Saturday,
July 30, 2005
City
Envisions Waterfront Growth
Housing proposed upriver and down
Louisville Metro officials picture condominium and apartment buildings as
tall as 14 stories along the Ohio River just east of downtown.
They also picture renovated warehouses being transformed into condos,
apartments, stores and other uses in the aging Shippingport area just west of
downtown.
To get those developments rolling, they want the Louisville Metro Council to
approve new regulations for both areas to permit taller buildings and more
intense uses.
The changes sought by the Waterfront Development Corp. and the Downtown
Development Corp. have raised questions among some property owners, even though
the proposal would not affect current uses of neighboring properties.
"People can continue doing what they are doing," said Charles Cash,
director of Metro Planning & Design Services. The changes would affect only
the development areas.
The proposal involves changing form-district regulations, which emphasize the
compatibility and design of new developments. Form-district regulations are
separate from zoning regulations, which more strictly address land use.
Under the change, Shippingport and the area upriver from downtown would be
included in the more flexible downtown form district. Shippingport is now
designated a traditional workplace form district; the upriver area is designated
a neighborhood.
The Shippingport area is roughly bounded by the river and Jefferson, 17th and
between 9th and 10th streets. The upriver area is bounded by the river,
Beargrass Creek, River Road and Adams Street.
Metro officials believe Shippingport, with its big old warehouses, could
become a trendy residential area. They announced plans last year to extend River
Road west through Shippingport to 12th Street, which would open it for
development. Longer-range plans include extending River Road to Northwestern
Parkway and creation of a West Waterfront Park.
"We see development pushing west from downtown," said Patti Clare,
director of project development at the Downtown Development Corp. "We see a
mixed-use neighborhood blossoming in the wonderful architecture of the
Shippingport buildings."
While developers could convert the warehouses to residential and other uses
under the current traditional workplace designation, they would have fewer
hurdles if the proposed form-district change is approved.
Downtown regulations, for example, do not require yards or buffer areas
between commercial and residential buildings. They do not require new
developments to include parking spaces. There also is no minimum lot size, depth
or width for nonresidential property.
The form-district change also would make property more valuable, Cash said.
Upriver from downtown, officials have promoted large-scale residential
development for perhaps 15 years, and those efforts seem to be working out.
Icon Properties plans to begin construction late this year on the first phase
of RiverPark Place, planned for as many as 350 condominiums and apartments
opposite Towhead Island.
The site's current neighborhood form district ordinarily prohibits buildings
taller than 45 feet. The downtown form district that metro officials want has no
height limit. "We think what the city is proposing is appropriate for the
project and the area," Icon managing partner Steve Poe said through a
spokeswoman.
Icon has not determined how tall its buildings will be, but at least some
will be eight to 14 stories. Buildings of that height would produce housing
density suitable for downtown, said David Karem, executive director of the
Waterfront Development Corp. The Waterfront corporation applied for the upriver
form-district change.
"With that kind of density, you can create a village setting with
commercial support and restaurants," Karem said. "It would be a
self-contained community."
He said Icon and officials of the Waterfront and Downtown Development
corporations have worked closely on the Shippingport and waterfront projects,
including tours of waterfront developments in Boston and other cities.
The Planning Commission's land-use committee recently reviewed the proposed
changes. Four owners of property in Shippingport asked how they would be
affected.
"What's it all about? Why are they doing this?" asked Jerry
Carroll, owner of Portland Recycling on Portland Avenue. Carroll feared that he
could be required to make improvements to his property that aren't needed.
Cash said he realized the proposals raise questions, especially in
Shippingport. That area has 226 affected property owners, according to the
application for the changes. There are only 14 private properties in the upriver
area, which is smaller and mostly city-owned.
Metro officials will schedule meetings with property owners, residents and
business operators to explain the proposals. "We'll prepare handouts to
explain the changes," Cash said.
John Hodgin, president of the Shippingport Business Association, wondered if
he would have to meet downtown sidewalk standards if he expanded his metal
fabrication business.
Those standards call for lighting, benches, landscaping and other animating
features to make sidewalks attractive. Such measures would be expensive and
might look odd in front of a fabrication business, Hodgin said.
"All regulations can be waived under the right circumstances," Cash
said. "We need to have some meetings."