October 11, 2011

The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular session at 6:35 p.m., in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with Mayor Cromwell presiding and members Amyx, Carter, Dever and Schumm present.  

D.        REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

3.         Consider the following items related to 1043 Indiana Street:

a)      Conduct public hearing and consider making a determination based on a consideration of all relevant factors that there is/is not a feasible and prudent alternative to the proposed project at 1043 Indiana Street and the that the proposed project includes/does not include all possible planning to minimize harm to the listed properties. The Historic Resources Commission determined on September 15, 2011 that this project will encroach upon, damage or destroy the listed historic properties and their environs.

b) Consider approving rezoning, Z-7-18-11, approximately 0.80 acres from U-KU (University-Kansas University) to RM32-PD (Multi-Dwelling Residential-Planned Development), located at 1043 Indiana Street. Submitted by Paul Werner Architects, for Triple T LLC, property owner of record. (PC Item 5A; approved 8-0 on 8/24/11)

c) Consider approving Preliminary Development Plan, PDP-7-1-11, to relocate the Varsity House and development of a Multi-Dwelling Structure, located at 1043 Indiana Street. Submitted by Paul Werner Architects, for Triple T LLC, property owner of record. (PC Item 5B; approved 8-0 on 8/24/11)

Lynne Braddock Zollner, Historic Resources Administrator, introduced the item and said the developer had an amended request to make to the Commission.

            Paul Werner, Paul Werner Architects, said they would like to defer the development plans and go to HRC on October 27 to consider changes to move the structure to the south. He would like the Commission to consider the rezoning tonight. He thought LPA was on board with this.

            Lynne Zollner presented the rezoning request.

Mayor Cromwell called for public comment.

Ron Schneider, representing LPA, said he wanted to confirm what the applicant had said. LPA had agreed and encouraged the revised proposal. They had no objection to the zoning and had testified to that at previous hearings. He said that he or Dennis Brown would be at the HRC meeting to encourage approval.

Gwen Klingenberg said she agreed and appreciated what the applicant was asking to do.

Stan Hernly, Hernly Associates, said not everyone agreed that having the house on the corner was significant but he thought it was. He wanted to encourage that the house be rehabbed and said state historic tax credits might be able to be used. He supported the rezoning and appreciated the efforts of the applicant.

Sven Alstrom said those of us in preservation wanted the house to stay where it is. He was glad it was staying. He didn’t agree with the process of approving the zoning changes before the HRC hearing. This project does not meet all of the criteria. He would like it sent back to HRC before the rezonings were considered by the City Commission. The Commissioners needed to support a more orderly process. The political consensus may be to approve the rezoning tonight but that is not how the process is supposed to work.

Schumm asked how the house would be rehabbed.

Werner said it would look just like it does today, but newer.

Amyx said he thought it was appropriate to consider the zoning at this time. It was a reasonable approach. We would have the PDP back after HRC. He thought we could act on the zoning at this time.

Dever asked if we had any other properties that had gone from UKU to a more private zoning category.

McCullough said yes. It cannot remain U-KU if not owned by KU.

Dever said that this was not an inappropriate rezoning then.

McCullough said no, it was appropriate to go to another appropriate zoning district. It is a little bit messy but sometimes we have to take incremental steps to get through the process.

Dever asked if anything went to more or less dense.

McCullough said it didn’t happen often, he could only recall 1242 Lousiana.

Corliss said there hadn’t been a lot of transition since the creation of the U-KU district.

Cromwell said he appreciated the compromise reached. This was a responsible way to proceed.

Amyx said he wanted to thank everyone that gave time to visit with him on this project.

Moved by Dever, seconded by Schumm, to defer indefinitely consideration of making a determination based on a consideration of all relevant factors that there is or is not a feasible and prudent alternative to the proposed project to be located at 1043 Indiana Street and that the proposed project does or does not include all possible planning to minimize harm to the listed property. Motion carried unanimously.

Moved by Schumm, seconded by Dever, to approve rezoning (Z-7-18-11) approximately 0.80 acres from U-KU (University-Kansas University) to RM32-PD (Multi-Dwelling Residential-Planned Development), located at 1043 Indiana Street. Motion carried unanimously.

Moved by Dever, seconded by Schumm, to defer indefinitely consideration of Preliminary Development Plan, PDP-7-1-11, to relocate the Varsity House and development of a Multi-Dwelling Structure, located at 1043 Indiana Street. Motion carried unanimously.