Holly Young, Petitioner for Victoria Guest, Property Owner, (File No. 18-004511-ZA) is requesting approval to rezone three adjacent properties located at 10602 White Bluff Road from R-6 (Single-Family Residential) to B-N (Neighborhood Business). The properties are currently forested vacant lots with frontage on White Bluff Road only. The subject properties, comprising a total of 0.90 acres, are currently surrounded by single-family residential (to the north and east) and a religious use (to the south). The subject properties have a depth of 200 feet and are adjacent to Lorwood Subdivision in the Paradise Park neighborhood.

On September 18, 2018, the Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of the petition to rezone the subject properties from R-6 to B-N.

The MPC concluded the proposed zoning is broadly incompatible with the broader neighborhood context. While the western side of White Bluff Road has seen a range of commercial and multifamily residential development, the eastern side remains almost exclusively residential with community institutions such as schools and churches. The width of the arterial street, with its tree-lined median and intensity of traffic, provides ample separation between these two predominant patterns of use. Between the Vernon River Canal and the Truman Parkway (1.2 miles), a stretch containing the subject property, there is only a single instance of commercial zoning on the east side of White Bluff. This small cluster of shops at the Wilshire Boulevard intersection is zoned B-N, the same designation sought by the petitioner, but it is surrounded by a senior living facility and church properties with less of a possibility for direct impact on nearby residences.

Rezonings, especially conversions from residential to commercial use, must be considered with the full scope of new permitted uses in mind. The neighborhood business designation (B-N) allows a broad range of activities with potential to adversely impact adjacent residences, including gas stations, car washes and dry cleaners. Furthermore, B-N development standards only require a 10-foot side yard and 25-foot rear yard setback from adjacent residential districts, meaning that such uses could be very close to adjacent single-family homes. As the proposed zoning designation is incompatible with the future land use map, there should be a strong rationale for such a dramatic shift in land use. Although the property fronts a minor arterial road, the current single-family residential zoning does not represent an undue constraint. The lots in question are 200 feet deep and extensively wooded, which could provide ample screening for future homes; there is an existing single-family residence fronting White Bluff immediately to the north of the subject site.

Denial of the request to rezone 10602 White Bluff Rd from R-6 to B-N.

The proposed neighborhood business designation (B-N) allows a broad range of activities with potential to adversely impact adjacent residences and is not consistent with the Tri-Centennial Comprehensive Plan's Future Land Use Map.  The site context on the east side of White Bluff Road is primarily residential, with few instances of commercial activity in line with the proposed zoning.  The one exception (Wilshire at White Bluff) abuts non-residential uses.  Since the subject property is both deep and screened with trees, MPC staff finds that development consistent with the current residential designation does not represent an undue constraint.