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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6681 Staff AnalysisJune 10, 1999 ITEM NO.: 1 Owner: Applicant: Location: Request: Purpose: Size: Existing Use: FILE NO.: Z-6681 Jeanne and Dan McKinstry, Anne and James Threet, Richard and Marcia Watkins James E. Hathaway, Jr. North side of the 13900 Block of Cantrell Road Rezone from R-2. MF -6 and OS to 0-3, MF -12 and OS Future multifamily and office development 39± acres Undeveloped, wooded SURROUNDING LAND USE AND ZONING North - Undeveloped, wooded; zoned R-2 South - Vacant lots; zoned R-2 East - Undeveloped, wooded; zoned R-2 West - Shopping center, zoned C-3 and undeveloped, wooded, zoned 0-2 PUBLIC WORKS COMMENTS (For Future Reference) 1. Two commercial streets intersecting Cantrell Road, with 330 foot spacing will not be allowed. Required minimum spacing between commercial streets is 600 feet. Platted right-of-way north of Josephine Street may be used. All streets require 60 feet right-of-way and 36 feet pavement. 2. Construct right turn lane on Cantrell Road. 3. Construct access to PK/OS area. 4. Streets need to be named and approved by this office. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT A CATA Express Bus Route extends down Cantrell Road to the south of this site. June 10, 1999 ITEM NO.: 1 (Cont.) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION FILE NO.: Z-6681 The Pankey, Walton Heights-Candlewood, Secluded Hills and Westbury Neighborhood Associations, all owners of property within 200 feet of the site and all residents within 300 feet were notified of the rezoning request. LAND USE PLAN ELEMENT The property is located in the River Mountain Planning District. At its March 18, 1999 meeting, by a unanimous vote, the Planning Commission approved an amendment to the Plan for this site. The Plan amendment was from Single Family and Low Density Residential to Mixed Office Commercial, Office, Multifamily and Park/Open Space. On April 20, 1999, the Board of Directors passed Ordinance No. 17,993, approving the Land Use Plan Changes. This rezoning request conforms to the recently approved Plan Change. The 2± acre tract shown as Mixed Office Commercial is not included in this rezoning request. A planned development will be filed at a later date for that site. STAFF ANALYSIS The request before the Commission is to rezone this undeveloped, wooded, 39± acre tract from R-2 Single Family, MF -6 Multifamily and OS Open Space to 0-3 General Office, MF -12 Multifamily and OS Open Space. The northern 18.9 acre portion is proposed to be rezoned from R-2, MF -6 and OS to OS. The middle 10.4 acre portion is proposed to be rezoned from R-2 and MF -6 to MF -12. The southern 9.6 acre portion is proposed to be rezoned from R-2 to 0-3. No specific development is proposed at this time. The current zoning of the property is as follows: 4.13± acres 16.39± acres 19± acres zoned OS zoned MF -6 zoned R-2 2 June 10, 1999 ITEM NO.: 1 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6681 The resulting reclassification will be as follows: 18.92± acres zoned OS 10.4± acres zoned MF -12 9.6± acres zoned 0-3 The property is located north of Cantrell Road, between the Pankey Community and Walton Heights-Candlewood. A 100 foot wide Entergy easement bisects the northeast corner of the site. This easement and additional undeveloped property separate the property from the Walton -Heights Candlewood neighborhood. Portions of the property to the south, between this site and Cantrell Road, are undeveloped, including the future site of the Pankey Community Center. A couple of single family homes at the north end of Ives Street are near the southeast corner of the subject property. The OS zoning will be nearest these homes. The Candlewood Shopping Center and an area of undeveloped 0-2 property abut the site on the west. The R-2 property to the east is heavily wooded and undeveloped. The proposed rezoning conforms to the recently amended Land Use Plan and is compatible with uses and zoning in the area. Zoning the 18.9± acre tract to OS will preserve a heavily wooded hillside and will provide an appropriate buffer between any development on this site and nearby residential properties. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of the rezoning request, as filed. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JUNE 10, 1999) The applicant was present. There were several interested parties present, both in opposition and in support of the item. A petition of opposition containing 72 names had been received by staff and forwarded to the commissioners. Staff presented the item and a recommendation of approval. Jim Hathaway, the applicant, addressed the Commission and outlined the following five reasons why the rezoning should be approved: 3 June lb, 19'99 ITEM NO.: 1 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6681 1.This is not a piecemeal application. An attempt has been made to look at the land use within this area and the surrounding area. 2. This application has staff support. 