photo by: Bremen Keasey

Planning Commissioners approved multiple requests, including re-zoning, a preliminary plat and comprehensive plan amendment for a 14-acre lot in West Lawrence. The planned re-development could build 120 units of affordable housing at the site.

A plan to develop 120 units of affordable housing in west Lawrence passed one set of hurdles Wednesday night after the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted to approve multiple requests to move the development forward.

The project, proposed by Tenants to Homeowners, a local community land trust that works to provide affordable housing, plans to develop over 14 acres of vacant land located at Floret Hill, near the southeast corner of Bob Billings Parkway and K-10 Highway.

The Planning Commission approved multiple items, including rezoning requests, a preliminary plat and comprehensive plan amendment that allow the project to go forward. The comprehensive plan amendment will be voted on by the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission, while the rezoning request and preliminary plat will just be considered by the City Commission.

As part of the proposal, the development would include a variety of housing options, including multi-story apartment buildings, row-house style buildings and duplexes that would have 120 units. Rebecca Buford, Tenants to Homeowners’ executive director, said the majority of the housing would be rental units, but the duplexes will be homeownership in trust.

Additionally, the plan includes a small commercial area on the north side of the proposed development area. Buford told the commissioners Wednesday night the city actually suggested adding that commercial portion, and said she’d work with the partners to bring in something like a coffee shop that is an added benefit for people living in the development.

“We’re really excited to have something that is an amenity to residents in that area,” Buford said.

Mary Miller, a planner with the city’s Planning & Development Services department, noted during her presentation that the city previously bought the space in the 1990s for possible use as a fire station or police substation, but the city never needed it for those uses and donated the land to Tenants to Homeowners in 2022. The City Commission also gave Tenants to Homeowners and its development partner Wheatland Investments Group $1.3 million from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the project in 2024, as the Journal-World reported.

During public comment on the item, a couple of residents mentioned concerns the development could cause more flooding in areas downstream of the area. Aaron Gaspers, an engineer with CFS Engineers who was representing the development, said a drainage study on the property found it meets all the requirements for the Lake Alvamar watershed. He added the group will look at the concerns of downstream flooding as the work progresses.

The proposed housing is something that has been a long time coming, Buford said. She said the commission first asked her about adding more affordable housing options to the west side six years ago.

And Planning Commissioner Sharon Ashworth said that with its mix of housing types, its commercial opportunities and its location, this project “ticks a lot of boxes” for what the city needs.

“I’m very pleased we have a project like this on the west side,” Ashworth said.