East Lawrence, Barker & Brook Creek Neighborhood Associations - EBB

Mayor Mike Rundle 15 October 2004

Lawrence City Commission

City Hall, 6th & Massachusetts St.

Lawrence, KS 66044

re: Request for New Area Plan for Abandoned Rail Corridor

Dear Mayor Rundle & Commissioners:

The three neighborhoods of East Lawrence, Barker and Brook Creek are interested in working together to assure that all aspects of our shared boundaries are dealt with in a harmonious and cohesive manner. Our most important shared boundary is the abandoned BNSF rail spur that runs from 11th Street to 23rd Street.

Due to controversies over several projects in recent years, and to several currently proposed projects, and to the fragmented and archaic land use categories that exist along this defunct rail corridor, each of our neighborhoods has concluded that the entire corridor must be looked at in a new and creative light.

The prevailing, yet outdated, perspective on this corridor is that it was an active rail line, that the rail line served industrial uses, and that industrial and major commercial land use zoning was appropriate there. Because the BNSF rail line was abandoned in February of 1988, the underlying rationale ceased to exist, and yet the industrial zoning continued to be utilized for development in ways inappropriate to our evolving neighborhoods.

Another historical factor influenced why this corridor was allowed to become industrialized in the heart of residential neighborhoods. As of 1950, the city limits included no land in the area south of 15th St. and east of Barker Ave.; by 1960 this area had been annexed, but it was still largely undeveloped.

In the century after 1868, when the rail line was built, industrial land uses were increasingly concentrated on what was then the eastern edge of Lawrence. This was fully in keeping with most industrial land in Lawrence that is restricted to the eastern and northern edges of town, where the prevailing winds carry any noise and pollution away from residential areas. Now, with homes built extensively from Haskell Ave. eastward to the City limits, this industrial corridor is a wedge cutting through our single family neighborhoods.

Our three neighborhoods have a vision for this corridor with three unifying elements.

The first is non-rail transport as a bicycle/jogging/walking trail -- i.e., the Rail-Trail project that has been advancing slowly since 1988.

Request for New Area Plan for Abandoned Rail Corridor

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The second is a linear park/wildlife corridor including Hobbs Park, the Burroughs Creek stream naturalization project, Parnell Park, and the Villo Woods nature preserve.

And the third emphasizes new residential infill development, instead of more industrial uses, and on appropriate adaptive re-use of under-utilized industrial and commercial sites.

We ask the City of Lawrence to recognize the changing potential for this corridor, and assist us in reframing its future uses more in keeping with the residential character of our neighborhoods.

Our request of the City Commission is as follows.

1) Instruct the Planning Dept. to develop a new area plan for the “Abandoned Rail Corridor,” for an area extending approximately 500 feet (more or less) to the east and to the west and the north and south of the abandoned BNSF right of way from 11th Street to 23rd Street.

2) Impose a moratorium on building permits within the extent of the plan area for the duration of the planning process.

3) Appoint a City Planner to work with the three neighborhoods in developing said plan.

As the City of Lawrence continues to expand on all sides in years to come, the parts that were once on the “East Side” of town will become more and more “central,” and closer to Downtown, relatively speaking. It is crucial to plan now for an area-wide revitalization of this historic, older part of Lawrence in the early 21st century.

A new area plan for the Abandoned Rail Corridor will allow for the integration of the large stormwater projects, the northern rail-trail project, and other park-system upgrades, with development guidelines for future East-Side infill, site re-uses, and new land-use zonings that will be more consistent with the reality of the area as it has unfolded since 1960.

Thank you - signed:

_______________________ _______________________ _________________________

Timothy Morland, ELNA Emily Wellman, BNA Beth Anne Mansur, BCNA