Planning Commission

December 23, 2013 The Russellville Planning Commission will hold its Regular Meeting on Monday, November 25, 2013, at 5:30 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chambers. PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA Welcome Visitors 1. A request to review and approve the minutes of the November 25, 2013 Regular Meeting. 2. A request to review and approve the amended Overland Park Preliminary Plat to the City of Russellville, located between Brookside Addition to the north, Brookview Estates to the east, Camelot along the west, and West 12th Street along the south of the property, submitted by Dave Garza of Barrett & Associates on behalf of Overland Park Developer, LLC. (SD.13.08.266) 3. A request to review and approve an extension of a water main to service property just outside the Russellville City Limits located on Tyner Lane, submitted by Kurt Jones of Kurt Jones & Associates, on behalf of Darlene Weir. (MS.13.12.76) 1  Russellville Planning Commission Minutes December 16, 2013, @ 5:30 p.m. The Russellville Planning Commission held its regular meeting on Monday, December 16, 2013, at 5:30 p.m. in the Russellville City Hall Council Chambers. Members Present Chairman Dennis Boyd Vice-Chair Nick Patel Secretary Aldona Standridge Jimmy Davenport Richard Perkins Herschell Hargus Jimmy Sims Mike Wilkins Members Absent Eric Westcott Also present: Council Liaison Richard Harris, Mayor Bill Eaton, City Planner David Harris, City Attorney Trey Smith, Planning Assistant Lequitta A. Jones, Building Official Brian Holstein, Fire Marshall Richard Setian, Jim Lynch/City Corp, Dave Garza of Barrett & Associates, Tony Jetton, Margie Enderlin, and Barbara Cole. The First Order of Business was a request to review and approve the minutes of the November 25, 2013, Regular Meeting. Commissioner Sims made the motion to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Hargus and passed unanimously. The Second Order of Business was a request to review and approve the amended Overland Park Preliminary Plat to the City of Russellville, submitted by Dave Garza of Barrett & Associates on behalf of Overland Park Developer, LLC. (SD.13.08.266) Planner Harris summarized past City actions regarding the Overland Park Plat. The Plat request was first heard by the commission at their September 23, 2013, meeting with five members present. A motion to approve the Plat subject to making the Camelot connection and replacing proposed surface drainage with an underground system failed on 2 -2 vote. The applicant appealed to the City Council. The item was considered by the council on October 17, 2013, and referred back to the commission for reconsideration with more members present. At the October 28, 2013, commission meeting the plat was again discussed. A motion to approve the plat as originally submitted failed on a 4-5 vote. A motion to approve the plat with a requirement for provision of the Camelot connection passed on an 8-0 vote. The applicant next appeared at the November 21, 2013, City Council meeting to propose an amended plat with a new street layout. After discussion regarding proper procedure for reviewing an amended plat, the council referred the amended plat to the commission on the advice of City Attorney Smith, who stated the amended plat constituted a new submittal which should go to the Planning Commission prior to consideration by the City Council. The revised plat with the altered street layout was received by the Planning Department on the afternoon of the November 25, 2013, Planning Commission meeting. At that meeting, a motion to postpone review of the revised plat was made and passed on a vote of 5-3. The stated reason for the postponement was that commissioners had not had adequate time to review the amended plat. Planner Harris then summarized the changes in the amended plat. The revised plat shows two ingress/egress routes from 12th Street with no other entrances for vehicles. The applicant proposed a 5' sidewalk on a 10' easement that would pass between Lots 21 and 22 to connect with Camelot near the NW corner of Overland Park. They also proposed a 20' wide TUFFTRACK™ access road and 5' sidewalk between Lots 19 and 84 that would connect Overland Park with Brookside at the location where the original plat showed a street connection to Durant. The TUFFTRACK ™ would provide a third access route in and out of Overland Park for emergency vehicles. City Planner Harris then offered the following comments, taken from his staff report: The latest version of the Overland Park plat was probably well-received by residents and owners in existing developments that adjoin Overland Park. With its revisions, neither Camelot nor Brookside will experience any additional traffic, as they will be effectively sealed-off from Overland Park, at least in regard to vehicular traffic. It can probably be assumed the applicants are satisfied with this arrangement as well, since it avoids the connection to Camelot they did not want, saves them the cost of providing the third ingress/egress street segment, and makes room for an 83rd lot. For those interested parties, this revision may be the answer that addresses all their concerns. However, in a larger context that considers the importance and desirability of enhancing connectivity not just within a single neighborhood or development, but over the City as a whole, the new revision might be considered inferior to the original submittal. The newly revised layout effectively removes Overland Park streets from any function as part of the surrounding established street system. At least the original street arrangement created a direct connection between Overland Park and Brookside, as well as a north-south connection that offered drivers new routing options over a much larger area. Routing options result in dispersal of traffic so that one or two streets - in this case Sequoyah/Twelfth/Inglewood and Vancouver - do not wind up carrying the lion's share of local traffic simply because there are no other reasonable routing choices available to drivers. Those streets are also lined with the homes of owners and residents who - like those folks in Camelot and Brookside - would prefer less traffic on their streets. These characteristics of connectivity that I am speaking about now - and have spoken about since the first plat was submitted - are long-standing, widely-accepted planning principles. They hold that enhanced street connectivity offers benefits that include: 1. Redistribution of traffic across a network of streets, rather than forcing much/most traffic onto a few streets, 2. Keeping local traffic off collector and arterial streets, thereby reducing congestion and lessening the need to widen/improve collectors and arterials, 3. Shortening travel distances, 4. Diminishing the likelihood that some neighborhood streets will eventually be forced by the lack of routing options to become de facto arterial streets, 5. Making service delivery (mail, garbage, etc) more efficient, and 6. Enhancing access for emergency responders 2 Mr. Harris concluded by saying he felt it was his