Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning Department

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Planning Staff
DATE:	September 29, 2014
RE:	Minor revision to site plan to relocate bicycle parking for City Public Library at 707 Vermont, SP-12-81-11

Attachments

A: Site plan showing changes to bicycle parking.

B: Draft minutes of Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting.

Background

The site plan for the public library at 707 Vermont Street, SP-12-81-11, was approved on September 25, 2012. The site plan included 40 bicycle parking spaces which were distributed throughout the site as follows: 10 spaces near the entry, 10 spaces near the parking garage entry, 10 spaces near the Kentucky Street crosswalk, and 10 spaces inside the parking garage on the Kentucky Street side.  

Discussion

The applicant requested that the bicycle parking shown on the approved site plan be revised to relocate the 10 spaces at the front entry to the Vermont parking garage entrance, and to add 10 spaces at the southwest corner of the building.  The marked up plan is included with this memo as Attachment A.

With the previously approved site plan 10 bicycle parking spaces were provided by the front entry and the reading garden. Now that the garden landscaping has been installed it has been identified that the bicycle parking could restrict access to the garden from the library and detract from the character of the reading garden.  (Figure 1)  For these reasons, the 10 bicycle spaces are requested to be located with the existing bicycle parking by the parking garage rather than being installed by the front entry. 

Figure 1. Bicycle parking by front entry as shown on approved site plan overlaid with landscaping plan for reading garden.  Bike racks shown in red.

To accommodate the need for additional spaces, an additional 10 bicycle parking spaces will be provided at the southwest corner of the building. These are primarily for staff but can be used by the public as well.  Bicycle parking will also be added to parking meters along Vermont Street. In this sense, bicycle parking remains convenient for bicyclists and in a greater number than originally approved.

The Bicycle Advisory Committee considered the revisions proposed to the bicycle parking at their September 16 meeting (Attachment C) and made the following recommendations:

• Install the bicycle parking by the doors as initially proposed on the site plan;
• Install the additional parking (5 racks (10 spaces) to the existing parking in front of the garage;
• Install 5 racks (10 spaces) for staff on Kentucky street under the overhang;
• Provide additional bicycle parking spaces in the garage where space permits. 

Staff Recommendation

The process to revise this level of site plan change is typically administrative; however, based on public comment received by the Commission on September 23, 2014, the City Commission directed staff to submit the request to the Commission for review.

Staff recommends approval of the revised bicycle parking to permit the following changes:

1. The relocation of the 10 spaces from the front door of the library to the parking garage entrance to avoid conflict with the reading garden; and
2. The addition of 10 spaces at the southwest corner of the building (Kentucky Street) and also the addition of bike parking on meters along Vermont Street.