Title
Application #PL2019-223 - COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT - Adopting Map Changes to Land Use Designations as an Amendment to the City of Lee's Summit Comprehensive Plan 2005, as Amended; City of Lee's Summit, Applicant.
Body
An application for development of an apartment complex was recently received and set for public hearing. The location proposed for the apartment development was located in a recently annexed area that did not have a land use designation associated with it through the Comprehensive Plan. The area being considered for development was to be included in a new Comprehensive Plan Text and Land Use Map being pursued in the FY2019 city budget. It was anticipated that the new Comprehensive Plan would be underway last August/September but the City Strategic Plan was on the same time schedule and it was decided to wait for the Strategic Plan to be well underway before the Comprehensive Plan would begin. Therefore the Comprehensive Plan may be delayed later in the FY19 budget year or beyond depending on the results of the Strategic Plan. The application for the apartments preceded efforts to provide appropriate land use designations for these recently annexed areas.
Following consideration of the apartment application at the public hearing, the Commission continued the hearing with instruction to staff to prepare a land use designation for the proposed property as an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. Since that time staff has held multiple meetings to consider proposed land use designations for all areas currently void of designation which included the proposed property associated with the apartment application. The first meeting was held with a group of property owners within the area of the proposed apartments. The next two meeting opportunties were much broader and included all propeties needing land use designations. Letters of invitation were sent to property owners being considered for land use designation, property owners within 185 feet of those being considered and HOAs within the vicinity of the affected properties. These two meetings were held as open houses at the Gamber Center on December 3rd and 10th. All maps displayed at the open houses as well as the comments received are included in the attachments.
Since the majority of comments centered around the area of the proposed apartments, it is only fitting to provide the reasoning behind the staff recommended land use for this area. Comments received from the neighborhood representatives and residents in the general area of the proposed apartments made a strong argument about creating a transition from the low density exisitng in their single family neigborhoods to the proposed high density apartment development. Staff considered the comments received and agreed that it would be beneficial to create a medium density buffer adjacent to the single-family neighborhoods and therefore placed that designation on the north side of the proposed street. Using the street as a separation point, the land on on the south side of the street contains the medium/high density land use designation. A small portion of land on the north side of the street is shown as office/retail and the remainder of the area is proposed to be designated office/retail as well.
The Comprehensive Plan has goals established that were used by staff in recommending appropriate land use designations for all prpoerties being considered in this Comprehensive Plan amendment. Specifically the goals included:
2005 Comprehensive Plan Identified Goals
1. Overall Area Land Use
¬ Achieve an orderly and balanced development pattern for the benefit of the community
2. Economic Development
¬ Create business opportunities that strengthen economic competiveness in the area
3. Residential Development
¬ Achieve a high-quality living environment and diversified housing market
4. Commercial Development
¬ Establish a strong, high-quality commercial base in the area that provides diversified, accessible, and convenient services
5. Industrial Development
¬ Promote industrial growth to strengthen local financial health and expand the employment base
6. Public Facilities and Services
¬ Ensure the future land development and public facilities and services are mutually supportive
7. Historic Preservation and Downtown Revitalization
¬ Retain and enhance the vitality of downtown as the community’s business and activity hub and protect the community’s historic heritage
8. Environment
¬ Achieve an environmentally safe and friendly environment
During the public open houses maps were displayed of all the areas being considered for land use designation as well as displays showing the 2005 Comprehensive Plan Goals and Residential Denisty Examples (both are attached along with the letter of invitaion that was mailed).
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval for establishing the land use designations as indicated on the attachments and adopting the same by resolution.
Presenter
Presenter: Robert McKay, AICP, Director of Planning and Special Projects