Planning commissioners on Wednesday approved a preliminary plat for Hunters Hill, a subdivision of mostly single-family homes planned for northwestern Lawrence.
City staff members can approve the final plat administratively as long as it “is in substantial compliance” with the plat the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted to approve.
The subdivision is slated for 1760 East 1100 Road. It’s about half a mile north of Monterey Way and Peterson Road, north of Dayflower Street and west of Hill Song Circle. Interstate 70 is just to the north of the area.
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The red pin on this map shows the approximate location:
Plans call for 122 residential lots across approximately 45.5 acres, according to the agenda. Twenty of the homes would be two-unit dwellings.
There would also be two tracts of open space comprising 10.55 acres to protect sensitive lands, steep slopes and mature trees, according to the plans. However, developers have submitted a request to rezone some of the land to allow for more low-density housing.
Plans were submitted by Landplan Engineering on behalf of Williams Management LLC, according to the agenda.
Lawrence city commissioners approved annexing the land into city limits and rezoning it in July 2022.
Some neighbors wrote in with concerns about the natural habitat and the variety of animals who live there, excessive density compared to other nearby subdivisions, increased traffic in the area, foundation issues for existing homes in the area and more. A few people also voiced some concerns to the planning commission during the meeting.
The Lawrence Board of Realtors and Lawrence chamber both submitted letters ahead of the meeting encouraging planning commissioners to approve the plat.
“The Lawrence housing market, with very little new development, has been unable to keep up with demand at all price points for more than a decade,” Erin Maigaard and Danielle N. Davey of LBOR wrote. “… New housing development at all levels will encourage healthy movement in our real estate market and create new opportunities.”
After a few questions and some discussion, planning commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the preliminary plat.
The developers’ next steps, according to the agenda, are to submit a final plat and building permits for the homes. Lawrence city commissioners must approve easement and right-of-way dedications for the project to move forward, according to the agenda.
See the complete agenda item at this link.
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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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