[Electronic-lan] Draft October minutes

Wed Mar 21 13:24:34 CDT 2018

Dear LAN Listserve recipients,

I have attached the draft minutes for the October 5, 2017 meeting and
included them in the body of this message.  They will be considered for
approval at the meeting this evening.  

Next meeting:

7:00 pm

Wednesday, March 21

Meeting Room C, Lawrence Public Library

Best,

Gary Webber

LAN Secretary

  _____  

DRAFT Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods (LAN) Meeting Minutes - October
5, 2017 

LAN met at 7:00 p.m., October 5, 2017, in Meeting Room C of the Lawrence
Public Library, 707 Vermont Street with Co-Chair Courtney Shipley presiding.

The following attendees were present: Becky Pepper, City of Lawrence
Planning and Development Services; Bob Nugent, Lawrence Transit; Brenda
Nunez, East Lawrence neighborhood resident; Charlie Bryan, Monterey
neighborhood resident; Cindy Suenram, East Lawrence Neighborhood Association
representative; Courtney Shipley, Dad Perry Park/Kasold; David Longhurst,
Downtown Lawrence Inc.; Dustin Stumblingbear, Pinckney neighborhood
resident; Hayden Maples, Deerfield neighborhood resident; Jane Gibson,
Barker Neighborhood Association representative; Jim Carpenter, Planning
Commission Member; Kathy Heppert, Sunset Hill Neighborhood Association
co-representative; Kirk McClure, Old West Lawrence Association
representative; Lisa Larsen, Lawrence City Commission / West Hills
neighborhood resident; Mark Thiel, City of Lawrence; Melinda Henderson,
Brook Creek Neighborhood Association representative; Phyllis Farrar, Friends
of Lawrence Transit; Porter Arneill, City of Lawrence; Steve Braswell,
Pinckney Neighborhood Association representative; Ted Boyle, North Lawrence
Improvement Association representative; Travis Robinett, Schwegler
Neighborhood Association representative; Virgil Dean, Westwood
representative.

September minutes were not available for review and approval.

Treasurer's report. Cindy Suenram reported $2,305.11 is in the LAN bank
account. 

Speaker: Porter Arneill, City of Lawrence. Arneill provided a presentation
on the sales tax renewal proposal and how it impacts the City of Lawrence.
He presented details about the current sales tax that will sunset March 31,
2019. Three sales tax renewal questions will appear on the November general
election ballot on November 7, 2017. The proposal, where sales taxes would
be effective April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2030, calls for 0.2 percent for
public transportation, 0.3 percent for infrastructure and equipment, and
0.05 percent for affordable housing. More information is available at the
City of Lawrence website at https://lawrenceks.org/sales-tax/proposal/. 

Speaker: Phyllis Farrar, Friends of Lawrence Transit. Farrar provided a
presentation, on behalf of Friends of Lawrence Transit, in support of
renewing the 0.2 percent sales tax to support continued operations of public
transit. Farrar cited several improvements in transit service since the
current sales tax to support transit operations was approved in 2008:
ridership has tripled, reaching 1.2 million (City) and 3 million (City plus
KU); T-Lift paratransit service has increased to 15 buses; Night Line
service has been introduced, providing service from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Monday
- Saturday, for those who don't work on a traditional schedule; K-12 student
bus passes provide unlimited bus rides for K-12 students year round. Farrar
also stated that many populations have become dependent on the bus, with 54
percent of riders not having reliable access to an automobile, and that
allowing the current sales tax to sunset ag would impact people that depend
on transit to access critical community resources such as Bert Nash, the
Housing Authority and the Lawrence Community Shelter. 

Speaker: Sara Taliafaro, Affordable Housing / Justice Matters. Taliafaro
provided a presentation, on behalf of Justice Matter, in support of
approving the 0.05 percent sales tax for affordable housing. Justice
Matters, Taliafaro explained, is a local nonprofit, made up of 21
faith-based organizations, that is a diverse, politically nonpartisan,
direct action group (not direct service). Each year, Justice Matters
conducts house meetings and talks about such things as what keeps you up at
night. Stories collected in those house meetings three years ago led to
Justice Matters identifying affordable housing as an issue. The City has
studied this issue and worked to address it for two decades. The revenue
from the 0.05 percent sales tax proposal would go into the City's Affordable
Housing Trust Fund. The fund is overseen by the Affordable Housing Advisory
Board. Taliafaro claimed that this approach (funding an affordable housing
trust fund) has worked in more than 500 cities, and that, nationally, local
dollars are typically leveraged 1 to 6. In a recent demonstration project in
Lawrence, leverage of 1 to 4 was achieved. 

Update from City Planning and Development Services. The October 5, 2017
Neighborhood Update for LAN, available at
https://lawrenceks.org/pds/neighborhood_information/, was reviewed by Becky
Pepper. The update was also sent out via the LAN listserv.

Discussion of Horizon 2020 draft comprehensive plan chapter on
neighborhoods. As part of the Horizon 2020 Steering Committee comprehensive
plan update process, the steering committee is accepting written input on
the draft comprehensive plan through Monday, October 23, 2017. Melinda
shared concerns from Pennie von Achen that the draft plan presents
generalized goals with limited actions or directions to facilitate
implementation. Travis reported that Sustainability Advisory Board will be
reviewing H2020 at its next meeting. Charlie, Kirk and Courtney briefly
summarized the Oct. 3 discussion by the LAN Horizon 2020 committee about
growth (tier 1), neighborhoods, community resources, and historic
preservation. It was moved by David Longhurst and seconded by Travis
Robinett to direct LAN co-chair Courtney Shipley to submit a LAN statement
on the draft comprehensive plan by Oct. 23, with the requirement that a
draft of the statement is first shared with the executive committee for
review and comment before being finalized and submitted. The motion passed
unanimously. 

Nominating committee. Travis volunteered to be the nominating committee. His
email address is travis.robinett at gmail.com and phone number is 512-775-4040.
Contact Travis if you are interested in serving as a LAN officer for 2018. 

LAN questionnaire. How do we want to disperse the answers to the responses
to the candidate questionnaire? Jane suggested that the executive committee
review the responses first before deciding what would be shared out and how
it would be shared. It was moved by Steve Braswell and seconded by Jane
Gibson to direct the executive committee to review the responses and
determine which questions and responses would be published. The motion
passed with one opposing vote (Melinda). 

Short-term rental. The deadline for written public input is Oct. 13. There
is an informational page on the City website, at
https://lawrenceks.org/short-term-rentals/, with statistics and answers to
frequently asked questions. The majority of those who attended the public
meeting were pro owners/operators of short-term rental properties. One
person mentioned that about 16-20 people might rent a property at one time.
Those people wanted to be together rather than staying in separate rooms at
a hotel. Short-term rental property owners are targeting core neighborhoods,
near downtown. Some houses are being bought by developers in East Lawrence
with purpose of changing them in to short-term rentals. North Lawrence has
already submitted a letter with the position that short-term rentals should
not be allowed in residential neighborhoods. It was motioned by Kirk
McClure, seconded by Steve Braswell, that LAN authorize the chair to write a
letter opposing short-term rentals because of nuisance involved and damage
to neighborhoods. The motion passes with 7 votes in favor, 2 opposed and 2
abstaining. 

The meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m.

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