Land Development Code Update

Clarion Associates was retained in 2022 to help  the university town of Lawrence, Kansas, with a major revision/update of its LDC. Key priorities for the project were to implement the City’s recent  comprehensive, downtown, and subarea plans. Substantive areas of focus included improvements to the City’s environmental regulations, expanding housing options, and reinforcing the region’s commitment to compact growth and sustainability.  Additionally, the project aimed to “zone for equity” and ensure that the development regulations do not result in unfair outcomes among different neighborhoods in Lawrence and allow for the equal ability to participate in or influence all parts of the zoning process. The two-year process included significant community outreach ranging from “Meeting in a Box” activities to individual meetings with neighborhood organizations, and community wide open houses. Innovative features of the new LDC include an expanded list of housing options throughout the City, residential lot and dimensional adjustments (e.g., courtyard and small lot development) to encourage infill housing, maximum parking requirements for all nonresidential uses and no minimum parking requirements in nonresidential zoning districts, new development standards that limit auto-oriented development and the impact of development on environmentally sensitive lands, simplified development procedures, and expanded public notice requirements.