PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

Regular Agenda – Action Item

PC Staff Report

1/28/13

ITEM NO. 4:  COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT TO HORIZON 2020 CHAPTER 6 to add policies for the Auto-Related Commercial Centers designation (DDW)

CPA-5-5-11:  Consider Comprehensive Plan Amendment to Chapter 6 of Horizon 2020 to add policies for the Auto-Related Commercial Centers designation. Initiated by Planning Commission 5/25/11.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of this comprehensive plan amendment to Horizon 2020 Chapter 6, Commercial Land Use, to add policies for the Auto-Related Commercial Centers designation, and recommends forwarding this comprehensive plan amendment to the Lawrence City Commission with a recommendation for approval.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: If appropriate, approve and sign Planning Commission Resolution PCR-13-00010.

KEY POINTS

1. Auto-Related Commercial Centers are a unique type of commercial development that have auto intensive uses.  They typically have a small amount of commercial square footage under roof, but require a large amount of acreage for parking or sales display. 

2. A policies section for the Auto-Related Commercial Centers is not currently within Horizon 2020 Chapter 6, Commercial Land Use.

3. A couple changes were also made to the existing Auto-Related Commercial Centers description.

SUMMARY

CPA-5-5-11: This Comprehensive Plan Amendment was initiated by the Planning Commission on 5/25/11.  The purpose of the amendment is to add policies to the Auto-Related Commercial Centers. 

There are no other items related to this CPA.

STAFF REVIEW

The purpose of this amendment is to add policies to the Auto-Related Commercial Centers.  In addition, a couple changes were made to the Auto-Related Commercial Centers description.

The policies were created by extracting information from the existing Auto-Related Commercial Centers description.  The changes made to the existing description are meant to provide additional clarification to the description.

Horizon 2020 recommends the following intersections as potential future Auto-Related Commercial Centers:

I-70 and K-10 Highway

US-59/40 and I-70

US-59 and K-10

Staff reviewed this amendment based upon the comprehensive plan amendment review criteria listed below [identified in Chapter 17 (Implementation) of Horizon 2020]. 

Included on the last page of this staff report is the proposed amendment to Chapter 6 (Commercial Land Use).  If approved, this amendment will be added to the Auto-Related Commercial Centers description on page 6-11, and new policies will be added to page 6-40. 

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW

1.        Does the proposed amendment result from changed circumstances or unforeseen conditions not understood or addressed at the time the Plan was adopted?

The proposed amendment is not the result of changed circumstances or unforeseen conditions.  The Auto-Related Commercial Centers description in Chapter 6 does not contain policies like the other Commercial Center descriptions and therefore is inconsistent with the rest of Chapter 6.  This amendment addresses those inconsistencies by adding new policies to the Auto-Related Commercial Centers.

2.        Does the proposed amendment advance a clear public purpose?

The proposed amendment is an advancement of a clear public purpose in that it adds policies to the Auto-Related Commercial Centers where they do not currently exist.  Policies provide cleaner expectations to the development community.  Correcting this inconsistency advances a clear public purpose. 

3. Is the proposed amendment consistent with the long-range goals and policies of the plan?

The proposed amendment helps further the goals and policies for commercial land use while staying consistent with the overall intent of Horizon 2020 by clarifying Auto-Related Commercial Center policy for redevelopment and new centers.  The proposed amendment adds new policies and makes a couple changes to the description of the Auto-Related Commercial Centers.

4.        Does the proposed amendment result from a clear change in public policy?

As the City of Lawrence and unincorporated Douglas County continue to grow and expand, there is a need to include the opportunity for development and redevelopment of large areas into Auto-Related Commercial Centers.  These developments can offer the opportunity for auto-related commercial services at the intersections of major roadways. Auto-Related Commercial Center policies are missing in Horizon 2020.  The proposed amendment is adding those policies to Horizon 2020.

PROFESSIONAL STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends approval of this comprehensive plan amendment to Horizon 2020 Chapter 6, Commercial Land Use, to add policies for the Auto-Related Commercial Centers designation, and recommends forwarding this comprehensive plan amendment to the Lawrence City Commission with a recommendation for approval.

Attachments:

· Proposed new text (new text is underlined, deleted text is struck through)

Amendment #1: Page 6-11, Chapter 6, Horizon 2020 (describing Auto-Related Commercial Centers): 

§ Auto-Related Commercial Centers

A unique type of commercial development is an Auto-Related Commercial Center.  These centers include a wide variety of uses such as auto sales and repair, truck stops, restaurants, hotels, and other similar uses that attract a large amount of the traveling public.  However, these uses are not limited to Auto-Related Commercial Centers. A common feature of all these uses is that they typically have a small amount of commercial square footage under roof, but require a large amount of acreage for parking or sales display.

Because these centers have a limited variety of uses and a relatively small amount of commercial square footage, Auto-Related Commercial Centers do not fit within the definition of a Community or Regional Commercial Center.  These types of centers are very auto intensive and therefore need to be directed to areas that have an ability to handle the intensive nature of an Auto-Related Commercial Center.

Auto-Related Commercial Centers shall be located at the intersection of two state or federally designated highways.  To ensure that the Auto-Related Commercial Centers develop in a planned manner that provides a positive benefit to the community, Auto-Related Commercial Centers shall have a lot length-to-depth ratio of between 1.1 and 3:2 and must be a minimum of 20 acres in size.

All the potential locations of an Auto-Related Commercial Center are in areas that serve as “gateways” into the city.  Since they are in “gateway” areas, any proposal for an Auto-Related Commercial Center shall be closely scrutinized for architectural appearance, landscaping, signage, etc.

Amendment #2: Page 6-40, New Criteria for Auto-Related Commercial Centers:

Policy 3.15:  Criteria for Auto-Related Commercial Centers

A. Auto-Related Centers shall be located at the intersection of two state or federally designated highways.

B. Auto-Related Centers shall have a lot length-to-depth ratio between 1:1 and 3:2 and shall be a minimum of 20 acres in size.

C. As Auto-Related Centers are located in areas that serve as “gateways” to the city, any proposal shall be closely scrutinized for architectural appearance, landscaping, signage, etc.