A long-vacant lot at Wakarusa Drive and Clinton Parkway now is set to become a small-scale shopping and office complex.

City commissioners Tuesday night narrowly approved a development plan for the northeast corner of the intersection that will allow a bank, coffee shop, convenience store and restaurant.

“I think that it will be a nice addition to the area,” said Tim Schmidt, a member of the development group. “We’re taking very seriously that this is a high-profile intersection, a real gateway to the community. We’re working very hard to make it a very attractive development.”

The project will incorporate the city’s new commercial design guidelines, even though it technically is not required to do so. Developers are providing 30 percent more green space and 42 more trees than required by city code.

City commissioners approved the development on a 3-2 vote. Commissioners Mike Rundle and David Schauner voted against the proposal, largely because Horizon 2020 – the city’s comprehensive plan – called for only one corner of the intersection to be developed with commercial uses.

“I continue to ask the question out loud: What does Horizon 2020 mean?” Schauner said. “It is one thing to be flexible, but I don’t think the Chinese acrobats are this flexible.”

The trio of commissioners who voted for the plan said planners and past city commissioners had settled that issue nearly 10 years ago by approving a commercial rezoning for the property. The 12,000-square-foot development being proposed by Schmidt met all the zoning requirements approved by commissioners in the late 1990s.

Schmidt said he hopes the new development will be open in early to mid-2007.

LMH expansion gets unanimous approval

Plans for a more than $40 million expansion of Lawrence Memorial Hospital received routine approval by city commissioners Tuesday evening.

Commissioners unanimously approved a final plat and a use permit for the project, which will include a new emergency room, surgery suites, birthing rooms, improvements to the intensive care unit and the conversion of all the hospital’s semiprivate rooms into fully private rooms.

The only point of discussion by commissioners was whether the hospital should be allowed to vacate the portion of Arkansas Street between Third and Fourth streets to allow for additional parking.

Technically, the city allowed for the vacation of the street but agreed to conditions that the actual road would remain and that the public would continue to be able to use it. The city will make that stretch of street a private drive, which will allow the hospital to build 122 parking spaces in the area.

New parks guideline passes final hurdle

Commissioners on a 3-2 vote gave final approval to a new goal of placing parks or community green space within a quarter mile of each home in new developments built in the city.

Commissioners had given tentative approval to the policy earlier this year but gave it final approval Tuesday after receiving a recommendation from the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission.

Mayor Mike Amyx and Commissioner Sue Hack voted against the new goal, saying they thought the current half-mile standard was more feasible from a planning perspective.