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Consider public testimony regarding, and an ordinance approving an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan 2030 to modify the Future Land Use Map to allow industrial development on 13.32 acres located south of E. Old Settlers Boulevard and west of the Mokan ROW. (Second Reading)
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Proposal: The applicant, Metcalfe Wolff Stuart & Williams, LLP, is requesting to amend the FLUM (Future Land Use Map) for 13.32 acres from Residential to Industrial.
Comprehensive Plan: The FLUM (Future Land Use Map) of the Comprehensive Plan 2030 designates this site as Residential. The remaining larger portion of the tract has an Industrial designation.
Amendment Policies: According to the Comprehensive Plan 2030, amendments to the plan should consider several factors, including changing market conditions and surrounding land uses. In this case, the subject tract shares two property boundaries with existing light industrial uses and has for many years. The location and size of this tract is not desirable to a single family developer, in staff's opinion. None have come forward in well over a decade. However, the Comprehensive Plan also states that light industrial uses should not be adjacent to residential development. This policy, as well as the aforementioned criteria, are intended to serve as a guide for the land use decision making process. These policies are not legally binding. The desirability to consider a reasonable deviation is never out of the question for these criteria, or any other policy guide.
It is staff's position that a deviation is warranted here for this 13.32 acre parcel. This is due to several reasons. First, the majority of the larger parcel currently has an Industrial land use designation, which already presents a deviation from the current land use policy (no adjacent residential). As a result, if developed as currently designated in the Comprehensive Plan, Industrial would be adjacent to Residential. Second, staff has been unable to arrive at a definitive conclusion as to why this 13.32 acre tract was designated Residential years ago when the larger portion of the tract was designated as Industrial. It is possible this was a mapping error from many years ago and the entire tract was always intended to be designated as industrial just like the two adjacent industrially developed tracts. Third, this project eliminates the ability for this tract to be developed as a charter school, which was the previously intended use. This use is not desirable due to the traffic conflicts and congestion it would cause with the incompatible surrounding light industrial land uses. A charter school on the property was also required to connect to the Chandler Creek neighborhood to alleviate traffic on Old Settlers Blvd. Fourth, other potential buyers of the site all desired multifamily development that would also be required to connect to the Chandler Creek neighborhood. Finally, staff believes a light industrial project is preferable from an economic development perspective as fewer sites exist for this type of project in our community. Re-designating the tract to the Industrial land use designation will facilitate a rezone to accommodate a light industrial development, thus making it consistent with the surrounding light industrial uses, and furthering our economic development goals. Our Zoning Code has development standards and restrictions that address residential land use compatibility. These include masonry fences, landscape buffers, setbacks, loading zone screening, and lighting restrictions.
At its August 16, 2023 meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the land use change from Residential to Industrial with a vote of 6:1. Commissioner Wallis Meshier voted against the amendment, because she had concerns about the industrial use not meeting the location criteria outlined in the comprehensive plan regarding no adjacent residential development. There were 6 public speakers. Speakers from the Chandler Creek MUD expressed concerns about the connection of Chandler View Road to the industrial property, increased traffic, and the addition of a light industrial use in close proximity to their single family neighborhood, specifically noting concerns about noise, lighting and increased crime. Staff confirmed at the meeting to the residents that a roadway connection to the Chandler Creek neighborhood from this project will not be required. Furthermore, the applicable buffering and setback requirements, as well as noise and lighting restrictions, were explained by staff and the Commission.