Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board

MINUTES MANHATTAN URBAN AREA PLANNING BOARD City Commission Room, City Hall 1101 Poyntz Avenue Thursday, March 27, 2025 MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT Brad Buser Ryan Wilson Ann Christian Hannah Fehr, vice-chair Kelly Karl Ken Ebert Debbie Nuss, chair STAFF PRESENT Barry Beagle, Senior Planner; John Adam, Assistant Director of Community Development; Stephanie Peterson, Director of Community Development; Rachel Sherck, Deputy City Attorney; Danielle Dulin, City Manager; and Lance Wackerla, Planner I 1. CALL TO ORDER 1.1 The chair called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Staff called roll and stated there was a quorum. 1.2 Open Public Comments: There were none. 2. CONSENT AGENDA 2.1 Approve the minutes of the March 13, 2025, Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board meeting 2.2 Approve the FINAL PLAT of Cypress Ridge at the Highlands, a 6.94-acre subdivision consisting of 15 paired townhome lots located off MacBrayne Court. (applicant: Dan Manley, Schwab Eaton; file no. SUB-25-005) 2.3 Approve the FINAL PLAT of Prairie Village at The Highlands, Unit Two, a 5.21-acre, 7-lot residential subdivision located off MacBrayne Drive. (applicant: Dan Manley, Schwab Eaton; file no. SUB-25-006) Ebert moved to approve the consent agenda; Karl seconded. Wilson asked staff if there was any financial stability analysis for plats. He further asked if there would be enough property tax to support the roads and cul-de-sacs that the plats would be introducing. Adam said that a fiscal analysis is not done for plats, and that fiscal analysis would be better suited to a general, higher-level analysis. Adam added that the topography and surrounding MUAPB Minutes Page 2 03/27/2025 developments for these plats made using cul-de-sacs the best option. Wilson said that while he understood the issue of topography that analysis, he had read cul-de-sac style developments often became a long-term liability for cities. Motion passed 6–0–0. 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS 3.1 REMOVE FROM THE TABLE and conduct a PUBLIC HEARING to consider the ANNEXATION of the Morgan Tract, 1.07-acre tract, generally located in southwest Manhattan at a point west of South Wreath Avenue and north of Lamonte Drive (applicant: Jared Loomis, Olsson; file no. ANX-25-003) Ebert moved to remove the item from the table. Fehr seconded. Motion passed 6–0. Beagle asked the chair if it would be allowed to present items 3.1 and 3.2 at the same time and complete the public hearing for both simultaneously. Nuss approved. Beagle gave the presentation for items 3.1 and 3.2. Ebert asked if there was a legal description for the proposed lot. Beagle said that it had a legal description that would become part of the city if the annexation were approved. Ebert asked if the unannexed area were considered part of the city limits since it was surrounded by Manhattan. Beagle clarified that it would not be considered part of the city, only the small part that was before the board for annexation. Ebert asked about how the flag lot would be created. Beagle said that the right- of-way for Joseph Drive would be vacated, and half of its width would become the pole of the flag lot. Ebert asked if the vacation had been completed. Beagle said that it had not. Ebert asked what would happen if the right-of-way were to not be vacated due to objection by utility company. Beagle said that there were no utilities currently in the right-of-way but that the vacation would turn the right-of-way into a utility easement. Ebert asked about the southwest stub of Joseph Drive. Beagle said that it was no longer the intent to connect Joseph Drive across the tract in the future. Ebert said that there were still two remaining connections across the tract that could be used in the future. Wilson asked who would maintain the future utility easement. Beagle said that half of it would become the pole for the flag lot. Wilson asked if the right-of- way would be bought from the City. Sherck said that vacation of right-of-way would revert the land to the landowner. Beagle noted that the fire access for the site would use a road internal to the unannexed tract until Joseph Drive were vacated. Ebert asked if the fire MUAPB Minutes Page 3 03/27/2025 department had reviewed the project. Adam said that the fire department had agreed to the access and that a turnaround was present on the tract. Public hearing opened The applicant, Jared Loomis, 3000 Montana Court, on behalf of the property owners said that staff had explained the situation correctly and re-emphasized some of the points staff had made. Wilson asked