Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission members voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend approving four items related to an affordable housing project at Ninth and Tennessee streets.
Family Promise of Lawrence, a nonprofit that aims to serve families in housing crises, will operate the new permanently affordable housing in partnership with Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church, which owns the land. The vote from planning commissioners advances the project to the city commission for final approval.
The project includes a six-unit building to be constructed at 909 Tennessee St., which is currently a parking lot. An existing four-unit building at 913 Tennessee would remain for a total of 10 affordable housing units.
The four items related to the project approved by the planning commission included a preliminary development plan, a rezoning request, an amendment to the Oread Neighborhood Plan and a variance request for alley width.
Currently, the north end of the Oread neighborhood along Ninth Street is zoned for commercial use. But the lots on Tennessee Street where the project is proposed don’t host any businesses and are next to residential areas. The requested amendment would switch these lots from commercial designation to high-density residential.
Another item rezones the land as residential rather than commercial in the city’s development code. A third requests a variance from the city code for alley width because the existing alley is already below code.
The plans ask the city to approve a reduction in the number of required parking spaces to 10 from 23, which city staff members support “based on the applicant’s reasoning that demand for off-street parking will be less based on the nature of the use, and because the development is in an area of the city where alternative modes of transportation are available,” according to the agenda item.
Commissioner Sharon Ashworth said she was thrilled that the city would be housing people instead of cars by replacing the parking lot. Commissioner Gary Rexroad said he felt the land-use changes for the land makes sense and he was glad it would be used for a good cause.
Family Promise in November celebrated the opening of a shelter aiming to help families stabilize as they seek permanent housing.
Commissioner Mike Kelso voiced support for the work Family Promise has done throughout Douglas County.
The development, dubbed Hope Project, received $300,000 from the city’s affordable housing trust fund. Christina Gentry is currently chair of Lawrence’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board, which allocated the funds in 2023. She supported the project during public comment, citing the city and county’s joint plan to reach functional zero homelessness.
Gentry said she feels a kinship for the Hope Project. Her family joined her as she told the story of how they are graduates of Family Promise, which gives them firsthand experience with the impact of affordable housing.
“We can tell the story about the lived experience of finding affordable housing units in our community,” she said.
Takisha Derritt is also a graduate of Family Promise and now serves on the nonprofit’s board. She also is chair of the Hope Project for Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church.
“It took me a little while to get back on my feet and get affordable housing,” she said. “I know all about the struggle with having affordable housing.”
Meg Pearson, director of operations at Family Promise, said Lawrence has a desperate need for affordable housing. She said families, often with young children, come to Family Promise asking for help while unhoused. This project would grow the available space to help these families, she said.
“We know it’s a priority,” she said. “This is our opportunity to meet that need.”
Kyle Thompson of the Oread Neighborhood Association previously said he sent information on the project to residents, but only heard back from one person voicing their support.
“We’ve generally supported homeless initiatives and different church initiatives in our neighborhood, so I don’t see us objecting in any way,” he said. “I’m supportive of affordable housing. I mean, we need more affordable housing throughout the city.”
Nobody spoke against the project at Wednesday’s meeting.
The city received dozens of public comment letters from the community prior to the meeting, almost all supporting the project.
In other business, the planning commission made no recommendation on a request to rezone land at the southwest corner of West Third and Michigan streets over worries for the impact to the neighborhood.
Four commissioners voted for approval and four voted against. The rezoning will still require approval from the city commission, which would need a simple majority to pass the proposal.
Multiple neighbors spoke with concerns about the possible impacts of the rezoning on the neighborhood. Two of those neighbors were Phil and Peggi Englehart, who had previously spoken out against the project. A similar, previous request was denied in October.
The commission also recommended rezoning an acre of land on the southeast corner of K-10 Highway and Bob Billings Parkway, part of a long-planned development proposal from Tenants to Homeowners.
Lea Roselyn, the city’s affordable housing administrator, said the development was an important affordable housing project that advanced multiple city goals.
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
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