Different reasons, same result for the two items in front of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.
Developers for the proposed Cedarbrook Meadows housing and commercial development had submitted the final Planned Unit Development, which is needed to establish zoning categories, and the final plat, or final layout for the project. The Planning Commission tabled both items until the board’s August meeting.
Planning and Zoning Coordinator Justin Givens says the PUD was tabled because he inadvertently did not send the preliminary version to the Emporia City Commission for approval after the Planning Commission’s blessing.
Meanwhile, the final plat was tabled because, according to Planning Commission Board Chair Raymond Rogers, the board never issued approval for the preliminary plat. Rogers says the Planning Commission sent the early version back to developers twice, requesting an increase in square footage from 6,000 to at least 7,000, still smaller than the city’s greenfield minimum standard of 9,000 square feet — although Rogers says the board can adjust the minimum square footage on a case-by-case basis. The residential part of the development, whether with the original dimensions or the revised 6,240 square feet, are both smaller than Emporia’s infill standard of around 6,500 minimum square feet per lot.
The original layout indicated space for around 130 homes across 30 acres on the north side of 18th Avenue between Jones Aquatic Center and Road G. Developers have said adhering to the Planning Commission request would trim the number of available homes to slightly more than 100. Nearly 10 acres of commercial property are also planned along the east side of Road G between 18th and Road 190.
