Salina planning commission delays vote on Magnolia Village rezoning, plat and PDD over utilities, fire and right-of-way issues

The Salina Planning Commission on Feb. 4 postponed consideration of three linked applications for the Magnolia Village development — rezoning application Z-25-1 for a commercial lot along Magnolia Road, plan development district (PDD 25-1) approval for multifamily housing and final plat P/23-7B for the Dry Creek Addition — citing unresolved utility, drainage, right-of-way and fire-protection issues.

Staff described the project as a 29-acre tract west of Virginia Drive and south of Magnolia Road that would include a roughly 1.4-acre commercial lot at the Magnolia frontage, about 11.2 acres already platted and under construction as phase 1, and a phase 2 plan for 52 horizontal apartment units plus three multi-story apartment buildings totaling 99 units. Dean, a city planning staff member, told commissioners the applications had been accepted but that several technical corrections and outstanding commitments remained.

The commission’s delay followed reports from city departments that said the phase 2 utility layout did not provide a redundant water/fire flow connection recommended by the director of utilities and the fire marshal, that portions of the sanitary sewer design proposed to discharge into an undersized 8-inch segment instead of the 12-inch section with capacity, and that several public-right-of-way dedications needed from adjacent property owners had not been secured. Martha Tasker, Salina’s director of utilities, said redundancy in water supply is standard practice: "we wanna make sure we put the fire…