CITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF COMMENTS:

REZONING NO. 2001-6 - Vicinity of the northwest corner of 151st Street and Antioch Road.

1. APPLICANT: Polsinelli Shalton & Welte is the applicant for this request.

2. REQUESTED ACTION: The applicant is requesting rezoning from A-J, Agricultural District, to CP-1, Planned Restricted Business District, to allow a retail development.

3. LOCATION: The property, consisting of 14.88 acres, is located at the northwest corner of 151st Street and Metcalf.

4. CHARACTER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD: This subject property is master planned as low-density residential and is adjacent to a single-family neighborhood west of Antioch Road and north of 151st Street.

5. LAND USE AND ZONING PATTERNS: Both occupied and vacant commercially zoned properties exist east of Antioch Road along the north and south sides of 151st Street. South of 151st Street west of Antioch Road is a church property zoned R-1; Single-Family. To the far south and southwest are several large lot single-family homes zoned Agricultural-Johnson County and RR-J; Rural Residential – Johnson County. To the immediate west is a new Johnson County Library on property zoned R-1. The single-family neighborhood to the north and northwest is also zoned R-1.

6. ANALYSIS OF APPLICATION:

a. DEVELOPMENT PLAN: The submitted development plan and building elevations are not satisfactory in staff’s opinion. The plan includes seven commercial buildings totaling 63,900 square feet of floor area. The plan indicates a mixture of office, banks and multi-use commercial buildings. The proposed site design, traffic circulation and building layout are a bad design, in staff’s opinion. The plan proposes almost a continuous row of parked cars along both the 151st and Antioch Road street frontages. The plan also proposes constructing a private connecting road between the two planned median breaks off of 151st Street and Antioch Road. It is staff’s opinion that this through connecting road in not needed to serve the commercial development, and it will be use primarily as a short cut for drivers trying to avoid the signalized intersection at 151st Street and Antioch Road.

The submitted development plan proposes to not provide a planned vehicular connection between 151st Street and the single-family neighborhood to the north. Terminating Benson Street as a cul-de-sac street violates the following Unified Development Ordinance (DUO) requirements related to cul-de-sac and block lengths.

SECTION 18.460.090 – Cul-de-sacs
The length of cul-de-sacs shall not exceed 1,000 feet, measured from the near-side right-of-way line of the intersection street to the centerline of the cul-de-sac turnaround.

SECTION 18.460.130 – Block lengths
Intersecting streets determining block lengths shall be provided at such intervals as to serve cross traffic adequately and to meet existing or future streets. Where no existing plats control, block lengths shall not exceed 1,500 feet.

Terminating Benson Street into a cul-de-sac will require the approval of a preliminary and final plat and cannot be accomplished by the approval of this rezoning request.

b. TRAFFIC IMPACTS: The traffic study required for this rezoning request was not received in time for staff to review the report and prepare comments. In addition, the staff has major concerns about the design of the site plan that has been submitted, and the applicant has not responded to the general comments that staff has made on the proposed plan. Because of the incomplete nature of the plans and the supporting documents, staff has not prepared stipulations for this request. Considering the late submission of the traffic study and the inability of the applicant to respond to staff comments in a timely fashion, the Transportation staff recommends that this project be continued. That continuance will provide the time needed for staff to review and comment on the traffic study and for the applicant to prepare revised plans addressing staff comments.

c. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: Stormwater detention is required for this site. Stormwater detention is available for this site at Kingston Lake and payment has been made to 151st Street Associates. The construction plans for the site require a survey 50 feet beyond the property line on the adjacent single-family lots. The purpose of this survey work is to establish the existing drainage patterns in the backyards and thus be able to design this project so it does not have adverse impacts on the adjacent property.

7. CONFORMANCE WITH THE MASTER PLAN:

a. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT PLAN MAP: The Future Development Plan map designates this property as Low Density Residential. When the Stanley area was annexed into the City of Overland Park in 1985, the Stanley-Morse Study Area Task Force, made up of the area land and business owners, was formed to develop a future land use plan or the area, which was adopted as part of the City’s Future Development Plan. The Task Force determined that the existing commercial zoning in the Stanley area was more than sufficient to serve the ultimate population. Therefore, the Future Development Plan does not designate commercial land uses west of Antioch Road.

There have been three different Master Plan Studies requested for the land area northwest of 151st Street and Antioch Road since 1985: Master Plan Study 1988-4; 1989-1; and 1995-6. The 1988 study was for a total of 240 acres and was withdrawn for before consideration by the Planning Commission. The 1989 study covers 38 acres at the intersection, and it resulted in no change to the Master Plan. The 1995 study covered the property of the rezoning request, and it withdrawn before consideration by the entire Planning Commission.

Therefore, the applicant’s request for commercial zoning is not in conformance with the Future Development Plan Map of the Master Plan.

b. GOALS AND POLICIES: The City’s Master Plan, Commercial Land Use Goals, address commercial development in established commercial areas. The following policies are relevant:

Policy 1.1 Ensure Compatibility of Development - Encourage investment in new and existing commercial development which is compatible in size, architectural design, intensity, and signage with the surrounding land uses in established areas.

Policy 1.2 Contain Commercial Development - Encourage the formation, retention and expansion of commercial development within the existing commercial boundaries as shown on the Future Development Plan.

Policy 3.1 Follow Locational Criteria for All Commercial Development - Encourage commercial development to form as part of existing or new shopping centers as opposed to isolated parcels along commercial strips

The purpose of these goals is to avoid strip out thoroughfares with commercial development. The city has established these goals because of the impacts it has had in other parts of the city. Allowing commercial development on the west side of Antioch Road is contrary to the basic land use principals established for the Stanley-Morse area of the Overland Park.

8. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: This application, as submitted, is in not in conformance with the Master Plan and its related Commercial Land Use Goals. The staff does not support rezoning this property to the CP-1 district for the following reasons:

a. Antioch has been established as the dividing line between commercial developments west of U.S. 69 Highway. Allowing the expansion of commercial development to the west would set the precedent for further stripping out 151st Street to the west.

b. Staff feels that the uses permitted in the low-density residential zoning districts are still viable and the most appropriate land uses.

c. The development of the site as proposed would have a negative impact to the planned traffic flow to and from the residential neighborhoods in the area."