 1 �� �� a■ t,9■� d anti � � �R414 � � tf��': � haw � • Noll 2 ON .R � �'` s � � � @ � � of � $ �i ' .� +- � � •� +�li� � p � Vicinity Map PLAN AMENDMENT N Case: LU05-08-03 SF TO T Location: PARK, BETWEEN DAISY L GATS ON BATES TO 16TH STREET Ward: 1 PD: 8 CT: 10 TRS: T1NR12W9 0 195 390 Feet ■:i it INUM, CJI ZMAi:5==11or« f:{