Smart Planning Vs. Clusterf**k

[mrfootball]

LAJ - Flexible Planning Drives City Development

Flexible planning drives city development

BY JAMES GALLAGHER

AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

The shopping center planned for the southeast corner of 82nd Street and Milwaukee Avenue will likely feature a gas station, restaurants, medical offices and a 60-acre Wal-Mart SuperCenter.

Had the center's developers stuck to the city's comprehensive plan for development, however, it's doubtful that the Wal-Mart would have fit the site.

The city's plan for development calls for commercial development to be confined to 10-acre parcels at each of the four corners at the intersections of the city's main thoroughfares.

Jim Watkins / Staff

Construction begins on a strip shopping center along the 5800 block of 82nd Street amid dozens of established businesses along the street.

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But the city's planning department is looking at changing that plan and is allowing for more commercial development beyond the 10-acre limit. And local developers applaud the initiative.

"I think the comprehensive plan, it needs to remain dynamic enough that the marketplace suggests or demands changes," said Burl Masters, with Masters and Associates Landplanners.

The changes mean larger shopping centers, such as the 60-acre Wal-Mart development, and more strip centers throughout the city, such as those under construction at 82nd Street and Iola Avenue.

"The 10 acres is just a general rule," said the city's senior planner, Randy Henson. "Our job ... is to try to make this a safe, commercially viable city, a city where people want to live."

The city of Lubbock first outlined a comprehensive plan for development in 1943, a year after the city adopted zoning codes.

The 1943 plan dictated that the city grow in a block pattern with major thoroughfares every mile. It also called for commercial and industrial development along those thoroughfares.

Since then, the city's planning department has updated the plan several times as the city limits expand and new development occurs. In each case, the planners have tried to respond to the current conditions and zoning of the city and to devise a better plan for growth.

The 10-acre plan, best seen at the intersection of 82nd Street and Quaker Avenue, is a clear backlash against the development that occurred along 34th and 50th streets.

"We definitely don't want another 34th Street or 50th Street," said Terry Holeman, director of development Services for Hugo Reed & Associates, a local land surveying and engineering company.

The numerous strip centers along 34th and 50th streets create so many access points that the roads are often difficult to travel.

By massing commercial development at the major intersections, the number of cars entering and exiting the thoroughfares is reduced.

"You focus on the corner where you can get off the street and park and you can go to the grocery store, the dress store, the computer shop, hopefully to three or four stores without driving," Henson said.

But strip commercial may become a more common sight in parts of Lubbock that have yet to be developed.

Henson said he is supporting more commercial developments beyond the limits recommended in the comprehensive plan, allowing the commercial real estate market to shake itself out.

That plan lines up well with what planners are saying nationally.

"I think cities would be much better served to provide a framework in which land uses can be flexible so the markets can be changed and shifted to match the neighborhood," said Sam Staley, director of urban and land use policy at the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation, a nonprofit public policy research organization.

Few in the area truly know how much more commercial development Lubbock can support.

Holeman said the only way to know when the commercial market is overdeveloped is if buildings are constructed and sit empty.

"We won't know the answer for some years," he said.

Still, Holeman said, he likes the idea of more strip malls because they buffer residential homes from thoroughfare traffic and better maintain the property.

"Those folks (who live along the thoroughfares) tend to not take care of their little yard," he said. "Commercial is better about taking care of it."

Commercial development is also sometimes better able to deal with complex drainage issues, said Henson.

Because the South Plains is so flat, the city must create pathways for water to run to playa lakes. Henson said commercial development can sometimes channel runoff more effectively than residential development.

In some cases, the city has no option but to allow strip centers due to development that existed before those areas were annexed. Along 82nd Street, west of Milwaukee, for example, a number of businesses existed before the city annexed that area several years ago.

Still, not everyone in the development community is thrilled with the idea of strip malls.

Paul Stell of Stellar Development would like to see more mixed-use developments that follow a smart growth model.

"What we need to encourage is development that enhances pedestrian walkability," said Stell, who is developing Vintage Township in South Lubbock.

Stell suggests creating shopping centers with greater access to residential neighborhoods so people don't have to drive along thoroughfares to reach them.

And Masters said he would like to see more local retail developed within residential areas.

"The key is for everything to be convenient," he said. "I don't think we need to confine everything to the thoroughfares."

