Lawrence City Commission to consider approval of apartment complex south of city limits

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., Thursday, July 7, 2016

At their meeting Tuesday, Lawrence city commissioners will decide whether what is currently farmland on the edge of town will become the site of a new apartment complex.

The 55-acre apartment development would house about 240 apartments and require that the land first be annexed to the city and rezoned. The property is located at the southeast corner of 31st and Michigan streets, but is currently outside of the city limits.

The city’s comprehensive plan prioritizes infill residential development over projects outside city limits, but a report by city planning staff is recommending the commission approve the annexation proposal because of its proximity to town.

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“One of the benefits of infill development is the use of existing infrastructure,” states the report. “In this case, the site is located adjacent to a developed area and the infrastructure is in place either on the property or adjacent to it. No extension of the City sanitary sewer or water mains is necessary to serve this property. This project, while not technically ‘infill’, is very similar to infill development.”

The property borders city limits on two sides, with an existing apartment complex to its west and the Menards home improvement store to its north. To its south is the soon-to-be completed South Lawrence Trafficway. The property’s proximity to town means the apartments would be within the service limits of fire stations and existing water and sewer infrastructure, according to the report by city staff.

In addition to the annexation, commissioners will have to approve a request to rezone the property from agricultural to multidwelling residential, adding to a significant amount of land already zoned for apartments. A recent city report — the Multi-Dwelling Inventory Report — found that about 2,500 apartments are currently in progress in Lawrence, and the city is currently zoned to allow for 6,000 more. At current construction rates, the land inventory allotted for apartments could account for decades of growth.

In its report on the proposed project, city planning staff noted that the conclusions of the Multi-Dwelling Inventory Report should be factored into the commission’s analysis. Still, staff stated the merits of the project — particularly its use of existing infrastructure — led them to support it.

“While this project would expand an already large inventory of potential multi-dwelling uses, the merits of this specific request yield support from staff: its proximity to existing infrastructure, the project’s return on infrastructure investments already paid for by utility rate payers, the adjacency to an active area in the city, etc,” the report states.

The project’s location also calls for other considerations. Part of the land contains a floodplain, and requires that about 25 acres of the property be rezoned to multi-dwelling residential with a floodplain management regulations overlay. Because of that designation, plans for the apartments indicate that they would be built around the floodplain, and no development is proposed within the floodplain itself.

A group led by Lawrence businessman Tim Stultz is proposing the apartment project. Stultz previously told the Journal-World that he envisions a complex with lots of one-bedroom units that could be marketed as affordable apartment units.

Calls placed to multiple city commissioners to comment on the proposal were not immediately returned as of Monday evening.

City commissioners will meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.