Memorandum to Commission
Subject: W. 9th Street Commercial Corridor Date: December 21, 2004 From: Planning Staff
This memorandum is written in response to questions raised by Commissioner Schauner regarding the planning that has taken place along the W. 9th Street Commercial Corridor. The W. 9th Street commercial zoning extends from the downtown (1/2 block east of Kentucky Street) to Illinois St. (on the west). It is 200’ deep to the north and, in general, 200’ deep to the south of 9th Street. A map is attached that shows development along the corridor and zonings along and adjacent to W. 9th. The entire corridor is zoned C-5, (Limited Commercial) and will convert to CC200 (Community Commercial) on the new zoning map in January. Specific questions raised regarding the commercial corridor were questions regarding past plans, current land use, and any plans to extend the commercial zoning. Responses to these questions are included in this memo.
Adopted Plans
The commercial corridor along W. 9th Street has been in existence for over 30 years. The corridor straddles the boundaries of two neighborhood associations: the northern half of the corridor is in the Old West Lawrence (OWL) Neighborhood Association and the southern half is in the Oread Neighborhood Association (ONA). Neighborhood Plans were adopted for OWL and ONA in the late 1970s – early 1980. Rezonings have occurred in each neighborhood, based on the adopted neighborhood plans. These rezonings did not include downzoning of commercial properties along W. 9th Street.
The Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Plan was adopted in the fall of 1980. The W. 9th Street commercial corridor is shown and discussed in the plan. When the information was being gathered for this plan, the corridor was zoned C-5 (Limited Commercial) district. The existing land use was primarily retail or service-oriented businesses with associated parking lots that created the transition to residential uses to the north. The OWL Plan recommends rehabilitation of the area through reclassification of land to coincide with existing land uses. This would permit higher density residential uses to serve as a buffer abutting the commercial uses. The plan discourages additional commercial (development) along the corridor, to protect the character of the neighborhood. The future land use map in the neighborhood plan shows W. 9th St. corridor as commercial with a small buffer of low density residential land use to the north.
A section of the Old West Lawrence neighborhood was rezoned in 2001 from RM-D (Duplex Residential) District to RS-2 (Single-Family Residence) District, consistent with recommendations in the plan. This rezoning abuts the commercial area to the west but none of the C-5 commercial zoning was changed.
The Oread Neighborhood Plan was adopted in spring of 1979. The W. 9th St. commercial corridor is also shown and discussed in this plan. When research was being gathered for this neighborhood plan, the W. 9th St. corridor area was zoned C-5 (Limited Commercial). The land use was primarily commercial and office uses with associated parking facilities used as a buffer for the residential uses to the south. The ONA Plan recommends that no additional commercial uses be added beyond a three-lot depth into the neighborhood, or a distance of 150’ south of W. 9th St. The neighborhood plan also discusses a potential for redevelopment of lower residential uses to a higher density residential use to serve as a buffer abutting the commercial uses. The future land use map in the Plan shows the W. 9th St. commercial corridor as commercial uses along W. 9th Street, and a buffer of medium-density residential use buffering to the south.
The Commercial Chapter (Ch.6) of Horizon 2020 describes the W. 9th St. commercial corridor as a neighborhood commercial center with strip development patterns . The Plan also describes this corridor as a gateway to the downtown. The plan states that new development and redevelopment along this corridor should include curb cut consolidation. The plan also recommends that the Downtown Architectural Guidelines be amended to specifically address the W. 9th St. corridor. Horizon 2020 recommends, as the neighborhood plans do, that higher density residential be used as a transition between low-density residential and commercial uses. The future land use map shows the lots along W. 9th St. being commercial and office uses, the southern half of the corridor being mostly medium-density residential uses, and the northern half of the corridor being low-density residential uses.
Current Land Use and Zoning
Today this corridor along W. 9th St. is zoned C-5, limited commercial, with the southern border changing slightly from the neighborhood plans to include or exclude a few lots. The land use has changed little since the neighborhood plans. There has been a slight increase in intensity, which includes more commercial and more medium and higher density residential. More medium and high density residential uses were called for in both neighborhood plans to act as buffers between the low-density and commercial uses.
Staff has contacted representatives of the Oread and Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Associations to find out if they knew of any plans of extending the commercial corridor to the north and/or south of its current boundaries. Both neighborhood representatives said they have heard of no plans to expand the commercial area, maybe in the future an update of the zoning to match the land use could be in order but nothing is planned.
Conclusion
The W. 9th Street corridor has been planned for many years, and the current plans do not propose any big changes. The commercial corridor has been reviewed in two neighborhood plans and Horizon 2020. None of the three plans recommend expansion of the commercial uses, but they do recommend rehabilitation of the corridor to include medium-density residential uses as a buffer between the commercial and low-density residential land uses. Also Horizon 2020 recommends design guidelines be considered for the area. The neighborhood associations do not foresee expansion of the commercial area.