professional duty to state for the record that he believed the street arrangement previously approved by the commission - which included two ingress/egress routes as originally proposed by the applicant (one at 12th, and one at Durant) plus the Camelot connection - was the best arrangement for these streets. City Engineer Oakes said everyone here has heard comments from engineering. He said he totally concurred with Planner Harris. We are united in the belief that asking for the Camelot connection is in full compliance with our guidelines and regulations. We need to connect stubs whenever they are available and they are obviously available to the adjoining land in this case. We continue to recommend approval of this development as recommended by the staff. Mr. Dave Gaza, on behalf of Tony Jetton, asked for consideration to approving the Preliminary Plat of Overland Park as submitted. We feel it meets the requirements of the Land Subdivision & Development Code (LSDC) and the 2020 Comprehensive Plan in the following ways: Section 9.1.A.2 (Design Requirements) of the LSDC states, “The proposed street layout should be appropriate for the type of development proposed and properly integrate with the street system in the area adjoining the subdivision.” The key word here is should which is not the same as shall or will. This wording allows for some leeway in the design requirements. The word should is not an absolute, direct command. In the 2020 Comprehensive Plan, under Goals and Objectives, we find the following: Goal 1 - Land Use and Development: Goal statement. The City of Russellville will encourage new residential development to locate in and around existing developed areas. Mr. Garza stated that this development does that. Objective 3- Enhance the City’s planning and zoning process: Ensure that the Planning Commission represents the community. He noted that in this case, the community - which is the neighborhood - does not want the connection. Goal 2 – Housing and Neighborhood: Objective 1, Strategy 2: Promote codes and ordinances that provide more flexibility in site design and layout. The new Tufftrack Grassroad Paver system that we are proposing is a new innovative design that allows for emergency connection but yet it is greenspace (grass) and it is eco-friendly. Objective 2 – Encourage more innovation in neighborhood development. Strategies: Adopt “Traditional neighborhood design” guidelines that: 1. Incorporate pedestrian pathways 2. Reduce the neighborhood street’s importance as a thoroughfare 3. Provide public gathering places. He said the City has provided that with the park. Goal 6 – Environmental Quality: The City of Russellville will ensure that the natural environment continues to be a major asset to the community. 3  Mr. Garza said that at the November City Council meeting we heard from Ms. Leese Freasier, Arkansas Department of Health – Healthy Community Domain Lead. She stated that: increased traffic in neighborhoods produces poor air quality, increases in pavements create runoff with pollutants that create poor water quality, and points of conflict increase with each street intersection/connection. Mr. Garza said we are trying to make this subdivision as pedestrian friendly as possible. We are concerned that neighboring subdivisions do not have sidewalks. Those people have to walk in the streets. Commissioner Wilkins said he had thought about this problem quite a bit and had lived in Russellville his whole life. Mr. Wilkins said he regrets this commission has to spend so much effort dealing with problems brought about by past planning decisions. Many problems we deal with are because of lack of planning in the past. This is causing many of the problems we are presently dealing with, and we want to avoid creating more problems for the future. If we don’t learn from past mistakes, we’re condemned to repeat those mistakes. We need to recognize what those mistakes are and not be afraid to do what is right for every citizen of the City, not just one neighborhood or a small group that signs a petition. A hundred years from now, after we are gone and forgotten, those who live in this City will be living with the results of our actions. Our City has to have streets and the streets of various neighborhoods need and should be connected to one another. For citizens to petition to have the streets of their neighborhoods connected or not connected to other neighborhoods is wrong. It creates problems in efficient use of streets and planning of them, and places restrictions on the use of streets by all the citizens of this City. The streets are property of all the citizens in this City and not just the neighborhood that they are in. Mr. Wilkins said he lives in the area and understands the concerns of those in the neighborhoods around the proposed subdivision. Brookside, Brookview, and Camelot have no sidewalks because previous Planning Commissions did not require them. That was wrong. Margaret Mead once said, “any town that does not have sidewalks doesn’t love its children.” I don’t know that I would go quite that far, but it was certainly food for thought. This City has let its sidewalks go for many years and it is time to do something about it. Letting present and future street connectivity suffer from the lack of sidewalks won’t cure any problem. It just creates more problems. As a commissioner, I have an obligation to everyone in the City. We all do. We are a City of almost 30,000 people now. By failing to prepare for the future of this City and everyone in it, this commission is preparing for failure. Subdivisions should and could connect to every adjacent neighborhood. If we support anything other than that, we are not doing our job. Commissioner Sims moved to approve the Preliminary Plat with openings to S Durant Ave, Camelot Drive, and W 12th Street. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Perkins and passed unanimously. The Third Order of Business was a request to review and approve an extension of a water main to service property just outside the Russellville City Limits located on Tyner Lane, submitted by Kurt Jones of Kurt Jones & Associates, on behalf of Darlene Weir. (MS.13.12.76) City Planner Harris said he had no issue, and that Kurt Jones (applicant's representative) and Jim Lynch (City Corp) were present to answer any questions. Chairman Boyd read a portion of the Ordinance which required the Planning Commission to review this application: “In considering 4 the application for water or sewer service, due consideration shall be given to the cost, if any, to the current customers of City Corp as well as the impact the proposed service shall have on the entire system, including, but not limited to, the water treatment plant and the wastewater treatment plant.” The chairman asked Mr. Lynch if he had any issues with this request. Mr. Lynch said he had no problem with the extension. Commissioner Perkins made the motion to approve as submitted. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Patel and passed unanimously. Meeting Adjourned. ________________________________________ Chairman Dennis Boyd 5