TEMPORARY USE PERMITTED UPON REVIEW

Sept 6, 2005

Consent Agenda

 

TUPR-08-26-05:  A Temporary Use Permitted Upon Review request for a late night promotion utilizing a search light at the 901 W 23rd McDonalds from 9/15/2005 to 9/25/2005 and 12/22/2005 to 1/1/2006. Submitted by Tom and Marilyn Dobski, property owners.

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

 

         Current Zoning and Land Use:              C-5 (Limited Commercial) District; McDonalds Restaurant.

 

       Surrounding Zoning and Land Use:        C-5 (Limited Commercial) District to the north, west, and south; car dealership to the north and west; to the south is a bar and grill and a blood bank center

 

                                                            C-2 (Neighborhood Shopping) District to the east; a restaurant.

 

STAFF REVIEW

The subject property is located on the south side of 23rd Street between Alabama and Louisiana Streets. The property is developed with a McDonald’s restaurant with a drive through facility. The property is surrounded with commercially zoned property, beyond which are single-family and multi-family residential neighborhoods. The proposed event will take place from September 15th through the 25th, 2005 and from December 22 nd, 2005 through January 1st, 2006. The search light will be located on the roof of the building and will be used from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. during the event.

 

Section 20-1454.4(a)(9) of the City code permits administrative approval of requests if the hours of operation are consistent with surrounding land uses. This request can not be administratively approved because of the late night hours and the adjacent multi-family residences. The search light will be mounted on the roof of the restaurant and will be directed upward. This light should not impact the neighboring residential area.

 

Per Section 20-1454.5 of the Zoning Ordinance, the request is classified as a Temporary Use, which may be approved by the City Commission. In staff’s opinion, all conditions outlined in 20-1454.5 have been addressed.  

 

A site plan revision (SP-07-43-94) was approved administratively on August 4, 1994 and is on file in the Planning Office for this subject property. The proposed TUPR will not utilize any of the parking spaces. The event is planned for the ‘off-peak’ hours and there is adequate parking for the anticipated increase in business.

 

The goals of the City’s lighting standards include “mitigate light trespass, nuisance, and glare to adjacent properties; and reduce light pollution to the general community and mitigate effects to the night sky. (Ord. 6598)” Section 20-14A01, City Zoning Ordinance. The light will be pointed upward at an angle, so there should be little or no glare to adjacent properties. The search light will create light pollution and will have a negative impact on the night sky. Since these issues are rather subjective, approval of this TUPR will be conditional. If there are complaints about the glare or light pollution, approval of the TUPR for the December 22 through January 1st period will be rescinded.

 

Section 20-1106(d) of the City code states that no use shall be made of land in an Air Space Control Area District which “contains lights or signals which may be confused with airport navigational lights”. This property is located within the Air Space Control Area District. The Lawrence Municipal Airport Operator indicated that search lights had been used at this property before without any negative impacts to aircraft. The use of a search light at this location is not a safety issue for the airport.

 

The applicant has been informed that a temporary sign permit must be obtained from the Neighborhood Resources Department if temporary signage will be used for this event.

 

Recommendation:   Planning Staff recommends approval of the Temporary Use Permit for use of a search light for the promotional event from September 15th – 25th, 2005 and from December 22nd, 2005 to January 1st, 2006. Subject to the following conditions:

 

  1. Obtain temporary sign permit from Neighborhood Resources Office, if temporary signs are used;

 

  1. If signs are displayed in conjunction with this use they shall comply with City sign regulations and shall not be located on public right of way.  Signs for this activity can only be displayed during hours of operation;

 

     3.  The search light must be directed upward at an adequate angle so it does not impact the neighboring residences. It may be shone from 10:00 pm to 3:00 am on the dates of the event.

 

4.  The TUPR approval for the dates of December 22, 2005 through January 1st, 2006 the will be rescinded if there are complaints about glare or light pollution resulting from the September event.