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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes for LU2022-12-01August 11, 2022 1 ITEM NO.: 3 FILE NO.: LU2022-12-01 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment – 65th Street West Planning District Location: 7404 Mabelvale Pike Request: Residential Low Density (RL) to Residential High Density (RH) Source: Joe White, PE, Joe White & Associates, INC PROPOSAL / REQUEST: The applicant requests a Land Use Plan amendment from Residential Low Density (RL) to Residential High Density (RH). The site is approximate 1.3-acres. The application is located at 7404 Mabelvale Pike, in the 65th Street West Planning District. The existing Residential Low Density (RL) category provides for single family homes at densities not to exceed 6 dwelling units per acre. Such residential development is typically characterized by conventional single family homes, but may also include patio or garden homes and cluster homes, provided that the density remain less than 6 units per acre. The proposed Residential High Density (RH) category accommodates residential development of more than twelve (12) dwelling units per acre. This land use amendment application accompanies a zoning map amendment request. It is the applicant’s intent to rezone the site to a MF-18, Multifamily District 18-units per acre zoning designation (File No. Z-9702). EXISTING LAND USE AND ZONING: The subject site is a large undeveloped tract. The current zoning is R-2, Single Family District. The land in the vicinity of the site is primarily residential with R-2 zoning. There are developed single-family subdivisions and larger tracts with single family houses. Two churches are along Mabelvale Pike, one to the east and the other to west of the site. Two apartment complexes are near the site. One is at Forbing Road and Mabelvale Pike to the east. The other is adjacent to the site on the west. Figure 1. Zoning              August 11, 2022 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU2022-12-01 2 There are two large undeveloped wooded tracts across Mabelvale Pike from the site. One of the tracts is zoned R-2 and is approximately 3 acres in size. The other is approximately 19 acres in size. The first 200 feet of this approximate nineteen-acre tract is zoned R-2 with the remainder zoned MF-18, Multifamily District 18-units per acre. Beyond the single-family subdivision to the east is a 3-acre tract which once had a house on it but currently has no structures and is zoned R-2. To the immediate west is a tract with three apartment buildings – 24 units which is zoned R-2. This is a ‘legally non- conforming’ use. A developed single-family subdivision wraps the application area on the east and north. The single-family subdivisions are zoned R-2. FUTURE LAND USE PLAN AND RECENT AMENDMENTS: The City’s Land Use Plan Map shows the land north of Mabelvale Pike from Chiot Road to Forbing Road as Residential Low Density (RL). Except for a church and the 24-unit apartments to the west of the site, all but two of the remaining tracts are developed with single-family houses or a duplex. To the south of Mabelvale Pike, across from the site, the Land Use Plan Map shows Residential Medium Density (RM) with Residential High Density (RH) beyond this to the south. The lands shown for RM are wooded and undeveloped. Approximately the north half of the RH area is also wooded and undeveloped. An apartment complex, Village Green, comprises the southern half. In the last twenty years there have only been two requests to amend the Land Use Plan Map in the vicinity. Both were along North Chiot Road to the west of the site. LU2021-15-01 was a request to change the Plan Map from Residential Low Density (RL) to Residential Medium Density (RM) at 7520 North Chicot Road (south of the Mabelvale Pike intersection). This was approved in June 2021. LU2007-12-03 was a request to change the Plan Map from Residential Low Density (RL) to Mixed Use (MX) at 2101 North Chicot Road (north of the Mabelvale Pike intersection). This was denied in November 2007. Figure 2. Land Use Plan Map    August 11, 2022 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU2022-12-01 3 MASTER STREET PLAN: To the south of the site is Mabelvale Pike, designated a Collector. The primary function of a Collector is to provide a traffic connection from Local Streets to Arterials or to activity centers, with the secondary function of providing access to adjoining property. The Collector system should not be continuous but should direct traffic to Arterials. This class of road is generally at a spacing of a quarter to a half-mile. A 36-foot- wide section with a 60-foot right- of-way and one sidewalk is the standard. Mabelvale Pike was recently improved in the area to a 36-foot-wide road with a sidewalk along the north side. At the time of site development additional improves maybe required. BICYCLE PLAN: The Master Street Plan shows a Class III Bike Route proposed on Mabelvale Pike. Bike Routes require no additional right-of-way, but either a sign or pavement marking to identify and direct the route. There is no existing bicycle infrastructure along Mabelvale Pike. PARKS: Approximately 750 feet to the west, northwest of the North Chicot Road – Mabelvale Pike intersection, is land the City of Little Rock has acquired as part of the Hindman Park – Fourche Creek green belt. Currently this land is not developed for active recreational uses. HISTORIC DISTRICTS: There are no city