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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard Comm for LU2021-08-01OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS BOARD OF DIRECTORS COMMUNICATION OCTOBER 19, 2021 AGENDA Subject Land Use Plan Amendment – Central City Planning District – LU2021-08-01 Submitted By: Action Required √ Ordinance Resolution Approval Information Report Approved By Planning and Development Bruce Moore City Manager SYNOPSIS To approve Land Use Plan amendment in the Central City Planning District from Residential Low (RL) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC) FISCAL IMPACT None RECOMMENDATION Staff recommended approval. The Little Rock Planning Commission by a vote of 9 for, 0 against, 1 absent, and 1 vacancy made recommendation to approve the change at the September 9, 2021 Hearing. BACKGROUND Applicant requests a Land Use Plan amendment from Residential Medium (RL) to Neighborhood Commercial (C) on an approximate 0.60-acre platted parcel located at the northwest corner of West 26th Street and Arch Street in the Central City Planning District. This land use amendment application is accompanied by a zoning map amendment request. It is the applicant’s intent to rezone the site to a Neighborhood Commercial District (C1) zoning designation (File No. Z-9603). The subject site is located in a part of the Central Planning District designated Residential Low (RL) but situated adjacent to Commercial (C) designated lands. The applicant is seeking to obtain a Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zoning designation. The Neighborhood Commercial category includes limited small-scale commercial development in close proximity to a neighborhood, providing goods and services to that neighborhood market. 2 BACKGROUND CONTINUED The Future Land Use Narrative states that within Central City, to emphasize residential stability, commercial uses should be neighborhood oriented. Given the site is less than an acre, a development this scale has the opportunity to serve the community. Larger commercial developments are generally situated along south Broadway, with some medium sized commercial developments scattered along the frontage of Roosevelt where there is high visibility. With many of the detached single-family homes in the area being considerably large, some have been converted to office uses, but this is a limited practice in the area. The single-family home immediately north of the subject site is situated on Commercial zoned lands. Until recently, this home was boarded up and not habitable, considerable investment has been made and the structure now appears to be habitable. The site has frontage along S. Arch Street (Arkansas Highway 367) and is situated just south of Roosevelt Road (US Route 70B). If the site were granted a Neighborhood Commercial, it will have adequate access to support operations. Development of the site into a Neighborhood Commercial would absorb some of the vacant Residential designated parcels within the Central Planning District in an area that could support small commercial operations, other opportunities exist for single family development in the vicinity of the site. Granting the applicant the Neighborhood Commercial designation could allow the site to serve as a buffer from the existing and future commercial land uses immediately to the north from existing and future residential developments. A change in land use at the site to a Neighborhood Commercial land use does not appear to conflict with the City’s long-term goals.