Salina planning panel backs raising R‑2 lot coverage from 35% to 40% and forwards recommendation to city commission

The Salina Planning Commission on June 3 voted unanimously to recommend that the City Commission approve a zoning text amendment to raise the maximum lot coverage in the R‑2 (multifamily residential) district from 35% to 40%. The recommendation on application Z‑25‑4 will be considered by the City Commission on June 23.

The amendment, requested by Building Kansas LLC to address construction problems in the Aeroplanes subdivision, would change the R‑2 code section that sets lot‑coverage limits so the 40% cap applies to permitted and conditional uses alike. Planning staff said the change would allow townhome models already planned for Aeroplanes to fit on lots in the eastern part of that subdivision and would also provide broader flexibility for infill development citywide.

Planning staff described the background: Aeroplanes is a new subdivision of about 170 lots in which three attached‑home models (referred to in project documents as Gulfstream, LEAR and Citation) are specified in the development agreement. As construction moved east in the subdivision staff discovered that those models…