District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for December 5 District III Advisory Board Minutes December 5, 2018 www.wichita.gov The District III Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the WATER Center, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67211. Council Member James Clendenin, nine District Advisory Board members, two City staff, and eleven members of the public were present. Members Present Staff Present Jared Cerullo Kathy Morgan, Senior Planner, Metropolitan Area David Robbins Planning Department Ron Tracy Maddy Campbell, Community Services Michael Loop Representative Gerald Henry Paul Davis Cindy Miles Catherine Johnson Marco Alcocer Daisy Olivar Council Member James Clendenin Members Absent Cindy Miles Bruce Gass ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:28 p.m. Council Member James Clendenin called the meeting to order. The agenda for the current meeting was approved. The Minutes for Nov. 7, 2018 were approved. STAFF REPORTS None PUBLIC AGENDA None NEW BUSINESS 1. CON2018-00039 Kathy Morgan, Senior Planner, Metropolitan Area Planning Department presented an application on behalf of Scott and Randi Bunn (owners) for a request for a “conditional use” to allow outdoor vehicle sales on property zoned Limited Commercial (LC). The site is located four blocks west of the major arterial intersection of Broadway & West Harry Street. The subject site is developed with a one-story masonry service station building constructed in 1956. Per the Unified Zoning Code (UZC), outdoor vehicle and equipment sales may be permitted with a conditional use in the LC zoning district. Vehicle repair will be provided as part of the car sales business.  South Central Neighborhood Plan addresses this type of request. The Plan recommends only mixed- use commercial goes into the area being discussed. The Plan states used car lots are one of the least 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for December 5 wanted commercial uses. The Staff Report recommends denial to the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission; however in the Staff Report, if for some reason MAPC wants to approve the request, then there are conditions mentioned as to how that will operate and those conditions must be part of the approval.  Current building does vehicle repair and wants to expand to be able to offer used cars. Recommended Action: Based upon the information available at the time the Staff Report was prepared it is recommended that the request be DENIED. The DAB heard the request so that Wichita residents had an opportunity to express any concerns. The applicant (building owner), Scott Bunn, and tenant (business operator), Rex Bello, were present and noted the following:  There are already cars parked on the premise and a state law limits the number of cars that can be parked.  Bello and Bunn have a strong working relationship which is why Bello would like to continue renting from Bunn at this location rather than start the business elsewhere.  Bunn reports that since he has started renting to Bello neighbors feel the area is being better taken care of.  The way car dealerships operate now is a lot easier. There are less distractions (balloons, lights, etc.). Most advertisements that are considered a nuisance/distraction and are disrespectful to neighbors will not be done at this location. Marketing will be done primarily online through social media with a single physical banner placed on location.  Applicant provided picture of what to expect. CM Clendenin shared that the South Central Neighborhood Association is redoing their Neighborhood Plan and will readdress some of their previous hardline issues they have had on these businesses in the past. After staff presentation, DAB members and residents in attendance asked and shared the following questions and comments: Q (DAB): How long have you been in business there? What makes you think expanding into selling used cars will make things better? Is there a limit in your plan for how many cars you can have on the lot to sell as opposed to how many are on the lot for repair? A (Bello): I have been in business for four years at this location. Business is good as it is already, but I think moving in that direction [selling used cars] will help and it is something I would love to do. The reputation of places open on Broadway are not that great and I like that this location is more subtle and I really enjoy my relationship with the property owner and want to stay there. The location cannot take more than 20-30 cars. Anything more is chaotic and affects mobility. Q (DAB): Do used car dealers need a license? A (Morgan): Yes. He cannot get his license until the conditional use is approved though. Q (DAB): Are there any registered complaints with the City regarding this business? A (Bunn): I have had several tenants before Bello who have had complaints. There are no complaints against Bello. A (Morgan): The only phone call I had was from an immediate neighbor and the issue was about parking over the sidewalk, but Bello has addressed this by putting in a barrier to ensure infringement on sidewalk will not happen and I have not heard of any other complaints. A (Bunn): I am concerned and invested in ensuring my tenant is a good neighbor. