Planning commissioners on Wednesday gave nods of approval to two zoning requests to construct apartments and one to allow single-family housing to be built at the former Dragon’s Hoard location.
The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted unanimously on three zoning change requests, which will next advance to the Lawrence City Commission for final approval.
Dragon’s Hoard, a game and hobby shop and community space, recently moved to 1800 E. 23rd St., Suite B2, from its former home at 1045 Pennsylvania St. in East Lawrence.
Property owners now plan to demolish the commercial building and parking lot and construct houses at the site.
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“The applicant has indicated that the site would require substantial investment to continue a commercial use on the property, so they would rather redevelop the site with single detached dwellings, which are not permitted under the current zoning district,” Planner Avery Koerner told planning commissioners.
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The project will provide infill housing in the existing neighborhood and use smaller residential lots to help make the homes affordable, according to the rezoning application.
Upzoning for apartments
Planning commissioners also voted to recommend approval of a rezoning request from Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center for land at 530 Rockledge Road and 2222 W. Sixth St.
Mathew Faulk, director of housing for Bert Nash, told commissioners the project has been in the works for five years now. It aims to provide permanently affordable housing for the center’s clients.
“We did have high aspirations to have some commercial space for office space. Those plans have changed, and our dedication really is to residential,” Faulk said. “Our commitment is to help the community address affordable housing needs, and we are committed to making this a residential project to help meet those needs across the community.”
The agenda documentation didn’t specify an exact number of units planned for the 3.7-acre site, but the rezoning to R-4 would mean developers could construct between 16 and 32 residential units per acre, so approximately as many as 118.
Commissioners also voted in favor of a request to upzone some land northwest of the intersection at 19th and Tennessee streets also to R-4 zoning, which would allow more units than the previous R-3 zoning.
Birchwood Gardens LLC, which is registered to Timothy Keller, aims to build 20 units on the 0.9-acre site, according to the zoning change application.
No members of the public spoke against any of the agenda items.
In other business, the planning commission voted in favor of a final plat for property on the far northwestern edge of town in the Mercato development, where a Costco is planned.
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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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