recognized historic districts in the vicinity of this amendment. ANALYSIS: The subject site is situated along the northside of Mabelvale Pike, between Forbing and North Chicot Roads. Single-family houses bound the site on the east and north. A Figure 3. Master Street Plan    August 11, 2022 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU2022-12-01 4 24-unit, 3-building apartment complex is adjacent to the site on the west. Most of the single-family housing in this area was constructed prior to 1970. Three apartments complexes (at Forbing Road; along North Chicot Road; and adjacent to the west) were added in the 1980s. This portion of Little Rock was annexed in the late 1960s through 1980. The development pattern has been in place for close to three decades. The subject property has been vacant for close to two decades. Mabelvale Pike is the ‘old highway’ to Little Rock (pre-dating University Avenue and the freeway system). Mabelvale Pike and North Chicot Road were recently reconstructed to Collector standard. These roads had been two-lane county roads with open drainage and no pedestrian or bicycle infrastructure. Both are now 36-foot-wide roadways with curb/gutter and a sidewalk. There are developed single-family subdivisions to the east, north and west of the subject site. These subdivisions were developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Since 2010 there has been no new construction of either single-family or multifamily structures in the vicinity. During this time seven permits for multifamily rehab or additions were issued. Twenty-six permits for rehab or additions to single-family structures have been issued since 2010. This shows some continued investment in the residential structures located in the general area. Single-family structures were permitted for demolition in 2006 and 2011 on this property. Today the subject site is vacant and well maintained. The surrounding tracts are all developed and are being maintained by their owners. All the lots within the existing single-family subdivisions have been developed with houses. In the vicinity, there are some larger tracts which are either vacant or could be subdivided to allow for additional single-family housing (including this tract). There is a tract zoned MF-18, Multifamily 18-units per acre that is undeveloped to the south. This tract is on North Chicot Road and is approximately 19 acres of which 14 to 15 acres is zoned MF-!8. There is land zoned for both single-family and multifamily in the area which remains undeveloped. This portion of Mabelvale Pike is lined with single-family houses and single-family subdivisions. The area has a residential ‘feel’ when driving through it. The multifamily development adjacent to the west has no active recreation area. It is basically three apartment buildings with an asphalt parking area. Until recently, when a fence was built along the subject property’s west line, the residents had used a portion of the subject land as parking and to recreate. This development is too dense for the area and has limited to no amenities for the residents. With no public active recreation areas in the immediate vicinity, any dense residential development should include some space for recreation. Interstate 30 is approximate a third of a mile due south and approximately half a mile via Mabelvale Pike and Chicot Roads. The development pattern is heavy commercial and light industrial uses along the freeway with apartments north of that. The Land Use Plan Map shows this pattern with Commercial (C) along the freeway then Residential High August 11, 2022 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU2022-12-01 5 Density (RH) then, Residential Medium Density (RM) to Residential Low Density (RL). The Residential Medium Density (RM) is all south of Mabelvale Pike at this location. There is a tract of land south of Mabelvale Pike that is vacant and wooded that is shown as Residential High Density (RH) for the southern half and Residential Medium Density (RM) for the northern half. This tract is approximately 19 acres. The majority of the tract is zoned MF-18. The land north of Mabelvale Pike in this area is zoned and shown on the Land Use Plan as R-2, Single Family District or Residential Low Density (RL) respectively. There is already in place a transition from intensive non-residential uses to single-family use. The Land Use Plan recommends a gradual reduction in residential intensity from more than 12 or more units per acre near the non-residential along the freeway to lesser intensity – not more than 12 units per acres to Mabelvale Pike. Then more typical single- family densities at Mabelvale Pike and north. The request is to increase the proposed intensity of residential beyond that recommended along either side of Mabelvale Pike, reversing the reduction in density as one moves north. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood association: South Brookwood/Ponderosa NA and Southwest United for Progress. At the time of writing, Staff had received no comments from area residents or Neighborhood Associations. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends denial of the applicant’s request to amend the land use designation from Residential Low Density (RL) to Residential High Density (RH). PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (AUGUST 11, 2022) The item was placed on consent agenda for withdrawal. By a vote of 9 for, 0 against, 1 absent, and 1 vacancy, the consent agenda was approved.