Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning and Development Services

TO:	Planning Commission
FROM:	Mary Miller, Planning Staff
DATE:	October 29, 2014
RE:	Item No. 5: Initiation of a Text Amendment to the Land Development Code to create a use group for short-term loan or car title loan business, or similar business, and establish standards.

Planning Staff requests the initiation of a text amendment to the Land Development Code to create a use within the Office use group for short-term, payday advance, or car title loan businesses.

Prior to the adoption of the Land Development Code in 2006, this use was classified as a Loan Office and was permitted in the following districts: Office (O-1), Commercial (C2, C3, C4, and C5) and Industrial (M1A, M2, M3, and M4).  The Land Development Code grouped similar uses together in use groups and the short-term, payday advance, and car title loan businesses were included in the Financial, Insurance, and Real Estate Offices use.

Several recent rezonings have been conditioned to prohibit the use Financial, Insurance, and Real Estate Offices in order to prohibit these short-term loan offices. The commercial portion of the 8^th & Penn Neighborhood Redevelopment Zone was rezoned to the C5 District prior to the adoption of the Development Code and the rezoning was conditioned to restrict short term loan offices.  The East Lawrence Neighborhood Association has opposed several rezonings that would permit these short-term loan offices.  The rezoning of 720 E 9^th Street from IG to IL was conditioned to restrict the Financial, Insurance and Real Estate Office uses to prohibit short-term loans, payday advance loans and car title loans to maintain consistency with the rest of the 8^th and Penn District. In this case, the applicant was interested in the other office uses.

This text amendment will create a specific use classification for these short-term loan offices as it is more appropriate to condition a zoning to restrict a use classification, rather than individual, unlisted uses within that classification. The amendment will define the short-term loan use, note the districts in which it is permitted, and establish standards, if necessary.

The Planning Commission is not taking action to amend the Land Development Code with the initiation.  If initiated, the request will be scheduled for a future Planning Commission hearing and their recommendation will be forwarded to the City Commission for a final decision. 

Action Requested: 

Initiate a text amendment to the Land Development Code to establish a use classification for short-term, payday advance and car title loan offices, for consideration at a future public hearing at the Planning Commission.