To comment on this story:

james.gallagher@lubbockonline.com 766-8753

[Talbot]

Good article.

From the title I thought maybe they made some smarter land use laws for Harris. Shoot.

[editor]

The first step they can take to rectify this situation is to rename "Milwaukee Street."

[WesternGulf]

Good article.

From the title I thought maybe they made some smarter land use laws for Harris. Shoot.

Me too.

The best example of clusterf*ck in Houston is Montrose. Specifically Westheimer.

[Gary]

Me too.

The best example of clusterf*ck in Houston is Montrose. Specifically Westheimer.

Son, them is fightin words. Seriously, what is wrong with Montrose? I love how quirky it is.

[WesternGulf]

Son, them is fightin words. Seriously, what is wrong with Montrose? I love how quirky it is.

I love it too, but I wish it was a little more uniformed. Some might say that would take away from the area but you can still be "quirky" and have some organization along with that. I really do not like the mix of strip centers and pedestrian oriented businesses along the main strip.

[MidtownCoog]

Yea, I wish Montrose looked like Plano!

[WesternGulf]

Yea, I wish Montrose looked like Plano!

I know you are using sarcasm but you're joking right? What was the point for the sarcasm? All I am saying is I appreciate the old Montrose, the house businesses, tower theater, and old tatto and antique shops, rather than the new stuff that has popped up lately.

[MidtownCoog]

Like what?

The cleaners behind Stop-n-Go? That's not even all the new.

Are we talking Montrose the street, or Montrose the hood?

[WesternGulf]

Like what?

The cleaners behind Stop-n-Go? That's not even all the new.

Are we talking Montrose the street, or Montrose the hood?

Montrose the hood. I guess I should not be complaining that much because it is more of a Houston problem, but have you ever took the time to walk Westheimer from Smith and Elgin to about Dunlavy? Its just so unorganized and it is hard not to recognize. There is no cohesion or sense of place. Montrose has a cool and quirky feel to it but is the hotbed for Houston's no zoning. There are also some areas where it is more convenient to walk in the streets rather than the sidewalk.

[Gary]

Montrose the hood. I guess I should not be complaining that much because it is more of a Houston problem, but have you ever took the time to walk Westheimer from Smith and Elgin to about Dunlavy? Its just so unorganized and it is hard not to recognize. There is no cohesion or sense of place. Montrose has a cool and quirky feel to it but is the hotbed for Houston's no zoning. There are also some areas where it is more convenient to walk in the streets rather than the sidewalk.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think the area mentioned above was considered Montrose. I believe it would be considered midtown.

As far as the Montrose I know (Shepard & Westhiemer down to Elgin, and Westhiemer & Montrose down to 59) it's very cool. I love the artistic flare to the area, and in some cases (especially down Montrose) it reminds me of Hollywood.

Anyway, I wouldn't want much changed about the area with the exception of the Mcdonalds and Wendys right after the curve. Oh there is the strip on Westheimer & Montross with the Blockbuster that sucks.

[dbigtex56]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think the area mentioned above was considered Montrose. I believe it would be considered midtown.

As far as the Montrose I know (Shepard & Westhiemer down to Elgin, and Westhiemer & Montrose down to 59) it's very cool. I love the artistic flare to the area, and in some cases (especially down Montrose) it reminds me of Hollywood.

Anyway, I wouldn't want much changed about the area with the exception of the Mcdonalds and Wendys right after the curve. Oh there is the strip on Westheimer & Montross with the Blockbuster that sucks.

I'd say that Midtown changes to Montrose at Bagby (where Elgin turns to Westheimer.) Except for a couple of blocks, WesternGulf was correct in referring to this stretch as Montrose.

As someone who's made that walk innumerable times, I agree that the development that has taken place in the past 20 years has been uniformly detrimental to pedestrian traffic (the sole exception being the new structure at Elgin & Smith.) There's not much pleasure in walking past a bunch of damn parking lots in front of strip centers. It's hard to window shop from 100' away.

There's still a few clusters of the 'old' Montrose remaining, such as the old Cherryhurst Pharmacy area (The Curve), the resale shops just east of Dunlavy, and Antique Row, near the Empire Cafe'. If only developers had had the courage to build something appropriate to the neighborhood! It's not much fun making one's way through an asphalt desert.