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Planning commission backs expansion and text changes to Lake Asbury Interchange Village Center, sends comp plan amendment to BCC
Summary
Commission recommended approval of a comprehensive plan amendment and matching zoning to expand the Lake Asbury Interchange Village Center from 18.75 to 52 acres and to make residential a 0% minimum while capping maximum residential at 30%; the item will go to the Board of County Commissioners for a Feb. 10 transmittal hearing.
The Clay County Planning Commission voted Feb. 3 to recommend approval of a comprehensive plan amendment and a parallel rezoning that would expand and clarify the Lake Asbury Interchange Village Center (LAIVC) designation east of Henley Road.
Staff and the applicant said the proposal will expand the LAIVC area from 18.75 acres to 52 acres, add clarifying text to differentiate the Henley Road LAIVC from the larger SR 16 LAIVC, and change residential parameters so the minimum required residential percentage would be 0% while the maximum would be set at 30%. Staff recommended approval after reviewing the comp plan and zoning criteria. The matter will proceed to the Board of County Commissioners as a transmittal hearing on Feb. 10; the zoning change will return to the county after state review.
Susan Fraser of SLF Consulting, representing the landowner, described the history and rationale for the amendment, saying the original 18.75-acre allocation was too small to meet local demand for commercial services. Fraser noted an approved site plan for a grocery store and outparcels is in place and construction could start this summer. Tom Young, a representative of AY Ventures and Black Sound Development, said road and signal work for Verbena Parkway is advancing and the developer is prepared to begin construction once bids and approvals are complete.
Several residents urged protections for nearby neighborhoods. Gary Schiff and Tommy Childress, representing Village Park residents and the HOA, asked the commission to rezone a semicircular subdivision area (the 'half moon') as rural fringe or single-family to prevent nonconforming commercial or multifamily development; both urged that the residential maximum be reduced to 0% so the developer cannot add higher-density housing adjacent to existing homes. Helena Cormier, a Lake Asbury Penny Farm Citizens Advisory Committee member who voted against the change at the CAC, said she opposed diverging the language between the two LAIVC designations and questioned why the minimum moved from 5% in CAC discussions to 0% in the application.
Staff and the applicant clarified that an approved townhouse concept exists south of Verbena Parkway under current IVC rules and that the CAC recommended a 0% minimum after discussion; the developer said it would conceptually accept single-family in the semicircle if the county and residents preferred that written outcome.
Commissioners debated balancing commercial services for the expressway and local residents’ concerns about scale and housing type. After discussion Commissioner (Speaker 7) moved to advance the staff report; the commission voted to recommend the comprehensive plan transmittal and the zoning change to the Board of County Commissioners by voice vote.
The BCC transmittal hearing is scheduled for Feb. 10; state review will follow and a separate BCC hearing will be set for the zoning consideration after state comments are received.