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for December 5 C (DAB): Based on the Neighborhood Plan, I endorse MAPD’s recommendation for denial. I do not think it is an appropriate use. C (DAB): I am for it because if he has been there for four years and is running a respectable business maybe he can increase the competition and raise standards in the area. C (DAB): I do not see this as invasive. It is a neutral activity. Q (DAB): Is the privacy fence behind the property maintained by you? A (Bunn): We maintain it along with the tenant to the south of us. I think the tenant to the south put up the fence, but we take care of our side that faces Harry Street. C (DAB): I think it needs to be in the paperwork (Conditions) that the fence will be maintained. C (Morgan): The property is zoned Limited Commercial and there is no requirement for fencing/screening. Q (DAB): [Referring to picture provided by applicant] Is this something you drew up yourself? Looking at the parking spaces, it looks like half of them are inaccessible. It looks like they are double stacked north to south. A (Bello): The one I wrote “handicap parking” on is actually quite easy to get in. My drawing is not the best. C (public): I have been down in that area for the last 20 years and the last few years it has cleaned up. I have no complaints in that area. They are doing a good job. I used to go by and some of the previous tenants were eye sores. You would drive by and think the neighborhood is in decline. It is no longer an eyesore. When you go by everything looks orderly. Q (public): Is the car repair work being done inside or outside? A (Bello): We have two garages and since we have been there all the work is being done inside. Q (DAB): Would you be willing to come to the next South Central Neighborhood Association meeting and discuss this? I am accountable to them and I feel long-term the association needs to have a relationship with you, Scott. A: Yes. C (DAB): We have one of these businesses at Lincoln & Edgmoor and it has done well. They have bought some of the nearby houses to expand and it has continued to do well. I think it is a viable business option. C (Morgan): Planning staff denied this application because of the Neighborhood Plan. Should MAPC decide to do something different, then the report has the standard conditions put in there. We worked with Bello to make sure he knew how this will progress and to talk to his neighbors. C (CM Clendenin): That is the purpose of the Neighborhood Plan. It flags these types of requests to make sure they get more scrutiny. C (DAB): Let us take a best/worst case scenario with the conditional use. Bello is very successful and says he needs to go elsewhere to expand his business. Does the conditional use go to the next tenant? A (Morgan): Yes. It stays with the land. C (Bunn): This lot has been in my family for almost 100 years. Even if Bello leaves, I am not and there is not going to be a problem. If someone else got this and could setup another car lot there would be restrictions, some MAPD lists and some I enforce. Q (DAB): Can we recommend a time period on the conditional use, say one year, and require him to come back to DAB with an update? A (Morgan): No. Action Taken: Motion made by Cerullo to recommend APPROVAL of the application. Seconded by Loop. MOTION PASSED 8-1-0 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for December 5 PUBLIC AGENDA Off-agenda items Richard Ruth, 3907 E. Funston Street, spoke at the previous month’s DAB meeting about his concerns with the TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) ordinance being worked on by the Animal Control Advisory Board and came back to discuss it further. He shared his concern about how data is collected and the lack of sufficient data to support the proposed ordinance. He stated he has spoken to Animal Control officers and they too do not support the ordinance for the same reasons. He reiterated that there should be an ethical standard for animal control and that there are successful ways to implement TNR, but the current proposed ordinance severely lacks supporting data and crucial elements that make other communities’ TNR programs successful. C (DAB): Richard met with my neighborhood association and an Animal Control officer was there. From what I gathered, the board is not taking recommendations from Animal Control on this. C (CM Clendenin): From the reiterations of this I have seen, I will not be supporting the proposed ordinance. Being an activist for animal rights is not a bad thing, but without balance in an ordinance you are going to get something weighted too heavy on one side of an issue. Some of