At Monday's City Commission Meeting, Commissioners heard an application filed by Gary Johnson, requesting a change in zoning district classification from A-1 (Agricultural) to 1-2 (Light Industrial) to allow future industrial-type development. The rezoning request area is a 35 acre tract of land located on the north side of West Diamond Drive north of 1-70, directly west of the Petro 2 Travel Plaza.
BACKGROUND:
Gary Johnson Trucking recently purchased a 35 acre tract of land directly west of Jackson Flats and Petro 2 on the north side of West Diamond Drive. To prepare this property for future development, Gary Johnson Trucking has filed applications to rezone and plat this property into five lots. There are no specific uses or development plans at this time, but the applicant is under contract with the neighbor directly to the east of this property (Jackson Flats Washout) for one of the lots included in the plat application. No public street extension into the site is being proposed. All of the proposed lots would have frontage and access to Diamond Drive.
In February 2007, Com Co of Kansas requested annexation of the property into the City of Salina in order to connect to City utilities, receive full municipal services and to be eligible for special assessment financing for public improvements. At that time, the property was only partially served by the City's utility system, and water and sewer extensions needed to be constructed to make the site fully developable. The property was zoned a mix of BC (Business Commercial) and AG (Agricultural) by the county prior to annexation. This 35 acre tract was given an A-1 (Agricultural) zoning designation at the time of annexation and has remained unplatted since that time.
Background Information - West Diamond Drive Master Plan and Benefit District
To provide water service to this portion of West Diamond Drive, an 8" water line along the north, west, and south sides of the tract was constructed. This fully looped system needed to be in place to allow commercial or industrial development to occur on the north side of Diamond Drive. The cost of installing this looped system was financed through the creation of a benefit district with the Com Co property sharing the cost of the Diamond Drive portion of the line with the property on the south side of Diamond Drive.
To provide the north and south sides of Diamond Drive with sanitary sewer service, an existing 8" line in Diamond Drive was extended to the west boundary of the Com Co property. The cost of installing this sanitary sewer extension was financed through creation of a benefit district with the Com Co property sharing the cost of the line extension with the property on the south side of Diamond Drive.
As part of its agreement to annex, the previous property owner (Com Co) requested that its share of the water and sanitary sewer assessments be deferred for 15 years or until the property is platted, whichever occurs first. Com Co, as the property owner, was to be responsible for extending needed internal utility lines (water and sewer) to serve individual building lots on the site. The layout and design of these internal improvements would be resolved during the platting process.
On October, 20, 2008, the dedication of a 40 foot wide public street right-of-way along West Diamond Drive and a 20 foot wide water line easement along the west and north boundaries of the property were accepted by the City Commission from Com Co. of Kansas, Inc. in order to facilitate the paving of West Diamond Drive and the extension of a water line loop for fire protection purposes. This was done by a separate instrument because Com Co. was not ready to plat the property at the time.
In 2021, the subject property was purchased from Com Co by Gary Johnson.
Nature of Current Request
The applicant (Gary Johnson) is requesting rezoning of this 35 acre vacant, A-1 (Agricultural) zoned tract of land to 1-2 (Light Industrial) to allow future industrial-type development on the property. The rezoning request area is located on the north side of West Diamond Drive north of 1-70, directly west of the Petro 2 Travel Plaza. A companion preliminary plat application was also submitted by the applicant.
Suitability of the Site for Development Under Existing Zoning
The subject property has 1,268 ft. of frontage on West Diamond Drive. The south edge of the property is 670 ft. north of 1-70. This area was identified as being suitable for future Employment Hub/Industrial Development in the City's Future Land Use Plan. Given the water, storm drainage and sanitary sewer improvements made in this area, the applicant believes that the current A-1 zoning of the site inhibits development of this site compared to similarly situated property directly east and south of this property, Jackson Flats Washout, which is also zoned 1-2.
Staff noted that 100% of the request area is in the mapped 100-year flood plain and this affects its suitability for development. The current elevation of the property is 1218.0 and staff estimates that 3 ft. of fill would need to be added or imported to make buildable building sites.
Character of the Neighborhood
The request area is located near a major transportation corridor (North 9th Street) as well as a gateway into the community from 1-70. Existing development in this area consists of industrial and commercial uses including the Jackson Flats Washout and Petro 2 directly west of this property, as well as additional commercial properties located at the I-70/North Ninth Street interchange. Existing uses cater to large trucks and are large-scale in nature. The City of Salina previously identified this as a Primary Service Area for the extension of City utilities and services. A special assessment benefit district and cost recovery area were created in 2007 to facilitate commercial development in this area, and water and sewer improvements were completed in 2008.
As noted, the Jackson Flats Washout site adjacent to the subject property on the east is zoned 1-2. The question before the Commission was whether approval of 1-2 zoning on the north side of West Diamond Drive would be compatible with the zoning and uses of nearby property, particularly the commercial uses on the south side of Diamond Drive.
The owner of the KOA Campground contacted staff and expressed concern that 1-2 zoning could potentially allow a manufacturing operation that could operate 24 hours a day which he felt would be damaging to his overnight campground. Staff noted that as a general rule zoning does not regulate business hours. The owner of KOA also expressed concern about the existing on-street parking on Diamond Drive which makes it difficult for larger vehicles to get through. Staff indicated that they will look at what parking limitations are or should be in place on Diamond Drive.
Conformance with the Comprehensive Plan
The Future Land Use Map in the Comprehensive Plan shows this section of West Diamond Drive as being part of a Employment Hub/Industrial land use area. Rezoning this 35.13 acre site to an 1-2 (Light Industrial) zoning classification would be consistent with this future land use designation.
The Comprehensive Plan states that industrial development "should be located in proximity to support services with good access to major arterials, truck routes, belt highways, utility trunk lines, along railroad spurs, near airports, and as extensions of existing industrial uses."
Planning Commission Recommendation
The Salina City Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on Mr. Johnson's rezoning request on June 20, 2023. Following presentation of the staff report and comments from Jeff Maes of Com Pro Realty, representing the property owner, the Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend that the Zoning Map of the City of Salina be amended to change the zoning classification of this 35 acre site from A-1 (Agricultural) to 1-2 (Light Industrial), as requested by the applicant, subject to satisfactory platting of the property.
The Planning Commission also voted 6-0 to approve Mr. Johnson's preliminary plat for this property (Johnson Trucking Addition).
FISCAL NOTE:
There will be no direct fiscal impact on the City as a result of this zoning action.
The motion was approved 3-0. Mayor Hoppock had recused himself, and Commissioner Ryan was not present.
