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April 1, 2002 Mr. Paul Greeley Johnson County Planning Office 111 S. Cherry, Suite 3500 Olathe, KS 66061-3441 RE: OX-PRB3-2284 & OX-PDP-2285 Dear Mr. Greeley: Thank you for requesting input on Rezoning OX-P RB3-2284 and Preliminary Development Plan OX-PDP-2285, for a retail shopping center at the southeast corner of 159th Street and Metcalf Avenue. The Blue Valley Plan shows this property as a Transition Area. Transition Area is a residential land use designation intended to allow for varying densities of residential development, depending on the availability of sewers. The plan states: Generally, the Transition Areas should be regarded as areas that might someday develop for residential uses at urban densities with sanitary sewers. In the interim, the areas might be partially developed with residential uses not served by sanitary sewers, but any such development should be carefully guided to not unreasonably obstruct urban-density residential uses in the future. The proposed rezoning and preliminary development plan are not in compliance with the Blue Valley Plan, which was adopted by both the County and the City after a considerable amount of work and public input. The proposal does not address why a deviation from the plan should be approved. The parcels included in this proposal are of sufficient size to permit a well-planned residential development with a variety of unit types and a transition of density to the existing large-lot, single-family residential areas to the east. The amount of nonresidential property in existing developments or in approved development would appear to be sufficient to serve the needs not only of the local residents but also of residents within several miles of the intersection of 159th Street and Metcalf Avenue. However, should the County look favorably on this rezoning application, City staff would like to offer the following observations regarding the proposed development plan: The proposed layout does not attempt to work with existing site grades and, as a result, retaining walls of up to eight feet in height will be required for almost the entire Metcalf Avenue frontage. The proposed ring road, which stubs at the property to the south [Editor: the "Turner farm"], implies that this property will also be developed for nonresidential uses. As it appears that the south property is approximately the same size as the subject property, it seems likely that an application for an additional 300,000 square feet of retail development might occur in the future. The individual buildings in this development have little relationship to one another. Each pad site is isolated from the main center by the ring road and from the other pad sites. Without cross-access between pad sites and an internal pedestrian circulation system, anyone wishing to visit more than one establishment must travel the ring road. This results in additional trips and turning movements on the ring road. The main buildings and the pad sites are for the most part situated in a “sea of asphalt.” The preliminary landscape plan does not indicate landscaping or green areas around any of the buildings. Furthermore, the plan does very little to break up the large field of parking in front of the main buildings. The plan does not provided enough detail to clarify where the loading docks for the main buildings are to be located or why so much pavement is needed behind the buildings. Traffic comments will be provided under separate cover following a review of the traffic study. Again, thank you for requesting our input on this development, If we can be of further assistance, please call. Roger W. Peterson Director of Planning and Development Services |