3.This application exactly matches the previous Land Use Plan Amendment which was approved by the Commission and the City Board. 4. The rezoning represents a zoning pattern that is reflective of a good land use pattern, with uses reducing in intensity as the property moves away from Cantrell Road. 5.Nearly 19 acres of the site are being zoned open space which preserves the wooded hillside and serves as a buffer. Gerald Dienel, of 13701 Rivercrest, spoke in opposition. He stated that the increased density of development would add to traffic woes on Cantrell Road. He stated that he would prefer to see an actual development plan. Prentis Miller of 4916 Ives Street, Elvin Miller of 5009 Josephine Street and Selma Miller Douglas of 13640 Cantrell Road spoke in opposition to the rezoning. Selma Douglas made reference to the petition of opposition and read from a portion of the petition. She voiced concerns about traffic on Cantrell Road. Belver Nelson, of 5204 Ives Road, spoke in opposition and expressed concern about traffic on Cantrell Road. David Werling, of 13801 Rivercrest Drive, stated that he would prefer to see a development plan. Charles Nickerson, of 10570 Bainridge, stated that he felt the proposed rezoning offered an excellent transition from Cantrell Road to open space on the north. Mr. Nickerson stated that he felt the plan protected the area from further commercial development. Bill Mauldin, president of the Walton Heights-Candlewood Neighborhood Association, stated that he was not opposed to the rezoning. He stated that the association would like to 4 June 10, 1999 ITEM NO.: 1 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6681 work with the developer throughout the process to arrive at a project that is acceptable to all parties. Jim Hathaway addressed the Commission and responded to several concerns that had been voiced by those in opposition. He stated that, contrary to the petition presented by Ms. Douglas, the property was not in Pankey and did not include any of the Pankey neighborhood. He stated that this rezoning would not increase taxes on the nearby residences and nothing about the rezoning would cause residents of Pankey to lose their homes. Mr. Hathaway stated that the traffic generated by this development would be a small percentage of the volume that Cantrell Road is designed to accommodate. In response to a question from Commissioner Putnam, Mr. Hathaway stated that access to the site would be off of Cantrell Road at a point to be determined later. Jim Lawson, Director of Planning and Development, spoke in support of the rezoning. Mr. Lawson stated that the proposed rezoning pattern was superior to that currently in place. Mr. Lawson made note of the proposed 19± acres of open space zoning. He stated that the property would still have to be reviewed by the Commission for platting and, more than likely, site plan review. Commissioners Putnam and Berry voiced their support for the proposal. A motion was made to approve the rezoning request, as filed. The motion was approved by a vote of 8 ayes, 1 noe and 2 absent. 5 March 18, 1999 `lno� ITEM NO.: 3 FILE NO.: LU99-01-01 Name: Land Use Plan Amendment - River Mountain Planning District Location: NE Corner of Black Road and Cantrell Request: Single Family and Low Density Residential to Commercial, Office, Multi -Family and Park/Open Space Source: Hathaway Group PROPOSAL / REQUEST: Land Use Plan amendment in the River Mountain Planning District from Single Family and Low Density Residential to Commercial, Office, Multi -Family and Park/Open Space. The Commercial category includes a broad range of retail and wholesale sales of products, personal services, and general business activities. Commercial activities vary in type and scale, depending on the trade are they serve. The Office category represents services provided directly to the consumers (e.g., legal, financial, medical) as well as general offices which support more basic economic activities. The Multi -family category accommodates residential development of ten to thirty-six dwelling units per acre. The Park/Open Space category includes all public parks, recreation facilities, green belts, floodplains, and other designated open space and recreational land. It is permissible to have single family houses in Park/Open Space. Prompted by this Land Use Amendment request, the Planning Staff