District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for April 3, 2019 DISTRICT III ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES April 3, 2019 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, ten District Advisory Board members, five City staff, and 21 members of the public were present. Members Present Staff Present Bruce Gass Karen Sublett, City Clerk Catherine Johnson Lt. Richard Moscicki, Wichita Police Cindy Miles Department (Clapp Technical Committee) David Robbins Mary Hunt, Principal Planner, Metropolitan Gerald Henry Area Planning Department Jared Cerullo Scott Knebel, Planning Manager, MAPD Marco Alcocer (Clapp Technical Committee) Michael Loop Maddy Campbell, Community Services Paul Davis Representative (Clapp Technical Committee) Ron Tracy CM Clendenin Members Absent Daisy Olivar ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:32 p.m. CM Clendenin called the DAB meeting to order. The current Agenda and Minutes for March 6, 2019 were approved. Karen Sublett, City Clerk, administered the Oath of Office for DAB members to start a new term. There were no scheduled Police and Fire Staff Reports or Public Agenda items. NEW BUSINESS 1. Clapp Transformation Committee In 2018 the Park Board and City Council made a recommendation to close Clapp Golf Course. A group of 11 individuals, the Clapp Transformation Committee, was appointed to steer conversation in the community to strategically discuss the unique opportunity to plan the future use of Clapp's green space. The committee worked with the City's technical team to develop future options for the golf course and gathered public input during the community engagement phase. The committee will now provide feedback to the DAB, Planning Commission, and Park Board prior to presenting their final conceptual recommendations to Council Member Clendenin and City Council regarding the future use of Clapp Park. LaShonda Garnes, Community Development Manager, WSU’s Public Policy & Management Center and the Clapp Transformation Committee presented the committee’s findings from their community engagement phase to the DAB. She shared the top suggested ideas for amenities, programming, and development that resulted from the public engagement phase and shared the committee’s vision: 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for April 3, 2019 “Clapp Park will become a vibrant community asset and a destination offering unique settings and opportunities for both community residents and visitors. This will be done by: (1) maximizing Clapp’s waterways, floodplains, and green spaces as natural recreational amenities; (2) embracing compatible use, development, and programming to promote ongoing activity and engagement throughout each day and season; and (3) creating a family-friendly environment that supports opportunities and programming for all ages to drive and promote full utilization of Clapp Park in harmony with nature.” DAB and members of the public asked and made the following summarized questions and comments: DAB: I hope they consider parking that will be beneficial to the nearby school. CM Clendenin: Parking will be addressed when we have more concrete plan. I think there is an opportunity to partner with USD 259 to discuss improved parking in the area. DAB: Did you receive any feedback from the nearby school? Were they given an official invite to these meetings? Garnes: They were formally invited to participate in the various meetings, but no one identified themselves as staff or leadership from the school at any of the engagement sessions. DAB: I do not like the idea of having a trampoline park as those are dangerous even with oversight. DAB: How will transformation of the park be funded? CM Clendenin: During the community engagement phase I asked the public and committee to think big and not think about finances as we tend to limit ourselves based on what we perceive the City budget to be and how that works. There are many avenues for funding that include the CIP, private/public partnerships, development, and revenue-generating programming. It is also important to keep in mind that the transformation will be implemented in multiple phases over many years and that the park will evolve over time. DAB: I want to see a balance of fun, free things for families and also things that will generate revenue. DAB: I think you should turn this into a destination location that will be able to keep people busy for three to four hours. DAB: I think taking care of the water issue should be the first priority. CM Clendenin: Many staff see this as an opportunity to address flooding on the nearby streets. Floodplain management will be one of the initial considerations in this plan. I think the plan can include retention ponds that serve a dual-purpose for recreation. Garnes: The Clapp Technical Committee has a Stormwater staff member from the City’s Public Works & Utilities Department. They have been engaged this entire process to advise of barriers, constraints, and regulations regarding the creek and floodplains. DAB: It seems there is still a significant portion of the public advocating for golf to remain at Clapp. Have you done any cost analysis on possible ideas to maintain an aspect of golf? CM Clendenin: The whole reason we are even discussing the transformation of Clapp is because City Council and the Park Board voted to close Clapp as a golf course because it was not self- sustaining within the golf enterprise fund and was requiring subsidization from the general fund. The Park Board is trying to stabilize the golf system by removing Clapp Golf Course as it has been operating at a significant loss for a prolonged period of time. If Clapp is turned into park land, maintenance and operating costs come from the general fund and CIP. Transforming it from golf to general park land allows for greater public use which is why we can justify using those funds. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for April 3, 2019 DAB: Is the Park Board giving up ownership of the land? CM Clendenin: The Park Board will continue to own the property. DAB: How will the committee determine what is presented to City Council? Right now we are talking about a wide variety of options. Will the committee base their recommendation on the popularity of various suggestions during the community engagement phase? CM Clendenin: The committee will continue to work with City staff to incorporate the public’s feedback into their own final recommendations. The committee has done a great job at incorporating the public’s views and putting their own biases aside. Public: When you discuss food options, you need to consider trash. When you talk about ideas like having a carousel, you need to consider the noise levels since there are many residents around the park. CM Clendenin: Staff takes measures to ensure activity is placed appropriately and sound engineering solutions are utilized. Public: Will there be fencing around the park? CM Clendenin: We will have to see depending on what is brought in. Public: With the senior living facility there, is anyone thinking of ways to make it aesthetically pleasing to the seniors who live nearby? CM Clendenin: We help a public engagement session for the residents there to get their feedback. They were engaging and had lots of opinions. Public: If watering was an issue for the golf course, how will the park be watered? Response: Watering would be just like any other City park. Watering is more expensive on golf courses because of the use of potable water. Most of our parks are not watered and rely on the weather. We have discussed planting more native grasses and plants that do not require as much water to maintain as well. Public: Who is going to be managing the park and will it make money? The City historically is not good at maintaining what they build. CM Clendenin: The City does a great job at maintaining Watson Park. It is old, but we are infusing a lot of money into it now. That is exactly why we want some revenue streams in the park—to make sure there is a sufficient maintenance budget. I do not believe we spend enough on maintenance of our parks in general. I am pushing very hard to ensure whatever we do has a proper maintenance budget behind it. Public: I believe there has been discrepancy in the conversation about golf at Clapp and feel the Clapp Transformation public engagement sessions steered conversation away from golf. I believe there is a possibility for golf to remain at Clapp in the form of a nine-hole or executive course. Golf is a current revenue stream at Clapp and I think if the leaks are fixed and the course is better maintained it will sustain itself. I think many of the suggestions could be integrated into the location while also maintaining a golf course. Golf should still be considering in the conversations about transforming Clapp. CM Clendenin: We have absolutely entertained anyone who wants to talk about golf, but I cannot identify a will within the Park Board or City Council to continue operating Clapp as a golf course. I and the committee worked to steer conversation in a direction that generates new ideas because of this. Public: I and other golf advocates are asking for an outside review of the golf system. Once you remove the golf course you cannot go back. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for April 3, 2019 CM Clendenin: I am going to reiterate that the Park Board makes that decision. For any people in the community that want to see it stay a golf course in any form, you have to email Park Board members and the council members that appoint those members. I would encourage everyone to go on the City’s website and get the comprehensive study that was done to understand why the Park Board made the decision to close Clapp Golf Course. Public: I do not know how I feel about the suggestion to put a library branch there. That seems to be too close to Linwood and I thought the City already struggled with keeping library branches open. CM Clendenin: On Tuesday the Library Board recommended the Linwood Branch be moved. One possible solution is to move it to the clubhouse at Clapp. They do not want to move Linwood Branch far from where it is right now. DAB: How many parks do we have that operate at no cost or profit? CM Clendenin: We do not have any that operate at no cost, but that does not mean we should not try when we have the opportunity to recover costs. DAB: I think you are spending millions to save $300,000. CM Clendenin: Even if we spend millions, we are adding to the quality of life and need to consider the returns for the businesses in the area and community which will now have a space they can widely use. DAB: A lot of companies looking for cities to locate to will consider quality of life options, like green spaces, for their employees. Action Taken: Received and filed. 2. Places for People Wichita: Places for People is an amendment to the City and County Comprehensive Plan, called the Community Investments Plan. The Plan focuses on redevelopment in the Established Central Area of Wichita. The Plan provides for the movement of people, whether by car, foot, bike, or transit that creates a connected and accessible community with strong neighborhoods that put people first. Mary Hunt, Principal Planner, MAPD, presented on this subject. DAB and members of the public asked and made the following summarized questions and comments: DAB: I served on the committee that helped put this document together. There was a lot of time spent on it and it is a big change. A common case you are going to hear coming out of this is being able to make conversions (garage into apartment). We are looking at our neighborhood being rehabbed by developers buying houses and rehabbing old