if the property owners would be maintaining the future utility easement. Loomis said that it would be maintained by the city where the utilities were public and by the property owners where the utilities were private. Ebert asked if the private utilities would start at the edge of the lot or at the edge of South Wreath Avenue. Loomis clarified that they would start at the edge of the lot and that everything in the future utility easement would be public utility. Ebert said that the temporary fire access road was gated and asked what would be done to ensure the fire department could access the tract. Loomis said that the proper steps would be taken to allow access to the fire department using a lockbox or other means. Wilson asked how many linear feet of public utilities would be installed to service the lot. Loomis said that he did not know. Wilson asked if he knew the cost to the public to install the utilities. Loomis said that the installation cost would be paid for by the property owner but that the City would be responsible for continued maintenance. Ebert asked if the utilities would be sized to accommodate for just the single lot or the entire 200-acre tract. Loomis said that they would be sized to accommodate just the single lot. Betty Mattingly-Ebert, 1218 Leone Ridge Drive, said that the structure proposed on the site was already being constructed. She asked why it was being built if the utility agreement had not been reached. Public hearing closed Adam said that the building had been permitted by the County but that there had been coordinated between the City and County to make sure that it would comply with City codes. Adam added that it would be inspected once annexed into the city. Adam reminded the board that the long-term platting questions were not before the board currently. Buser moved to approve the request to annex; Fehr seconded. Motion passed 6–0. 3.2 REMOVE FROM THE TABLE and conduct a PUBLIC HEARING to consider the REZONING of the Morgan Tract, a 1.07-acre tract, generally located in southwest MUAPB Minutes Page 4 03/27/2025 Manhattan at a point west of South Wreath Avenue and north of Lamonte Drive from Riley County AG, Agriculture district, to RL-A, Attached Low-Density Residential district (applicant: Jared Loomis, Olsson; file no. REZ-25-004) Ebert moved to remove the item from the table. Fehr seconded. Motion passed 6–0. Buser moved to approve the request to rezone; Fehr seconded. Motion passed 6–0. 3.3 A PUBLIC HEARING to consider the REZONING of 1801 Anderson Avenue and 615 Denison Avenue from RL/O-EN/O-UF, Low-Density Residential with Established Neighborhood Overlay and University Fringe Overlay, to RL-A/O- EN/O-UF, Low-Density Residential Attached with Established Neighborhood Overlay and University Fringe Overlay (applicant: Scott Kennedy, Blue Roan, llc; file no. REZ-25-017) Wackerla gave the presentation. Wilson asked the main difference between the RL and RL-A districts. Wackerla said that the RL-A would allow for one to two more units per lot. Karl asked if the applicant owned both properties. Wackerla said that the applicant was not the property owner but that they would be looking to purchase upon approval of the rezoning request. Buser asked for clarification on the surrounding neighborhood and the number of units. Wackerla said that the zoning history had allowed for multi-family until 2003, so the area had a mix of one- and two-unit structures. Fehr asked if the board were to approve the rezoning, but the applicant was to not purchase the properties if it would remain RL-A. Nuss clarified that it would. Public hearing opened The applicant, Scott Kennedy, 653 Bald Eagle Blvd, Ashland, Kansas, said that the 1801 Anderson property was the main reason to rezone the properties so that another unit could be added within the existing structure. Kennedy said that there were currently no changes planned for the 615 Denison property. Mel Borst, 1918 Humboldt Street, said that the downzoning of 2004 had been a stabilizing situation for the neighborhood. Borst said that he felt the rezoning was unnecessary given that the streets already separated the various zoning districts. Public hearing closed Buser moved to approve the request to rezone; Wilson seconded. Wilson said that the rezoning seemed to be in a good location and the density was reasonable. MUAPB Minutes Page 5 03/27/2025 Ebert said that the rezoning was like previous rezonings, and that the future land use map was one of the more important factors to his analysis. Ebert said that with the property having the RLM future land use designation that he saw no reason to disapprove. Nuss said that she had similar concerns to Ebert, but that retaining the Established Neighborhood Overlay gave her some assurance. Motion passed 6–0. 