expanded the area of review to include two additional areas. The first area is to the east along Cantrell Road. Office and Public Institutional would surround this section of LDR. It is thought the extension of the Office to the south would be a transition to the PI and that a small parcel of LDR surrounded by Commercial, Office and Public Institutional would not be desirable. The second area that was expanded was to the north of the site from Single Family to Park/Open Space. This area is on the south slope of the Walton Heights subdivision. This additional area would join the PK/OS areas in the application with other PK/OS areas that continue to the east to I-430. This area would be contiguous to the River Mountain Park. CURRENT LAND USE AND ZONING: The original application property is currently zoned R-2, MF -6 and OS and is approximately 41.3 acres in size. The expanded March 18, 1999 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-01-01 area is zoned R2 and is approximately 8 acres. To the north of the site is Walton Heights which lies along the ridgeline and is zoned R-2 and Single Family. Kroger's and Candlewood Station, a commercial shopping area lies to the west (C-3 and Commercial on the Land Use Plan). Located south of Cantrell Road and west of Black Road are mini -warehouses and a liquor store zoned C-3 and R-2 respectively. East of Black Road is a plant nursery building and single family houses, all zoned R-2 and shown on the plan as Single Family. RECENT AMENDMENTS: No land use plans have been made in the area in recent history. MASTER STREET PLAN: Cantrell Road is shown as a Principal Arterial and Black Road is shown as a collector to connect with Old Oak on the Master Street Plan. Cantrell has a five -lane roadway section in this area. PARKS: There is an existing park in Pankey located on both sides of Russ Street south of Cantrell. Adjoining the property is the site of the former school which is under ownership of the Pankey Community Development which is attempting to build a community center on the site. To the east is the River Mountain Park, also undeveloped acreage of 489 acres. BACKGROUND: This section of Cantrell has seen major development in the last several years. Cantrell, west of I-430, is primarily Transition, with Multi -Family and some scattered Commercial. Of the existing Commercial areas, there is an existing inventory of vacant developable land in the area, namely next to this site at the Candlewood Station. NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN: The River Mountain Neighborhood Plan was completed in March 1998. The Land Use Plan was reviewed and no changes were made to it. In the neighborhood plan, one of the objectives listed in the Sustainable Natural Environment section was to "Preserve and maintain existing greenways and open space in the neighborhood" 2 i March 18, 1999 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: LU99-01-01 and " Encourage and support the conservation of significant landscapes, views and vistas". In the Parks and Recreation section, one of the objectives was to "Provide passive park facilities in and near the neighborhood". In the Residential Development section, one objective was to `Develop Neo - Traditional Neighborhoods in the areas that have not jet been developed. The existing zoning and land use patterns would allow for the development of the site in conformance with the neighborhood. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Notices were sent to the following neighborhood associations: Walton Heights-Candlewood N.A., Pleasant Valley Neighborhood Association, Pankey Community Improvement, Pleasant Forest N.A., Westbury N.A., Westchester -Heatherbrae N.A., Secluded Hills P.O.A., and Piedmont Neighborhood Association. Staff has received no comments from -area residents or neighborhood associations at the time of,printing. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff believes the change is not appropriate at this time. STAFF UPDATE: Prior to the Planning Commission meeting, there were discussions between the applicant and Staff concerning the application. The applicant modified his request for that portion that was originally considered for Commercial to Mixed Office Commercial. Staff can support the modified application for a change to the Land Use Plan. The modification was presented at the agenda meeting to the Commissioners along with a letter stating such from the applicant. It was at that time that it was placed on the consent agenda. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MARCH 18, 1999) This item as amended was placed on the consent agenda for approval. The motion was made and passed with a vote of 11 ayes and 0 nays. 3