photo by: Bremen Keasey

The vacant lot at the corner of West Third Street and Michigan Street in Lawrence. The City Commission Tuesday night approved a rezoning request that could pave the way for a 24-unit apartment complex.

The Lawrence City Commission approved a rezoning request Tuesday for a vacant piece of land near LMH Health that could allow the development of a 24-unit apartment complex.

The commission voted 3-2 to rezone 0.69 acres of land at the southwest corner of West Third and Michigan streets from an R-2 low-density residential district to an R-4 high-density residential district. Commissioners Bart Littlejohn and Lisa Larsen were the no votes.

The Planning Commission had a split 4-4 vote on the rezoning request back in March, as the Journal-World reported. That tied vote means there was no recommendation from the Planning Commission, which meant the City Commission was able to either approve or deny the request with a simple majority vote.

The full lot is just over one acre, and it was split between the two different zoning districts. Corby Rust, a worker with Landplan Engineering who was representing the property owner, told the commissioners the rezoning would allow the construction of a complex with 12 one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units and a parking lot with 32 spaces.

Rust added that the initial concept plan would include green space near Michigan Street that would serve as a rain garden and a buffer from the area near the hospital. He added that access to the parking lot would be through Florida Street and Third Street, which he said were less busy streets and could alleviate any traffic issues.

“It fits very well,” Rust said.

More than a dozen people, many of whom live in the surrounding neighborhood, asked the commission to deny the zoning request. John Turner, who said he lived two blocks away from the site, said the area was made up of mostly detached houses. Although the parcel of land did have a portion that would allow for tall multi-unit complexes, Turner felt allowing the request could “forever change the nature of the neighborhood.”

“While it might reflect what is nearby on a map, it does not reflect what is on the ground in the area,” Turner said.

Other residents shared similar concerns, saying that the project would be too dense and would lead to excessive traffic, making the neighborhood less safe. A few commenters said they still wanted to add housing to the lot, but with a less-dense zoning classification.

Littlejohn had also asked whether the lot could instead be rezoned to a less-dense type of residential zoning called R-3, which he said felt like a “happy medium.” Katherine Weik, a city planner, said that because the request was only for a partial rezoning, changing the entire lot to R-3 would require the zoning application to be redone.

The commission also asked the developer how much housing could be made if the zoning stayed the same. Rust had said it would likely be around 20 to 24 units, but to fit that many units, it would likely mean a four-story apartment building on one part of the property and duplexes elsewhere on the property. Rust argued that the rezoning would be more efficient than dividing the land up like a “jigsaw puzzle.”

Littlejohn said he did not feel comfortable with the big change in density and would not support the request. Larsen said she also did not support it, because the developer could build pretty much the same number of units with the zoning that was already there.

But Commissioners Brad Finkeldei and Amber Sellers and Mayor Mike Dever were in favor of the project. Sellers said she saw the project as a way to revitalize a lot that had long been vacant, and she hoped the development could “serve as a model” for infill and mixed-density housing.

Dever also noted the fact the land had long sat vacant — seemingly because of the zoning situation on the lot — and said the city has a goal to add more housing, especially in places close to employers. With its location right near a big employer like LMH, the project “seems like the definition” of that, he said.

The next step in the project will be for the developers to file an official site plan with the city.

In other business, the commission:

• Approved a rezoning request to convert around three acres of the former Sallie Mae call center property at 2000 Bluffs Drive from a mixed-use district to a residential district.

A local investment group bought the entire six-acre property back in January, as the Journal-World reported, and the group has been planning to develop multifamily housing on the parking lots on the east side of the property.

The site was previously considered as a potential location for Lawrence’s City Hall, but the City Commission voted 3-2 in October 2024 to scuttle the plans to purchase the site.

• Set a public hearing on June 3 to consider tax incentives for a proposed apartment development.

The incentive request is for Flint Hills Holdings’ its 9 Del Lofts II project at 716 E. Ninth St., which would include live-work units and affordable housing apartments. Specifically, the project is seeking industrial revenue bonds for a sales tax exemption on construction materials and and a 95% Neighborhood Revitalization Act property tax abatement over 15 years on the valuation increase resulting from the development.

The project has received other financial support already, including $450,000 from the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, as the Journal-World reported. The project is also in a final funding round for the state’s 9% affordable housing tax credits.