photo by: Journal-World file

More than seven years after a fire destroyed the Americas Best Value Inn at 515 McDonald Drive, pictured here on Jan. 16, 2018, plans have been filed to build a new apartment complex on the site.

Citing a “critical” need for more housing in Lawrence, Lawrence-Douglas County planning commissioners granted a key initial approval this week for a 33-unit apartment complex proposed for a vacant lot on McDonald Drive.

The Planning Commission at its meeting on Wednesday voted 6-2 to recommend the approval of a rezoning request for the property at 515 McDonald Drive. As the Journal-World reported, longtime Lawrence developer Doug Compton and Lawrence-based Adams Architects had filed plans for a two-building apartment complex on the 1.32-acre site, which once housed a hotel until that building was destroyed by a fire in 2018.

The developers wanted the zoning changed from its current mixed-use category to a high-density residential category so that they could build multifamily apartments without putting business or other nonresidential uses in the development, too.

But city staff, prior to the Planning Commission’s meeting, had recommended that the request be denied. Its reasoning had to do with the city-county comprehensive plan, Plan 2040, and which kinds of developments it wants in which locations.

Keeping the zoning the same would be more in line with Plan 2040 than changing it, planning staff said in its report on the rezoning request. Staff wrote that Plan 2040 was designed to “direct nonresidential or mixed-use development into existing commercial nodes and corridors” so that business developments would be less likely to locate on the edges of the city and contribute to urban sprawl. Staff noted that the rezoning, if approved, would change this property from mixed-use zoning to purely residential zoning “for the first time since its annexation into the city in 1959.”

“I’ll just say that the kind of main driving factor for me was the comprehensive plans,” city planner Luke Mortensen told the Planning Commission when asked why staff recommended the rezoning be denied. “(There’s been) repeated discussion of mixed use and infill development on existing sites.”

Multiple members of the Planning Commission, however, said the community’s need for more housing outweighed those concerns.

“To put a number on it, as of last Monday in the City of Lawrence, there were less than 100 single-family homes available for purchase, and the average listing price was $415,000,” said Planning Commissioner Pedro Borroto. “… So I think the need is critical, and additional housing is definitely needed.”

Commissioner Jane Eldredge said she thought the proposed apartment use did in fact align with Plan 2040, because it would help accommodate the city’s growth. She also said the apartment project and the proposed new zoning wouldn’t be out of place at the site, which is just north of the intersection of Sixth and Iowa streets.

“I would say that the character of the neighborhood is as much residential as anything else,” Eldredge said. “There’s nothing really strongly recommending mixed uses in there. I drove up that driveway … and I can’t imagine going there for any nonresidential reasons.”

photo by: Douglas County GIS/Journal-World

The blue star shows 515 McDonald Drive, the site of a proposed apartment complex.

Lance Adams, of Adams Architects, also said that the site wasn’t very attractive for businesses.

Since the hotel was destroyed, no one has proposed a new commercial use for the site, Adams said. He added that many developers have been hesitant to build there due to the uneven terrain and the site’s low visibility from the road.

“Signage is critical for that site” if a developer wanted to put a commercial property there, Adams said. “(And another) issue with it for a typical design for a commercial structure, you’d be looking at a single-story application for that, and there is not enough flat land in that piece of property to accommodate a single-story commercial property.”

Not everyone on the commission thought the zoning needed to be changed. Commissioner Steve Munch said that while he appreciated the need for more housing development, he also thought the developers could still do a project that would provide housing withing the site’s current mixed-use zoning.

“This thought that ‘we need to increase housing, let’s approve this,’ that doesn’t make sense to me,” Munch said.

Ultimately, the majority of planning commissioners agreed to recommend the request for approval. The request will now move forward to the City Commission, and Mortensen said that if it is approved, the developers would need to obtain an approved site plan and building permit prior to the construction. A date has not yet been set for when city commissioners will consider the rezoning.

The plans for the development call for two buildings on the site; one would have 14 two-bedroom apartments and five one-bedroom apartments, and the other would have nine two-bedroom and five one-bedroom units. Both buildings would feature rooftop decks.