West Lawrence Neighborhood Association: 6th and Wakarusa
Background
Because the City of Lawrence has grown more rapidly over the last two decades than planners had envisioned, and because some streets lack the capacity to handle the traffic which they are now forced to handle, excess traffic has become a very important issue for thousands of people who live on the west side of the City. Having experienced severe traffic congestion and lengthy delays on 23rd Street, particularly between Haskell and Iowa, many people are determined that the same problems not develop in northwest Lawrence. Many believe that limiting the commercial development in certain areas, particularly along 6th Street, is essential to avoiding these problems. The Neighborhood Association is currently committed to not letting 6th Street develop the same problems as 23rd street, if at all possible.
Traffic on Sixth Street is not the only concern. Other concerns are the excess of empty retail space within the City, traffic cutting through residential areas, traffic hazards to children, pollution from lights at night, and the losses which Lawrence's special downtown businesses would suffer.
History
The following history is taken primarily from articles which have been published in the Lawrence Journal World and is believed to be completely factual. Please report any errors or important omissions to alanandlinda6@sbcglobal.net. Additional articles can be found at www.ljworld.com.
In October 2001 Southwind Capital requested the rezoning of 19.2 acres of land on the northwest corner of 6th Street and Wakarusa Drive from agricultural to planned commercial development (PCD-2). The commercial development was to include a "big box" store with a total of 155,000 square feet of commercial space. The request was approved by the City Commission on February 26, 2002 in the form of Ordinance No. 7491. The ordinance became effective on March 8th. At one point many expected that a Home Depot store would occupy the space.
In August 2002, Wal-Mart confirmed that it wanted to build a 199,000 square foot supercenter at the site, to include a department or variety store, a grocery store, an outdoor garden center and an automobile service area. In order to accommodate the supercenter, developers proposed a rezoning which would have included additional land. The complex was expected to be open 24 hours a day.
Public opposition to the proposed Wal-Mart grew quickly. About 400 signatures were collected on petitions opposing the store and presented to the City. On October 23, 2002, a large number of citizens attended the Planning Commission meeting, and many spoke out against the proposal. Greg DiVilbiss, the owner of the shopping center on the southwest corner, spoke in favor of the rezoning and presented a petition in support, signed by business owners in the area. After a lengthy hearing and debate, the Planning Commission rejected the rezoning proposal by a vote of 6 to 3. Reflecting much of the attitude of Lawrence residents toward the proposal, the Lawrence Journal World's first-page article the next day included a picture of the hearing with one person holding up a sign which read, "Wal-Mart SUCKS the life out of our community."
In November 2002 Wal-Mart announced that it was scrapping plans for a jumbo-size supercenter and, in December, announced plans for a 151,588 square foot complex, a reduction of almost 40,000 square feet as compared to the earlier proposal. The plan did not include an automobile service center. In order to submit another application to the Planning Commission less than one year after the rejection of the previous application, zoning regulations required the applicant to show that there was a "substantial change" in the proposal. On December 18th the Planning Commission concluded that the new proposal represented a "substantial change" from the earlier proposal and therefore could be submitted again without waiting a year.
On March 5, 2003 the Planning Commission approved the proposal for a 158,000 square foot supercenter at 6th and Wakarusa by a vote of 6 to 3, with the recommendation that construction not start until 6th Street west of Congressional Drive had been widened. Widening of 6th Street then was not expected to be complete until at least August 2005.
The City Commission considered the proposal on March 25th. Zoning regulations required a four-to-one "supermajority" in order to override the Planning Commission's March 5th approval. Prior to the meeting this seemed unlikely, if not impossible. After a lengthy hearing, which included statements by several West Lawrence Neighborhood Association members and other neighbors, the Commission rejected the proposal by a four-to-one vote.
In early May 2003, Wal-Mart applied for a permit to build a 132,000 square foot store at 6th and Wakarusa under the then-current zoning, which had been defined by Ordinance 7491. Because Ordinance 7491 specifically excluded department stores while including variety stores, a primary issue became a the classification of the proposed store as a department store or a variety store.
The situation became somewhat more complicated when, on May 13th, representatives of the West Lawrence Neighborhood Association proposed a rezoning of the area to prohibit retail building at the site. On April 8, Dennis Highberger and David Schauner, both of whom had been elected on April 1st, took office on the City Commission, replacing James Henry and Martin Kennedy. Both Highberger and Schauner had expressed reservations about proposed developments at 6th and Wakarusa and had been supported by the Progressive Lawrence Campaign, a group leading a City-wide effort to bring better planning to Lawrence. In response to the proposed rezoning, on June 3rd the new City Commission passed Ordinance 7651, creating a building moratorium at the site and proposing further study of rezoning.
