Urban Planning and Land Use 701 North 7 th Street, Room 423 Phone: (913) 573-5750 Kansas City, Kansas 66101 Fax: (913) 573-5796 Email: planninginfo@wycokck.org www.wycokck.org/planning To: From: City Planning Commission City Staff Date: January 14, 2019 Re: Petition #SP-2019-3 GENERAL INFORMATION Applicant: Blakelund Moroney Status of Applicant: Moroney Motors, LLC 8424 Tomahawk Rd. Overland Park, KS Requested Action: Approval of a Special Use Permit Date of Application: November 30, 2018 Purpose: To operate a used car dealership Property Location: 3123-3135 Merriam lane Existing Zoning: M-2 General Industrial District Existing Surrounding Zoning: North: MP-1 Planned Light Industrial District and C-1 Limited Business District #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 1
South: Johnson County, BNSF Railway East: M-2 General Industrial District West: M-2 General Industrial District Existing Uses: North: South: East: West: Light Industrial Uses BNSF Railway Light Industrial Uses Light Industrial/Office Uses Total Tract Size: 1.66 acres Master Plan Designation: The City-Wide Master Plan designates this property as Business Park Major Street Plan: The City-Wide Master Plan designates Merriam Lane as Class C Thoroughfare Advertisement: The Wyandotte Echo December 20, 2018 Letters to Property Owner December 14, 2018 Public Hearing: January 14, 2019 Public Opposition: None to date PROPOSAL Detailed Outline of Requested Action: The applicant, Blakelund Moroney, has submitted an application for a special use permit to open a used car dealer at the properties located at 3123-3135 Merriam Lane. City Ordinance Requirements: 27-592 through 27-606 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED 1. The Character of the Neighborhood. Merriam Lane has a mix of commercial and light industrial uses. 2. The zoning and uses of properties nearby and the proposed use s expected compatibility with them. A used car lot may not be compatible with the business park aesthetic that the Merriam Lane Corridor Plan aims to establish in this area and may present a compatibility issue by lowering the aesthetic quality of the area. 3. The suitability of the property for the uses to which it has been restricted. Will removal of the restrictions detrimentally affect nearby property. #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 2
The property is suitable for general industrial uses. Removal of the restrictions on used car lots may reduce the aesthetic quality of the area and thus detrimentally affect nearby property. 4. The length of time the property has remained vacant as zoned. This property is not vacant. The owner wants to expand the existing use to include used car sales. 5. The degree of conformance of the proposed use to the Master Plan. A used car dealership may not conform to the aesthetics of a business park that the Southwest Boulevard Merriam Lane Corridor Plan aims to establish in this area. 6. Whether the proposed use will result in increasing the amount of vehicular traffic to the point where it exceeds the capacity of the street network to accommodate it. This is not foreseen to be an issue. 7. Whether the proposed use is reasonably necessary for the convenience and welfare of the public and will not substantially or permanently injure the appropriate use, visual quality, or marketability of adjoining property. The compatibility issues addressed above are primarily related to the visual quality of a used car lot injuring neighboring properties and preventing the area from developing into a business park use. 8. Whether the noise, vibration, dust, or illumination that would normally be associated with such use is of such duration and intensity as to create problems for near-by property. This is not foreseen to be an issue. 9. Whether the proposed use will pollute the air, land or water. This is not foreseen to be an issue. 10. Whether the use would damage or destroy an irreplaceable natural resource. This is not foreseen to be an issue. 11. The relative gain to the public health, safety, and welfare as compared to the hardship imposed on the individual landowner or landowners. The proposed use would not result in a gain to the public health, safety or welfare. #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 3
12. Whether the proposed use would result in overcrowding of land or cause undue concentrations of population. This is not foreseen to be an issue. PREVIOUS ACTIONS None NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING The applicant held a neighborhood meeting December 22, 2018. No one from the public attended the meeting. KEY ISSUES Compliance with the Commercial Design Guidelines STAFF COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS Urban Planning and Land Use Comments: 1. Please provide a dimensioned site plan sealed by a professional engineer, surveyor, or other design professional that includes utilities. Working with designer to get more detailed plan and eliminate the second property that is no longer part of the application. 2. All parking and drive aisles must meet the UG dimensional standards. Parking spaces must be 9 by 18. All parking spaces must be painted. I will show correct dimensions in new plan. Staff Response: The drive aisles do not meet the UG s dimensional standards. Doubled loaded 90 degree parking aisles require 60 feet (24 feet of aisle space) to allow cars to back up and maneuver. #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 4
