Requests to annex another 300-plus acres into Lawrence — 177 acres west of K-10, and 137 near the airport — are on planning commissioners’ Monday agenda.
The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission will not have the final say on the requests, but members will be asked to make recommendations to the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission.
Just last week, Lawrence city commissioners approved requests to annex and rezone 288 acres west of Kansas Highway 10 between Sixth Street and Bob Billings Parkway for a development called Beacon Landing. A city staff member said it was likely the largest single annexation in the last three decades.
Two unrelated annexation requests that would add 314 acres into city limits are now up for consideration.
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KU Endowment request near airport
The KU Endowment Association is asking to annex about 137 acres across two parcels of land it owns near the Lawrence Regional Airport, 1593 North 1900 Road for “speculative economic opportunities.”
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The request is “driven by emerging interest from groups that value close access to both the airport and a research university,” according to the agenda item.
The annexation does not include any accompanying rezoning requests.
“No other applications have been submitted as there is not a specific project currently,” according to the agenda. “If annexation is successful, it will require other application processes that include rezoning, comprehensive plan amendment, platting, and site development applications.”
Unlike many of the annexations city commissioners have approved in recent years, this request would also have to go to the Douglas County Commission for approval because it’s considered an “island annexation.”
See the complete agenda item at this link.
More land west of K-10
Several community members voiced concerns about the annexation and rezoning request the city commissioners approved last week for Beacon Landing because of some large areas of low-density housing.
Now developers with Landplan Engineering seek to annex an additional 177 acres southwest of Kansas Highway 10 and Sixth Street and southwest of K-10 and Bob Billings Parkway.
This request includes rezoning 76 acres of the currently agricultural land for medium-density housing (R-3), which allows for seven to 15 units per acre, and 38 acres for very high-density housing (R-5), which is the city’s most dense zoning and has no upper limit on the number of units per acre.
See the annexation request agenda item at this link.
Meeting info
Planning commissioners will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. Their meetings are also livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel.
The commission will accept written public comment emailed to [email protected] through 10 a.m. Monday. Commissioners also hear live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually. To give virtual public comment, join the meeting on Zoom via this link.
See the complete meeting agenda at this link. See more of our coverage of annexation requests at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More coverage: Expanding Lawrence
Planning commission to consider annexation, rezoning requests for land west of K-10 and near airport
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
Latest Lawrence news:
Planning commission to consider annexation, rezoning requests for land west of K-10 and near airport
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
