The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday voted 4-1 to reject a preliminary plan for a 200-unit apartment complex in west Lawrence’s Alvamar neighborhood.
The complex, Jayhawk Club Lot 5, would’ve been located in the Alvamar neighborhood at 1840 Crossgate Drive, south of the Jayhawk Club Wellness Center, and surrounded by the Alvamar Golf Course.
The 200 units would’ve comprised 428 bedrooms. The preliminary development plan called for 394 parking spaces, a maintenance building, a snack shack and a pool/clubhouse for use by residents.
Lance Adams, of Lawrence-based Adams Architects, filed the plan on behalf of the property owner, Eagle 1968 LC, a business registered to Thomas Fritzel.
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The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted 4-3 to recommend denial of the plans during a September meeting.
Commissioners on Tuesday heard public comment from nearly two dozen people, including many neighborhood residents. All but one spoke against the project.
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Neighbors cited numerous issues with stormwater runoff and drainage, concerns about the ability for emergency services to access the complex, and Fritzel’s track record in town. He has been found guilty of falsifying tax returns and illegally disposing of asbestos related to other Lawrence projects, and neighbors said he’s not kept promises related to the golf course.
“Ten years ago, the applicant told the people of Alvamar that if they lived on a golf hole, they would continue to live around a golf hole,” Vice Mayor Mike Courtney said. “This broken promise has metastasized over the past decade.”
Commissioner Mike Dever said he was willing to honor the planning commission’s decision to recommend denial of the plans. He cited concerns about the stormwater runoff and about bringing in emergency services.
Commissioner Amber Sellers moved to accept the planning commission’s recommendation of denial of the plans.
She, Courtney, Dever and Commissioner Kristine Polian voted yes; Mayor Brad Finkeldei was the sole vote against the motion.
Planner Sandy Day told commissioners that the applicant can now take the issue to court, or they could revise the plans, come back with a different design and resubmit it as a new application.
The commission’s charge on Tuesday was to determine whether the application met city code, and if so, “they are entitled to approval of the application,” Deputy City Attorney Randy Larkin told the commission.
“On the flip side of that, if they do not meet the city code, all those criteria that Sandy set out earlier in her presentation, then you cannot approve it,” Larkin said. “You have to deny it.”
Commissioners checked in with Larkin again prior to their final vote.
“The criteria is what governs, and I think there’s been some discussion regarding how it does not meet some of those criteria, and that commissioners have found that to be the case,” Larkin said.
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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.
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