City Commission approves Alvamar redevelopment plan

The Lawrence City Commission unanimously approved a preliminary redevelopment plan for Alvamar on Tuesday after addressing concerns regarding access to and from the neighborhood during and after construction.

The development plan includes the addition of nine apartment buildings — a total 292 units — to be located north of a new golf course clubhouse, event center, pools and fitness center, among other amenities.

Paul Werner, of Paul Werner Architects, which submitted the proposal, said it was “really a plan to save Alvamar.”

The plan was proposed by a local group led by Lawrence businessman Thomas Fritzel, who has reached a deal to purchase the golf course and country club contingent on winning approval to construct additional residences and amenities surrounding the course.

“Our plan will allow Alvamar to continue as a viable operation,” Werner said. “What we’re looking at are our ideas, and concepts and plans… that we see breathing a little new life.”

Besides the overall plan, commissioners also unanimously approved a special-use permit to allow for the construction of the recreation area, as well as the rezoning of approximately 51 acres from single-dwelling residential to multi-dwelling residential.

Next, developers will work on a final, more detailed plan.

Because of the size of the development, the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission — which unanimously recommended the preliminary plan for approval — included a provision that the final plan be brought back to the commission for the final OK, said Sandy Day, the city planner assigned to the project. It’s also required that developers show the commission the phases of construction.

Usually, unless the plan is significantly changed, it can be approved administratively.

“Because this was such a public process and there’s so much engagement from the neighborhood, rather than a final development plan being approved administratively, the recommendation was to take that final development plan back to the planning commission,” Day said.

Paul Davis, with law firm Fagan Emert & Davis, spoke on behalf of two neighborhoods in the area: Woodfield Meadows West and Woodfield Meadows Condominiums.

Davis said the neighborhoods had concerns with construction traffic using Crossgate Drive off Bob Billings Parkway.

Another Alvamar resident, Douglas Lawrence, cited the same concern.

“Our little Crossgate is a small street,” Lawrence said. “Any kind of construction equipment is going to create a huge bottleneck.”

Werner said that section of Crossgate Drive would not be used for construction traffic.

“We’re smart enough to know that Crossgate south of Bob Billings Parkway is not a good way to bring construction traffic in,” Werner said.

The development plan calls for the construction of a new public street off Bob Billings Parkway — west of Crossgate Drive — and the public street extension of Crossgate Drive.

Mayor Mike Amyx asked that the new street be constructed before any other development begins so it can be used by contractors to access the site.

Scott McCullough, the city’s director of planning and development services, said that requirement would be brought to the planning commission when it considers the final plan.

There was also talk Tuesday of putting a gate at the entrance to the private section of Crossgate Drive off Bob Billings Parkway once construction is complete, with the ability for emergency personnel to access it. Developers are working with Davis and others in the neighborhood to come to an agreement, McCullough said.

Developers are also looking to put turn lanes on Bob Billings Parkway.

McCullough said that any infrastructure improvements that are made for the project will be paid for by the developer, not the city.

The plan also includes some commercial development, including a 24-room hotel in the banquet facility. The preliminary plan states the hotel can be used at any time and not limited to special events.

An earlier proposal included turning about 17 acres south of the new clubhouse into an assisted- and independent-living area comprising 124 units. That development was removed from the application.

Werner said Tuesday it was removed because negotiations ended with an organization that was going to run it.

“We knew they weren’t going to be the partner, so if they were going to be it, then I thought it was better to pull it,” Werner said.

Any future development plans for the site would be required to go through a public process and City Commission approval.

Bob Johnson, chairman of the board of directors of Alvamar, Inc., told commissioners Tuesday the Alvamar redevelopment “is the best thing that can possibly happen to the Alvamar entity and to the Alvamar shareholders.”

“If you live on Alvamar, in the Alvamar district, and value that resource in our community, this is without a doubt the best thing that can happen,” Johnson said.


In other business, commissioners:

• Received an update from Tim Caboni, Kansas University’s vice chancellor of public affairs, on KU’s proposal for its Central District. Commissioners asked that KU get feedback from residents of the nearby area who may be affected by changes with traffic and drainage as part of the project.

• Received an update on a possible location for a new Lawrence Transit System central transfer hub. KU and city transportation leaders are considering the parking lot across the street from Allen Fieldhouse for a parking deck, with the transit center on the bottom floor. It’s proposed to be located in the northeast corner of the lot, near the intersection of Schwegler Drive and Watkins Center Drive. Caboni said that as the campus develops, that area would be near the center of it.

• Unanimously voted for the city to split with KU the $166,000 fee for engineering services for the section of 19th Street from Naismith Drive to Iowa Street. The city will coordinate with KU to make improvements to the street. Proposed improvements include a center turn lane, bike lanes and sidewalks. Commissioners also asked that city staff look into improving the intersection of Iowa and 19th streets in tandem with the project.

• Received an update on potential changes to the city’s franchise agreement with Black Hills Energy. The change in fee structure is expected to increase the city’s gas fee revenue, which has been flat for the past 15 years. Under the new structure, fees to city residents would increase less than $1 annually.

• City officials are meeting with Black Hills representatives Wednesday, and the issue is expected to be taken up by the City Commission at its Nov. 17 meeting. A change would take effect in July 2016.

• Unanimously authorized the city to enter into a $360,978 agreement with HDR Engineering, Inc. for design and engineering services to replace two water storage tanks — one installed in 1931 and the other in 1954 — and a pump station in the1200 block of Oread Avenue. The estimated construction cost of the project is $4,230,000, which comes from the city’s department of utilities bonded construction fund.