the proponents that have been going to the community meetings have suggested we release these cats back into neighborhoods and are debating on the size of the colony (six, eight, or 12 cats). It does not smell good to live next to one of these colonies. It will bring the quality of life down. You can have a colony right next door to another colony. We are talking about 100,000 feral cats in the City of Wichita and there will be designated caretakers who will need to feed and spay these cats. Right now there are only 80 registered caretakers in the city. The numbers do not work. The council members I have talked to have concerns about the rhetoric coming from some of the activist groups and are concerned about the neighborhoods in the core part of our city being a “dumping ground” for the cats. With all that said, we are not even close to getting this in front of the City Council for discussion. C (public): I went to the last meeting they had and I was blown away by the radical things I heard and the fact that the Animal Control Advisory Board is going along with these radical people. The next meeting is December 17 at 4 p.m. They need to see more of us there. C (CM Clendenin): My appointee to the Animal Control Advisory Board is taking some heat because she does not agree with the way this is happening. BOARD AGENDA Paul Davis shared that a streetlight at 63rd Street and South Madison Street has been out. He reported it on the phone application but did not get a result until he called Westar. When he contacted Westar the streetlight was changed that same day. Michael Loop shared that many departments come to DAB meetings to present about various grants, funding, and resources and asked if there is a centralized location someone can go to see what things they may be eligible for. CM Clendenin shared that the Neighborhood Resource Centers are great assets in the community and the Admins and Community Services Representatives at the Centers work as liaisons to connect people to the right resources and escalate issues as needed. He advised the group to refer people to the Colvin Resource Center in Planeview. Ron Tracy invited the group to the Southwest Neighborhood Association holiday breakfast. The breakfast is free to everybody in District III. It will be on December 8 from 7 – 11 a.m. at the Lutheran Church at 26th Street and Osage. CM Clendenin shared there has been successful negotiations going on between a buyer and someone to lease and operate the Starlite Drive-in and he expects good news. He said the drive-in always did well, always made money, and is considered the “crown jewel” of drive-ins throughout the country. He stated that 4  District III Advisory Board Minutes for December 5 the City tries very hard not to get into buying businesses and he believes the private sector does a better job running businesses than the public sector. That being said, he proposed to give a $200,000 loan to the people leasing the drive-in to purchase projectors “in an effort to preserve quality of life and amenities in South Wichita and to do everything possible to prevent further denigration in our City.” The loan will come out of his district’s Hyatt funds and will have to be paid back within five years. There is a community effort to raise money and they have already raised $50,000. The loan will be paid back with interest and will be reinvested into the community. City Council will vote on loaning the money on Dec. 18, 2018. Q (public): What are the odds for the new owner to get the land usage back to what it was before the zoning change [referring to a restriction stating the property can only be used as a drive-in]? A: There are things being put in place to make sure it stays a drive-in; however, reversing the zoning ends up getting messy. CM Clendenin also reported that he recently gave $100,000 of his Hyatt funds to WSU Tech for the Wichita Promise Program to provide scholarships to people in District III who are under-employed or unemployed. Training programs include: aviation sheet metal assembly; composite fabrication; process mechanic paint; and pre-health for surgical technology, practical nurse, and dental assistant. An interview with a local company is guaranteed upon completion of the program and careers start at $14/hr with benefits. Paul Davis: B29 Doc is now in the building and the hangar is nearly complete. Also there is an enhancement toward the front of the property (mini Keeper of the Plains). Meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m. The next District III Advisory Board meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., January 2, 2019, at the WATER Center, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67211. Guests District V Council Member Bryan Frye Scott H. Bunn Rex Bello J.D. Croley Elena Ingle Richard Ruth Sheri Johnson Vernie Wollard Mike and Pauline Killough Miguel Roman Respectfully submitted, Maddy Campbell, Community Services Representative of District III 5