MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 7:00 pm
A developer plans to take another shot at convincing city officials to allow a large shopping center on the northeast corner of 84th and Adams.
Prairie Homes President Steve Champoux is seeking a Comprehensive Plan amendment that would designate the area a community shopping center rather than a neighborhood one.
The proposed amendment was presented to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission on Wednesday during a special hearing on the 2030 update to the Comprehensive Plan for future land use.
Champoux’s failure to get a similar amendment last year ultimately sunk a plan to put a Wal-Mart Supercenter at the site.
Currently, the northeast and southeast corners of the intersection are approved for 585,000 combined square feet of retail and office space, with no single user larger than 175,000 square feet on the northeast corner and 100,000 square feet on the southeast corner.
It was that 175,000-square-foot restriction that caused Wal-Mart to back out of building at the site.
Champoux’s proposed amendment would increase the amount of allowed square footage to 885,000 but shift most of the retail to the northeast corner and keep the maximum single-user limit.
The proposal calls for a “town center” concept with two big box stores bookending smaller retail stores and restaurants.
Though the Planning Department staff praised the town center concept and said it is supported by the Comprehensive Plan, they are recommending denial of the amendment based on concerns it would generate too much traffic for Adams Street to handle without major improvements.
Mike Eckert, a planner with Civil Design Group who spoke on behalf of Champoux, said moving most of the retail to the northeast corner would actually reduce traffic because people would do all of their shopping on the northeast corner and would not need to get back onto Adams to go to the southeast corner.
A similar argument was made for the southwest corner of the intersection, where different developers want to turn the North Forty golf course into homes and commercial development.
The Comprehensive Plan designates that corner as residential but says nothing about commercial, so the developers are seeking an amendment to have it designated for both.
Their attorney, Peter Katt, said commercial development on the corner was appropriate because it would allow people from the surrounding neighborhoods and points west to shop without having to cross 84th Street.
Katt also pointed out the lack of services in the area and said there is room for his clients’ development and the one Champoux proposed for across the street.
“When viewed in a package … I think it is very good for this part of Lincoln,” he said.
Citing the same concerns about traffic on Adams Street, the Planning Department also is recommending denial of the North Forty amendment.
Wednesday’s hearing was for informational purposes only. The Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on the Comprehensive Plan update, along with the two 84th and Adams amendments and several others at its regularly scheduled meeting next Wednesday.
Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
The issue: A proposed change to the city’s comprehensive plan would begin clearing the way for a large shopping center at 84th and Adams, a proposal previously thwarted.
The idea: The proposal calls for a “town center” concept with two big box stores bookending smaller retail stores and restaurants.
The conflict: City planners fear a large superstore at the corner would put too much traffic onto Adams. Proponents say traffic on Adams would be reduced.