Title
DER2015-00002: PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE "U" UNIVERSITY ZONING DISTRICT. (ALL DISTRICTS)
Presented by: John L. Schlegel, Director, Metropolitan Area Planning Department.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt the findings of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, approve the proposed amendments to the "U" University Zoning District, authorize the Chairman to sign the resolution and authorize the resolution to be published.
Body
Background: Wichita State University has developed an Innovation Campus Master Plan (see attached) to redevelop Braeburn Golf Course with:
• An Experiential Engineering Building with engineering laboratories and a maker space
• Partnership Buildings, constructed with private funds by developers who will lease space to companies that want to work with WSU students and faculty
• A new home for the W. Frank Barton School of Business, with an adjacent Innovation Center
• A new residence hall
• Mixed-use buildings, built by private developers along 17th and 21st Streets, near Oliver, that would include retail stores and restaurants on the first level and apartments on upper levels
• Hotels, built by a private developer, near the southwest corner of 21st and Oliver
The current zoning of Wichita State's main campus and the former Braeburn Golf Course is "SF-5" Single Family with the "U" University Overlay District. The current language of the Unified Zoning Code indicates that the "U" University Overlay District should be applied only to non-university, residential properties adjacent to campus and that properties on campus should be zoned "U" University Base District.
Since neither the "U" University Overlay District nor "U" University Base District permits the proposed Innovation Campus uses and since other university campuses are zoned "U" University Base District, staff recommends the attached amendments to the "U" University Overlay District to create a section that applies to university-owned property on-campus and a differe...
Click here for full text