Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday approved a request to rezone property near the University of Kansas campus for developers to build the densest housing allowed in the city.
The properties included in the rezoning are the two Emery Place and one Coachman Apartments buildings at 1423 and 1433 Ohio St., the apartment building at 1430 Louisiana St., and a home at 1432 Louisiana St. Altogether, the home and apartment buildings comprise 48 units (plus two that are currently condemned because of fire damage).
Under the city’s new land development code, there is no maximum number of units for R-5 zoning that city commissioners approved. It requires a minimum of 33 units per acre.
In addition, R-5 zoning allows buildings to be up to 55 feet tall, which is 10 feet higher than the previous zoning allowed and typically about five stories.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
The Historic Resources Commission agreed in October to submit comment to the planning commission and the Lawrence City Commission indicating that they anticipate the proposed project, which is still forthcoming, will meet the Oread neighborhood design guidelines.
Lance Adams of Lawrence-based Adams Architects told the HRC it was likely that all four buildings would be demolished to construct a larger housing project on the 1.34 acres. He said part of the goal is to avoid annexing more of Douglas County into the city and keep density near the downtown district.
The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission also recommended approval of the rezoning request in October.
Support local news
Please subscribe to support The Lawrence Times.
Adams filed the rezoning request on behalf of Compton Holdings LC and Consolidated Properties Inc. of Lawrence, companies registered to Doug Compton, and RGAPTS LLC, which is registered to KU Endowment.
Adams told the HRC that “The developer of this area is not new to the apartment housing projects and is working very hard to make sure that we have at least enough parking spaces per bedroom that we’re considering for this area.”
Plans shared with neighbors since have revealed that a 234-space parking lot is tentatively planned to be built on the property at 1501 Learnard Ave., the previous site of the Sunrise Project greenhouse, about a mile away from the 14th and Ohio location.
Mayor Brad Finkeldei, Vice Mayor Mike Courtney, and Commissioners Mike Dever, Kristine Polian and Amber Sellers approved the rezoning of the 14th and Ohio site on a 5-0 vote.
Commissioners said they’d have the opportunity to consider the parking issue in the future.
Courtney said he was concerned about “the spirit of” the request and questioned whether someone could, for instance, build R-5 density housing in East Lawrence with a parking lot in North Lawrence.
If the plans for a parking lot at 15th Street and Learnard Avenue are to progress, that will have need rezoning approval as well. The planning commission was set to consider that request during their Dec. 17 meeting, but the agenda item has been deferred.
Demolishing the structures currently on the site at 14th and Ohio streets would also require future approvals down the road.
Read more from the HRC meeting at this link. Read more from the planning commission meeting at this link.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Latest Lawrence news:
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
