Emporia Planning Commissioners are standing behind their original decision as it pertains to a proposed housing development.
During their recent meeting Tuesday night, commissioners voted 4-1-1 to uphold their previous recommendation of approval for a minor plat for the Cedarbrook Meadows housing project with the request for developers to increase the proposed lot sizes from 6,000 sq feet to at least 7,000 sq feet. During Tuesday’s meeting, Lance Onstott of Professional Engineering Consultants out of Wichita reviewed the original plan and noted they had increased the lot sizes from 6,000 to 6,240 square feet.
This, however, did not alter the opinions of planning commissioners with Chairman Raymond Rogers saying the development with the smaller lots did not, in his opinion, fit the vision of the area. KVOE News asked Rogers, who voted in favor of upholding the decision if he was concerned the lot sizes could be a deal breaker for the developer.
Rogers stated that would be up to the developer to decide.
Also voting in favor was Commissioner Stan Fowler who noted he could live with the lot sizes if the development were much smaller in scale noting the distance between homes, roughly 13 feet for nearly 130 units, was the equivalent of military barracks and not the right aesthetic for a housing development.
Voting against the recommendation was Commissioner Joe Reed who says he does not think the aesthetics of the development should be the “stopping point” for the matter.
Commissioner Kenton Thomas abstained from the vote.
As previously stated, this was the second time the matter has come before commissioners after it was originally presented in December. The full scope of the plan is to construct nearly 130 homes on a better than 30-acre tract at 4500 West 18th Avenue.
According to Onstott, who declined a recorded interview with local media Tuesday, adhering to the commission’s request for larger lot sizes would potentially mean reducing the scope of the project by at least 21 units. The matter is set to return before the planning commission for consideration of a final plat in April.
Onstott says they will be taking the feedback from Tuesday’s meeting to the landowner to consider their next steps ahead of the April meeting. In a separate but related matter, commissioners voted to approve a recommendation of rezoning for the property to fall under city regulations thus setting the base zoning for the project if it were to move forward.
Before the commission’s discussions, the Board of Zoning Appeals considered and ultimately approved a request for a variance allowing QuikTrip to erect a sign similar to those of nearby businesses. The variance will allow QuikTrip to erect a sign up to 85 feet with minimum glazing.
Separately, commissioners recommended the denial of a request for rezoning property at 1610 Prairie Street and recommended approval of property at 1002 Trusler. The Emporia Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals will reconvene for their regular meeting in April.
