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Council approves zoning change for worship‑center parking; applicant offers traffic signal to address safety
Summary
The council approved a zone change from neighborhood commercial to auto‑urban commercial for a property near 82nd Street and Upland Avenue to be used as a parking lot for a worship center. Applicant and supporters urged a full traffic signal and crosswalk for pedestrian safety; staff and council noted the zoning decision does not itself approve right‑of‑way work or city acceptance of maintenance.
Greg Hernandez, the planning and zoning manager, summarized zone case 2993‑b, noting staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of a change from neighborhood commercial to auto‑urban commercial for property south of 82nd Street and east of Upland Avenue. Hernandez said staff received two letters in opposition raising noise and traffic concerns but concluded the request conforms with the comprehensive plan and existing adjacent zoning.
Tommy Harms of Mountaintop Engineering, representing the worship center, said the property will be used for parking and that the applicant has coordinated with traffic engineering to install a full city‑standard traffic signal (not a simple crosswalk) that the city would accept and maintain after construction. Church board member John Campbell described the current pedestrian safety hazard during services and asked the council to approve the zoning and facilitate a crosswalk and signal: "We're trying to funnel everyone down to this parking lot...it's a liability waiting to happen."
Council members cautioned that zoning approval does not itself authorize right‑of‑way improvements; any signal or encroachment would require a separate approval and acceptance process, including an encroachment agreement and a formal acceptance by the city before the city would assume maintenance. Council voted to approve the zone change; staff and applicant will proceed with the traffic‑engineering and right‑of‑way processes if the applicant pursues the signal.
The council also discussed long‑term maintenance concerns and the possibility that an encroachment agreement would include removal obligations if the city later needed the right of way.
