Committee preparing to map out eastward growth

East Area Plan has seemingly replaced controversial Southeast Area Plan

A new Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission committee is preparing to map out the future of Lawrence’s eastward growth.

“What the East Area Plan encompasses has not been fully determined,” Lawrence-Douglas County planner Brad Ellis said Monday. “The subcommittee is starting with a blank sheet of paper and going forward from there.”

The tentative borders for the East Area Plan go from the eastern edge of the Lawrence city limits out to the “Urban Growth Area” boundary – which is about a half-mile east of County Road 1057, outside the city limits – and from the Kansas River to the Wakarusa River.

To narrow the plan’s scope, the East Area Plan subcommittee will meet with the Douglas County commissioners at 4:30 p.m. today at City Hall. Subcommittee members also plan to meet with the Lawrence City Commission.

“We want to narrow the field as much as we can, but have the best options for planning as we can,” Planning Commissioner Terry Riordan said.

He said he hopes to have the matter resolved in the next four to six months.

But county commissioners are questioning the logic behind the East Area Plan, which seemingly has replaced the controversial Southeast Area Plan.

“This is not an easy issue. I think we need to come to some resolution with the Southeast Area Plan,” Commission Chairman Charles Jones said.

The Southeast Area Plan was defeated earlier this summer by the County Commission and the Lawrence City Commission. The plan involved undeveloped property south of Kansas Highway 10 and east of O’Connell Road.

Based on the plan, there would have been about 680 acres of land tabbed for industrial use out of the 1,200 acres of land involved in the Southeast Area Plan. Some developers and property owners had advocated for less industrial use and more residential development. Residents in area neighborhoods opposed industrial zoning for land east of O’Connell Road and west of Franklin Road.

County commissioners said at their meeting Monday morning that they thought they were close to resolving matters regarding the Southeast Area Plan. Work on the Southeast Area Plan has been ongoing for about two years.