SHEET A ATTACHMENT

Windover Communities, LLC ("Windover") is a developer of affordable housing. Windover is currently developing affordable housing in Hesston, Kansas, and is in the initial stages of an affordable housing development in Hillsboro, Kansas. The development in Hesston will include 1200 - 1700 square foot homes, ranging in price from under $100,000 to $120,000.

The lack of affordable housing is a serious problem for the City of Lawrence. As noted in an article in The Lawrence Journal-World dated August 17, 2004, "It's rarely been more difficult to find an affordable home in Lawrence." In an attempt to alleviate this situation, Windover Community has acquired property west of the existing boundaries of the City of Lawrence on which it hopes to develop affordable housing for City residents and workers. This property (the "Windover Site") is currently located in unincorporated Douglas County.

In order to develop the Windover Site for affordable housing, certain actions must be taken by the City. First, the property must be annexed into the City. Then, the property must be rezoned to allow the development of approximately 250 residential units. To achieve this density, which is necessary for the development of affordable housing, Windover Communities is requesting that the City rezone the property to RS-2, RMD and RM2 districts, as shown on the plan attached to the application. The RS-2 district would be located on the northern edge of the property, and would include approximately 23 single family detached dwellings on lots of not less than 7,000 square feet. The RMD portion of the site would contain approximately 174 smaller lots, each not less than 6,000 square feet, which would be used for single family detached dwellings only. The RM2 portion would include 53 dwellings in attached units. The overall density of the Windover Site would be less than 6 units per acre.

The Windover Site is vacant, and in use for cattle and hay production. It lies directly in the proposed path of the western growth of the City. Such future growth is recognized in the City's Comprehensive Plan, Horizon 2020, which includes this property in the City's Urban Growth Area. Thus it is likely that in the near future agricultural use of the site will no longer be suitable. Last year Douglas County reclassified the property from an agricultural category to an awaiting-development category. Earlier the County constructed a hard-surface frontage road on the property.

Rezoning of the Windover Site is consistent with and will not detrimentally affect existing uses of the surrounding properties. Immediately to the south of the Windover Site is Judy's Junction, which contains a convenience store as well as trailer storage. Also to the south of the Windover Site is Clinton Lake and the park. The Windover Site abuts the South Lawrence Trafficway. Uses across the South Lawrence Trafficway are primarily single family. Land annexed by the City to the southeast of the property is zoned RM-2 and RM-1. The land north and west of the Windover Site is vacant agriculturally zoned land. The school district has recently purchased land to the north of the Windover Site for a new school.

The proposed rezoning of the Windover Site is also generally consistent with the uses specified in Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 acknowledges that low density residential development, of six units per acre or less, will continue to be the predominant land use in the City. The density of the proposed Windover development fits within this parameter.

The proposed rezoning will provide an enormous gain to the public health, safety and welfare by allowing for the development of affordable housing sorely needed by the City. If the rezoning is denied, the Windover Site will be developed for residential uses in the future. as the

City continues to expand westward. However, the opportunity for the construction of affordable housing will be lost.

Approval of the requested rezoning to allow the development of the Windover affordable housing community is consistent with many of the overall policies of Horizon 2020. Horron 2020 emphasizes the need to limit development beyond the planned growth areas and direct development only within or adjacent to existing growth areas and corridors. Horizon 2020 states that land within the UGA is encouraged for annexation and development. It also provides that "new low density residential areas are located generally in the southern and western portions of the community and in the UGA". (p. 5-3). The proposed Windover development is a new low-density residential development located in the western portion of the City's Urban Growth Area, adjacent to an existing transportation corridor, the Southwest Lawrence Trafficway. The growth management goals of Horizon 2020 include encouraging annexation of properties not contiguous to the City limits but within the UGA by the use of annexation agreements to ensure that these properties will not impede the extension of municipal services. The proposed development reinforces this goal.

The proposed development on the Windover Site is consistent with many of the Horizon 2020 Criteria for Location of Low-Density Residential Development (Goal 4, Residential Land Use Goals and Policies):

· it is a large scale low density single family residential development located in the western portion of the UGA;

· it is of sufficient size to accommodate a well planned orderly development;

· the site is adjacent to an existing transportation corridor (the Southwest Lawrence Trafficway); and

· the development will provide affordable housing options.

The UGA is divided into different service areas. The Windover Site is located in Service Area 3. Horizon 2020 provides that growth in Service Area 3 should be conditioned upon comparable growth in Service Area 1 to ensure the proper and efficient provision of City services. One of the reasons for this is to prevent leapfrog development. However, allowing development of the Windover Site would not conflict with the growth management concept envisioned by these goals. First, water and wastewater treatment facilities are reasonably available to the site. The site is within the Yankee Tank Sewer Benefit District, and as such has been paying sewer taxes for many years. Second, although Horizon 2020 states that Service Area 3 lies far west of the existing City limits (p. 4-2), annexations by the City has brought the City limits to less than 0.5 miles of the site. Third, the City's Plan recognizes that it is not necessary to fully develop Service Area 1 before development in Service Area 3 can occur. Additionally, Horizon 2020 seeks to ensure that development within Service Area 3 be required to hook into the public sewer when the property is within 1000 feet of sewer facilities. The proposed development will immediately connect to the City sewer system.

Development of the Windover development will enable the City to achieve the Horizon 2020 goals of providing opportunities for all of the residents of the Lawrence community, regardless of economic condition, and developing affordable housing. To the extent there exists a conflict between the growth management goals of Horizon 2020 and these goals, the location of the Windover Site, within one-half mile of the City ;n the path of proposed wastewater and water service, will not impede the City's growth management goals.