4. WORK SESSION 4.1 City Manager update: priorities and goals City Manager, Danielle Dulin, introduced herself to the board. Dulin shared with the board her goals for Manhattan, which focused on presenting a balanced budget, producing a streamlined development review process, creating and exploring more opportunities with new economic incentives and area plans, telling the story of Manhattan, and making a community visioning process with the community partners and stakeholders. Dulin also shared the goals of the City Commissioners from the retreat. These goals included continued support for workforce housing, bringing forward a budget that supports employees and capital improvement plans, creating a Manhattan that is attractive to business and business development, clear communication with the community, and a community discussion on indoor aquatics. Nuss thanked Dulin for taking time to share her goals with the board. Nuss said that while she agreed with goal two regarding the streamlining of the development process, that it not be done at the expense of proper time for public involvement. She said that while she also agreed with the goal to involve community partners such as Kansas State University and the Chamber of Commerce, that all community partners be considered and involved equally. She said that for the quality-of-life goal that the high poverty rate would make it harder for it to be achieved. Nuss asked that poverty be considered as part of that goal. Wilson asked that finances and urban sprawl be considered as part of the housing goal to create a more sustainable budget. Fehr said that having a draft of the budget by August was a good idea and asked if there were other cities releasing their draft budgets by August, or if there were any advantages or drawbacks to doing so. Dulin said that having the draft budget published in August would allow for more public input, visibility, and transparency. Dulin said that she would like to break down individuals’ property taxes to demonstrate how the funding is being distributed. MUAPB Minutes Page 6 03/27/2025 Karl asked what the greatest change Dulin has seen in Manhattan in the time since she was a student here. Dulin said that the Downtown district and much of the development in western Manhattan were the greatest change in her opinion. Dulin said that while there had been much change, she thought that Manhattan had retained its identity. Buser commended the goals set out by Dulin, specifically noting the streamlining of development and varied housing approach as his favorites. Ebert asked that there be as much public participation as possible with the budget process. Dulin said that staff was hoping to do an open house regarding the budget process. Ebert said that the road conditions in Manhattan had been getting worse and asked that it be investigated. Ebert also noted that a large percentage of most departments’ budgets were personnel. Nuss asked if the City Manager’s monthly report would be returning. Dulin said that while she had heard of the report that she would first be exploring alternative means of reaching the broader public. 5. REPORTS AND COMMENTS 5.1 Planning updates from staff. Adam said that the upcoming meeting agenda was full, and that staff would be asking the board to initiate some small changes to the Manhattan Development Code. Adam also reminded the board that the reorganization meeting would be taking place in the May meeting. 5.2 Comments from Board members. Wilson said that he felt the conditions of the roads directly correlated with the addition of new roads and an increase in the level of required maintenance. Nuss said that she recalled presentations from a previous Public Works director about how road construction had changed in terms of materiality which caused difficulties with continued maintenance. Wilson added that vehicles were now heavier, and citizens now must drive further as Manhattan has expanded. Nuss said that she disagreed with the sentiment that Manhattan was a sprawled city as it was blocked in by natural geographic barriers. Nuss said that she had always been impressed with the ability for the city to stay within the general geographic area. Wilson said that there was an absence of good alternatives to driving in Manhattan. Nuss said that walkability and bikeability were always of consideration but were difficult to implement after development. 5.3 Next meeting: Chair announced the next meeting is April 10, 2025. 6. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 7:16 p.m. MUAPB Minutes Page 7 03/27/2025 Submitted by Lance Wackerla, Planner I