3. Cars may not block the drives into the property. In the included site plan, this includes the spaces marked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Drive containing spots 1,2,3 is not used as a driveway. I can make updates to close off driveway if needed. Is this necessary though because as I drive down Merriam Lane there are numerous auto dealers with vehicles parked in some driveways. 4. Cars for sale must not be placed in required parking spaces for customers. With a total building area of 6,569 square feet according to the submitted site plan, 27 parking spaces are required. The submitted site plan only shows 12 parking spaces for customers. However, the submitted site plan appears to have scale errors, and the actual building area and parking requirement may be greater. Building area will be much less with 3133 removed from application. The wrong calculation was also made for required parking. M2 requires 1 space per 500ft. I will use less than 500ft at 3123 so we can go with the minimum customer parking required for M2. Staff Response: The updated site plan shows 6,243 square feet of building space at 3133 Merriam. With 500 square feet for the used car retail use and 5743 for M-2 use, 14 parking space are required. The resubmitted site plan shows 4 parking spaces for customers. Please include an additional 10 parking spaces are #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 5
submit a variance for the number of off-street parking spaces. 5. Landscaping a. Provide one street tree for every 30 of street frontage. The landscape areas may need to be expanded by removing paved areas in order to meet this requirement. b. Parking areas must be screened by continuous rows of shrubs. Please indicate landscaping on site plan. I do not agree with tearing out brand new pavement installed by the city in the recent past. I will take care of planting a row of shrubs in the city turf ROW. I can add shrubs to the new plans. 6. No Inoperable vehicles shall be stored anywhere on the property. Agree 7. Pavement areas must be kept in excellent condition at all times. Agree. Zach said current pavement is in acceptable condition. 8. All signs must meet the sign code (sec. 27-727) and be properly permitted. Briefly read over the sign requirements and don t see this as being an issue. Public Works Comments: A) Items that require plan revision or additional documentation before engineering can recommend approval: 1) None B) Items that are conditions of approval (stipulations): 1) Provide revised site plan showing all dimensions, existing driveway widths, drive aisles, parking areas, distances from property lines, etc., in accordance with UG standards and criteria. Please discuss further with staff if there are any questions. 2) Detailed engineering comments are made by separate technical review of the plans and submitted directly to the applicant. Provide revised plans and responses in accordance with the engineering comments. C) Comments that are not critical to engineering s recommendations for this specific submittal, but may be helpful in preparing future documents: 1) None Business License Comments: #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 6
1. If approved, applicant will need to file and maintain a current occupation tax application. Staff Conclusion: In the Southwest Boulevard Merriam Lane Corridor Plan, the community set forth a vision to improve the appearance of this corridor. The Unified Government made a large investment in rebuilding Merriam Lane. The Commercial Design Guidelines and the Special Use Permit requirement is intended to ensure used car dealers do not detract from the appearance of the community. The applicant has refused to make adequate improvements to the property or landscaping to meet the commercial design guidelines or the base zoning code. The parking layout does not meet the UG s dimensional standards and the number of parking spaces reserved for customers does not meet the zoning code and cannot be approved as is without a zoning variance. For these reasons, staff recommends denial of this application. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Planning Commission make the findings contained within the staff report related to Factors to be Considered, and Key Issues and recommend DENIAL of Petition #SP-2019-3 subject to all comments and suggestions outlined in this staff report. ATTACHMENTS Site Photos Site Plan REVIEW OF INFORMATION AND SCHEDULE Action Planning Commission Unified Government Commission Public Hearing January 14, 2019 January 31, 2019 Special Use STAFF CONTACT: Zach Flanders zflanders@wycokck.org MOTIONS I move the Kansas City, Kansas City Planning Commission RECOMMEND APPROVAL of Petition #SP-2019-3 to the Unified Government Board of Commissioners as meeting all the requirements of the City code and being in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare subject to such modifications as are necessary to resolve to the satisfaction of City Staff all comments contained in the Staff Report; and the following additional requirements of the Kansas City, Kansas City Planning Commission: #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 7
1. ; 2. ; And 3.. OR I move the Kansas City, Kansas City Planning Commission RECOMMEND DENIAL of Petition #SP-2019-3, to the Unified Government Board of Commissioners as it is not in compliance with the City Ordinances and as it will not promote the public health, safety and welfare of the City of Kansas City, Kansas; and other such reasons that have been mentioned. #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 8
#SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 9
Note: The proposed site plan does not match the existing conditions on the site. #SP-2019-3 January 14, 2019 10