structures. It is lifting our neighborhood up. CM Clendenin: Our zoning codes keep a lot of good things from happening. We need to stay balanced and keep with the times. DAB: I did not see any roundabouts in the presentation. I thought they were a tremendous advantage. In the Delano district they add so much personality and character to that area. Please make it part of this plan. Public: I see them going back to the way it was in the 1950’s. We used to have a shopping center at the corner we could walk to. 4  District III Advisory Board Minutes for April 3, 2019 CM Clendenin: We see a lot of these areas that need redevelopment and the zoning codes are keeping us from doing that so this ultimately is helping us reestablish the core of the city. DAB: I do not know how this fits into this plan, but I notice a lot of smoke shops are gathering around Seneca Square. Is this plan going to eliminate the number of a type of business in a certain area? CM Clendenin: This is about changing the zoning code to allow for greater/better uses for what is there. As far as eliminating certain businesses, that is up to the neighborhood to put a plan together to try to eliminate what they do not want to see. Action Taken: Motion made by Jared Cerullo and seconded by Ron Tracy to endorse the Plan amendment as presented. Motion PASSED 11-0-0. 3. CON2019-00006 Scott Knebel, Planning Manager, MAPD, presented an application on behalf of Harris 4 LLC (applicant) and Advantedge Quality Cars (agent) for a Conditional Use to allow outdoor vehicle sales on portion of a property zoned LC Limited Commercial. Half of the overall site is zoned LC; whereas, the other half is zoned B Multi-Family, with a small portion zoned GC General Commercial. The conditional use will only pertain to the portion of the site zoned LC. The site is located approximately 300 feet north of the major arterial intersection of South Broadway Avenue and East Harry Street. The subject site is developed with a one-story masonry building currently being used as a pawn shop. The remainder of the site is parking. The pawn shop will continue to conduct business. The applicant will be occupying a portion of pawn shop building to conduct sales and will display vehicles for sale only on a small portion of the site that is zoned LC (see attached site plan). 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 not be provided as part of the car sales business on this site. Outdoor vehicle and equipment sales uses are subject to supplementary use regulations control in UZC Article III, Section III-D.6.x. The DAB heard the request so that Wichita residents had an opportunity to express their concerns. The agent/applicant was not in attendance. DAB and members of the public asked and made the following summarized questions and comments: DAB: Were there any public comments or opposition to the request? A: This is the first public hearing. DAB: How many other used car lots are in this area? A (member of the public): A few years ago there was a similar case that was denied because there were already 26 car lots in the area. Public: There are already enough car lots on South Broadway Avenue. You do not need a heavy concentration of anything in a neighborhood. This is also right next door to a school and those kids do not need more congestion in the area. I am strongly against this. DAB: Is this an established business already? A: Yes. It is currently a pawn shop. DAB: There are several used car lots in this area and several vacant used car lots. It appears there are more used car lots than the market can bear. The proximity of the school is more a concern to 5  District III Advisory Board Minutes for April 3, 2019 me than having a used car lot on Broadway. Broadway is the “used car corridor of Wichita.” A used car lot might be marginally appropriate, but I would not support this particular one. DAB: We discussed this case at the March meeting for the South Central Neighborhood Association. Our recommendation is that the application be denied. The consensus is we do not want it. Not only do we view these businesses as undesirable, but we are working on a new neighborhood plan and we feel there are better development opportunities for this intersection to promote positivity and growth in the neighborhood. DAB: What is the parking to the west of it? A: Parking for the pawn shop. Action Taken: Motion made by Jared Cerullo and seconded by Paul Davis to DENY the application. Motion PASSED 9-0-1 PUBLIC AGENDA 1. Off-Agenda Items Julie Marshall mentioned that Longfellow Elementary put up a for sale sign recently. She suggested that veteran housing be considered at that location. CM Clendenin said USD 259 still owns the property and has allowed WPD to use it for training. He stated the building is in good condition and he will be interested in seeing what interest there is for it. Richard Hill spoke about the continued problem of illegal dumping in alleys and asked how the City plans to address it. CM Clendenin stated that it is a complex issue as alleys are difficult to vacate. BOARD AGENDA 2. Updates, Issues, Reports CM Clendenin shared there is a District III community breakfast from 9-10:30 a.m. on April 6 at the Christian Faith Centre (1130 S. Broadway). Gerald Henry suggested the City consider doubling fines in school zones similar to how fines are doubled in construction zones to help combat traffic safety issues around school drop off and pick up times. Catherine Johnson reminded the group that the County is sponsoring a tire disposal on April 19- 20. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:06 p.m. The next District III Advisory Board meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on May 1, 2019 at the WATER Center, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67211. Respectfully submitted, Maddy Campbell, Community Services Representative, District III 6