photo by: City of Lawrence

A map from Landplan Engineering shows the parcel where a developer has proposed building 14 duplexes.

City leaders will soon consider plans to develop duplexes on an approximately 8-acre site between the Fall Creek Farms subdivision and the western edge of the Deerfield neighborhood, a plan some neighbors have come out against.

As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider the preliminary development plan for Fall Creek Villas, which would be located on a parcel of undeveloped land east of Fall Creek Road and west of North Kasold Drive.

Neighbors from both adjacent areas, particularly those directly bordering the property, have expressed opposition to the development. Concerns include a desire to preserve the woods and green space that borders their property and the potential for flooding from nearby Deerfield Creek.

The 8.39-acre property is part of Fall Creek Farms and was included in the original preliminary plats for the property, according to a staff report from the Lawrence-Douglas County planning office. The developer is proposing to build 14 two-story duplex buildings on about 4 acres of the property, resulting in 28 units. The plan designates 2 acres as sensitive lands, which includes a drainage easement, and 2.37 acres as open space, the latter comprising an area where overhead utility lines for Evergy are located.

photo by: City of Lawrence

A city map shows the parcel, outlined in blue, where a developer has proposed building 14 duplexes.

Professional planners with the planning office are recommending approval of the development plan. The planning office completed a traffic study, downstream sewer analysis and a drainage study. The staff recommendation states in part that the plans were revised based on comments from Evergy and a storm water engineer, and that “there are no identified adverse impacts from the proposed development.”

The Planning Commission voted to recommend the plan for denial. As a result, a supermajority of the City Commission, or four of the five members, is required to approve the plan. The City Commission originally reviewed the plan on March 14, and voted to defer the decision in order to receive more information about storm water management. The developer provided additional information that is now included in the commission’s agenda packet.

The proposal is the second infill development project for duplexes that neighbors have opposed in recent months. Infill development and higher-density housing are both stated goals in Plan 2040, the area’s comprehensive plan. In October, the commission denied a request to rezone approximately 3.4 acres located at 1100 Kasold Drive from a single-dwelling residential zoning district to a multi-dwelling residential district for the purpose of building 12 or 13 duplexes. Commissioner Amber Sellers and then-Mayor Courtney Shipley were the only two commissioners to vote against the request, but because neighbors filed a protest petition, a supermajority vote, or four of five commissioners, was required to approve it. Sellers later asked for the request to be reconsidered, but the developer has not brought it forward again.

The Lawrence City Commission will convene at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.