Wal-Mart then submitted plans to build a restaurant and supercenter on the corner. Because the City refused to issue a decision on the building permit application, on May 27th the landowners filed suit in District Court to try to force the City to issue a permit. In June Wal-Mart joined the lawsuit. District Judge Michael Malone ruled on July 31st that the City had to issue an official decision on the building permit application. The City responded by denying the application on August 7th.
On August 18, 2003, in response to the City's denial, the land owners and Wal-Mart appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals. On October 2nd, the Board affirmed the denial. Lawsuits challenging the City's actions have been filed.
A City-initiated Area Plan, which would limit the largest store on the site to 80,000 square feet, was approved by the Planning Commission on October 1, 2003 and by the City Commission on December 2, 2003. On February 25, 2004 the proposed rezoning of the northwest corner was considered by the Planning Commission, but not passed. The City Commission voted to override the Planning Commission and gave its final approval to the rezoning on April 13, 2004. In reaction, the owners filed a seventh lawsuit. Two of the lawsuits were dismissed on August 26, 2004 because they duplicated the other lawsuits.
On May 11, 2005 Judge Malone ruled, in one of the suits, that the City was correct in denying a permit to build a restaurant on the site. On August 10, Judge Malone ordered the four remaining cases to trial.
On April 21, 2006 the City commissioners unanimously approved an out-of-court tentative settlement that would allow Wal-Mart to build a 99,990 square-foot store with a 6,500 square-foot garden center. As a part of the agreement, Wal-Mart would pay two-thirds of the cost of a new traffic signal for Congressional Drive and Sixth Street and drop all its lawsuits against the City. The settlement would not become final until additional details had been worked out and agreed upon by the City and Wal-Mart.
On August 31, 2006, the Planning Commission approved rezoning which would further limit the number of square feet of commercial development on the property, but failed to approve Wal-Mart's proposed plan. On October 24, 2006, the City Commission rejected an attempt to send the plan back to the planning commission (favored by Amyx and Hack) and rejected Wal-Mart's plan.
On October 27, 2006, District Court Judge Michael Malone held a hearing with lawyers from the City and Wal-Mart. Judge Malone agreed to schedule a one-week trial, to begin on April 16, 2007.
On April 3, 2007 Commissioners Mike Dever and Rob Chestnut were elected, replacing Commissioners Mike Rundel and David Schauner. Rundel and Schauner had made up two-thirds of a majority that opposed the most recent plan to build a Wal-Mart on the northwest corner. The new Commission quickly agreed with the property owners to a five month delay in the trial (to September 2007) in order to consider a possible out-of-court settlement. A public hearing on the matter was held on May 1, 2007. A large number of Lawrence residents attended. Most were vehemently opposed to the establishment of a Wal-Mart store at Sixth and Wakarusa.
In June 2006, Wal-Mart submitted a modified preliminary development plan for the site. On August 7, 2007, after a contentious City Commission meeting, at which a large group of citizens again opposed the project, the plan was approved on a 4- to-1 vote with Commissioner Highberger opposing. Although Commissioner Amyx attempted to add a provision that would have required Wal-Mart to pay for traffic-calming improvements, that failed on a 3-to-2 vote. On January 8, 2008, a modified plan was again approved by the City Commission, with Commissioner Highberger opposing. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2008 with completion about a year later.
Since the Wal-Mart store was first proposed in August 2002, the issues have been very contentious and the cost of litigation has been high. (See the Lawrence Journal World, 2/11/05, page 1B.) In spite of the current outcome, the history of the corner of 6th and Wakarusa shows that combined efforts of homeowners can make a difference. The final outcome still rests in the hands of our citizens, many of whom will choose to shop elsewhere.
Northeast Corner
On January 10, 2006, after a long series of unsuccessful proposals had been brought before the Planning and City Commissions, approval was finally given by the City Commission for rezoning and a preliminary development plan for the northeast corner of 6th and Wakarusa. The project will include single-family homes, multifamily apartments, shops, stores, offices and the Lawrence Community Theater. Some of the project is considered to represent "new urbanism" development. While welcoming the Lawrence Community Theater, representatives of the West Lawrence Neighborhood Association expressed concern about the amount of traffic which the project will generate, and recommended denial of the rezoning and development plan in its latest form. In the interests of area residents and businesses, the Neighborhood Association will continue to monitor the project. At this time (February 2008) construction has still not begun.
For Further Information
For further information please check this web site from time to time or contact Gwen Klingenberg, glklingenberg@sunflower.com, (785) 393-4845.
Last updated on 2/6/08.