Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning Department

TO:	City Commission City Manager
FROM:	Sheila M. Stogsdill, Assistant Planning Director
Date:	February 8, 2005
RE:	SP-12-86-04:  Re-approval of SP-08-61-00/SP-01-09-04 – Office/Warehouse located at 911 E. 11th Street

Project Description:  SP-12-86-04/SP-01-09-04/SP-08-61-00: A site plan for a proposed office/warehouse building to be located at 911 E. 11th Street [Lot 1, Sale Barn Addition].  Submitted by Steve Schwada for Mastercraft Corporation, property owner of record.

Project Description/History: The property is zoned M-3 (Intensive Industrial) District.  The site plan proposes the construction of a 27,500 square foot office/warehouse on the north side of E. 11th Street between Hobbs Park and the BN&SF railroad.  The site plan includes truck bays on the east side of the building adjacent to the railroad tracks and parking lots along the south and west sides of the proposed building to accommodate 99 parking spaces (45 required by code).

This City Commission approved the proposed site plan on November 7, 2000 and all conditions of approval were met.  The Commission subsequently granted extensions to the approval late in 2001, 2002 and early 2004.   

A portion of the property was originally identified as being located within the 100-year floodplain.  However, with adoption of the 2001 floodplain maps, this property was designated as Zone X [areas outside of the 500-year floodplain] on Panel 39.  The site plan was revised to reflect the current status.

Project Status:  The applicant has indicated the need to extend the site plan approval so that the property is available for a prospective industrial user within a relatively short time frame. There is reasonable economic development justification to keep ‘approved’ industrial sites in the inventory of properties that can be shown to industrial prospects.

Project Details:  The property is located within the study area of the EBB (East Lawrence, Barker & Brook Creek) Rail Corridor Plan.  The property is also in the temporary building permit moratorium area defined in Ordinance No. 7841.  This ordinance established a 12 month moratorium on building permits in the area except for projects that have submitted a request for site plan approval prior to October 26, 2004.

The Commission could request that the EBB Rail Corridor committee comment on this extension request.  It would be reasonable to extend the approval for three months to allow the committee to consider this proposed project in light of the committee’s discussion of the area plan and provide a recommendation to the City Commission on whether a full 12 month extension should be granted.

Action Request: Based upon the community’s desire to maintain an adequate inventory of properties available for industrial development, Staff recommends a short-term extension of the site plan approval through May 9, 2005 and referral of the request for a 12 month extension to the EBB Rail Corridor committee for comment.  The EBB Rail Corridor committee comments to the City Commission should be scheduled prior to the Commission’s May 9, 2005 meeting.