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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6952-A Staff AnalysisMay 3, 2001 ITEM NO.: 3 FILE NO.: Z -6952-A Owner: Jeffery and Becky Jenkins Applicant: Jeffery Jenkins Location: 9117 Asher Avenue Request: Rezone from R-2 and C-3 to C-4 Purpose: Expansion of wrecker service Size: .76± acres Existing Use: Vacant SURROUNDING LAND USE AND ZONING North - Vacant; zoned C-3 South - Undeveloped; zoned R-2 East - CLR Parks Department Maintenance Facility; zoned C-3 and R-2 West - Vacant; zoned C-4 (also owned by applicant) PUBLIC WORKS COMMENTS 1. Asher Avenue is classified on the master Street Plan as a principal arterial. Dedication of right-of-way to 45 feet from centerline will be required. With Building Permit: 2. Provide design of street conforming to "MSP" (Master Street Plan). Construct one-half street improvement to these streets including 5 -foot sidewalks with planned development. 3.Driveways shall conform to Sec. 31-210 or Ordinance 18,031. 4. Plans of all work in right-of-way shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. 5. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT The site is located on a CATA Bus Route. May 3, 2001 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -6952-A PUBLIC NOTIFICATION All owners of property located within 200 feet of the site, all residents within 300 feet who could be identified and the Westwood, John Barrow and SWLRUP Neighborhood Associations were notified of the proposed rezoning. LAND USE PLAN ELEMENT The site is located in the Boyle Park Planning District. The adopted Plan recommends Commercial and Single Family for the area proposed for rezoning. The biggest portion of the subject property shown as Single Family on the Plan is either already zoned C-3 or was used as parking to serve the commercial uses that previously occupied the site. This proposed rezoning would "line-up" with the recently approved C-4 zoning adjacent to the west. Staff believes no Plan Amendment is necessary. The property lies within the area covered by the Pecan Lake - Stagecoach/Dodd - Westwood Neighborhood Action Plan that was adopted on April 4, 2000. The site is on the perimeter of the Westwood Neighborhood, although this 3 -part, neighborhood plan covered a much larger area along the Asher - Colonel Glenn - Stagecoach corridors. Objectives within the Westwood Plan were to "maintain adequate or sufficient buffering between residential and nonresidential uses" and that "commercial and office activities should remain on Asher Avenue." There are no residential uses that abut this site, the R-2 zoned property to the south is undeveloped. This rezoning request appears to meet the intent of the action plan. STAFF ANALYSIS The request before the Commission is to rezone this vacant, .76± acre tract from "C-3" General Commercial and "R-2" Single Family to "C-4" Open Display Commercial. The site was previously occupied by three commercial buildings and a parking lot. The buildings have been removed. All that remains is the deteriorated parking lot and the slabs where the buildings were located. The northern 200+ foot portion K May 3, 2001 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -6952-A of the property is zoned C-3. The southern portion of the tract is zoned R-2. A portion of the parking lot extends into this R-2 zoned area. The tract has been acquired by the owner of the auto repair/wrecker service located to the west. He has acquired and is in the process of rezoning several tracts located around the existing auto repair/wrecker service business. As a result of the widening of Asher Avenue and the associated right-of-way acquisition, the applicant is needing to reconfigure his operations. The street widening will virtually "wipe-out" the front portion of his property, including his parking lot. On December 21, 2000, the Commission approved the rezoning of some other tracts located around the wrecker service property from C-3 and R-2 to C-4. The Board of Directors approved the rezoning on January 16, 2001. Staff is supportive of the rezoning request. As was previously mentioned, the property adjacent to the west was recently rezoned to C-4. This property virtually mirrors that adjacent property in depth, although it does have greater width and frontage on Asher Avenue. The C-3 and R-2 zoned property adjacent to the east is occupied by a City of Little Rock Parks Department maintenance facility, a C-4 or I-2 use. The vacant properties across Asher Avenue to the north are zoned C-3. The subject property abuts R-2 zoned property to the south. Those lots to the south are actually very deep residential lots which front onto Westwood Drive. The houses are located on the eastern end of the lots, nearer Westwood. The Boyle Park District Land Use Plan recommends Commercial for the bulk of the site. The C-3 zoning now extends beyond the Commercial designation and the portion of the tract which had been used for commercial purposes extends even further. The request appears to meet the intent of the neighborhood action plan which recommends that commercial activities should remain on Asher Avenue. Staff believes the C-4 rezoning request is compatible with uses and zoning in the area and conforms to the adopted Land Use and Neighborhood Action Plans. As part of the previous rezoning action on the applicant's properties to the west, a 20' wide "OS" Open Space strip was zoned along the perimeter of the tracts where they were adjacent to single family. Staff believes it would also be 3 May 3, 2001 ITEM NO.: 3 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -6952-A appropriate to place a similar 20' OS zoned strip along the southern perimeter of this subject property. That dimension would be slightly larger than the size of the land use buffer required by the Zoning Ordinance. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of the requested C-4 zoning with the southern 20 feet of the tract to be zoned OS, Open Space. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 3, 2001) The applicant was present. There were no objectors present. Letters of support had been received from SWLRUP and the Westwood Neighborhood Association. One person was present in support of the item. Staff presented the item and a recommendation of approval of the requested C-4 zoning with the southern 20 feet to be zoned OS. The applicant offered no additional comments. The item was placed on the Consent Agenda and approved as recommended by staff. The vote was 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. 4