City Commission expresses disapproval of HERE @ Kansas parking plan, defers vote

HERE Kansas apartments are shown under construction, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, as seen looking east from near Memorial Stadium.

After a three-hour discussion Tuesday night, during which Lawrence’s five city commissioners expressed their distaste of a new proposed parking plan for the HERE @ Kansas development, the vote on the matter was deferred and the issue sent back to city planners.

With a 5-0 vote, commissioners tasked city staff with working again on the development — a luxury apartment and commercial project near Memorial Stadium — to ensure its proposed valet parking garage can be used practically. There were concerns about the width of the parking spaces, which renderings showed to be a foot narrower than city code, and whether the system would be so inconvenient it would cause future tenants to park elsewhere in the already congested Oread neighborhood.

“I want this to succeed, but if we’re moving forward with this, we’re moving forward with something that doesn’t meet our code,” Commissioner Matthew Herbert said.

Commissioners were asked Tuesday to either approve or deny the new parking plan, which was created after HERE learned in October the company creating its robotic parking garage had filed bankruptcy. Its new plan leaves the project with 69 fewer spaces than planned and 25 fewer than what’s required by city law to fill the apartments to capacity.

Under the new plan, the robotic system would be replaced with a third-party valet company that would park tenants’ cars in leased spaces. The third party would assume all liability, said Jim Heffernan, a principal with HERE Enterprises.

Heffernan repeated Tuesday that the project was intended to increase foot traffic near Kansas University, and that its bicycle storage and proximity to a new bus stop would allow tenants to store their cars in the garage or go without a vehicle, rather than drive daily.

He called the development “unique,” “remarkable” and a “pinnacle experience of student living.”

A half-dozen residents in the neighborhood described it as a “mess,” a “small Aggieville,” and a “shiny object City Commissioners thought sounded really nice.”

A rendering of the HERE Kansas luxury apartment complex, currently under construction at 1111 Indiana St.

Scott McCullough, city planning director, estimated a revised development plan could be completed in a few weeks.

McCullough said the developer’s proposal for an additional, traditional parking garage at 1137 Indiana St. would likely go before the commission in a couple of months. That garage would add 96 parking spaces to the development — enough to allow HERE to fill its apartments and the commercial space on the structure’s lower levels. It still has to go through the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission and the Historic Resources Commission.

The discussion between commissioners and Heffernan was heated at points and hit a crescendo during talk about the development group’s agreement with the city, which gives developers a 85 percent, 10-year tax abatement.

“Are we talking about the NRA [Neighborhood Revitalization Act] or the parking structure? Those are two different issues,” Heffernan said. “Very few developers could even execute this project, and we have substantially delivered and then some. We still need to partner with the city. This building will be one of the most remarkable buildings in your community if you allow us to do it.”

Commissioner Leslie Soden responded that much of the current City Commission was voted in because of the previous commission’s decision to give economic development incentives to the project.

“I understand you have an agreement with the city, but we did not approve it,” Soden said.


In other business, commissioners:

• Voted unanimously to approve a legal document called “findings of fact” explaining their decision to deny planning changes that would have allowed for KTen Crossing, a shopping center proposed for the intersection of south Iowa Street and the South Lawrence Trafficway.

City attorneys recommended creating the document in case of future litigation about the decision.

The document states commissioners did not approve the proposal because rezoning the property to a regional commercial designation did not conform to the city’s comprehensive plan and is incompatible with the existing and planned use of the area. It goes on to say the development would be harmful to the public health, safety and welfare of the community, referring to the health of the downtown commercial district and the nearby Wakarusa River floodplain.

• Voted 4-1 to formally issue industrial revenue bonds that will provide a sales tax exemption worth approximately $544,000 for the construction of a senior, independent living facility for Pioneer Ridge near Harvard Road and Wakarusa Drive. The previous commission first gave approval to the measure last February.

Commissioner Stuart Boley dissented to the issuance, calling the situation a “missed opportunity” to have the developer contribute money to the city’s affordable housing fund, as other developers receiving industrial revenue bonds have agreed to recently.

• Unanimously approved a joint ordinance to increase ambulance rates for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical by 5 percent each year in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical sought to increase their rates after a 2013 survey found its fees are below the regional average. The joint resolution had already been approved by Douglas County commissioners.