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iir Planning Commission 471-97: O'Neil Property March 8, 1997 Page 21 Conditional • governmental and public utility buildings • professional and commercial offices • commercial planned unit development as regulated by Chapter 1120 • solar energy and wind generator systems Staff does not regard the development of 17 acres in neighborhood businesses as practical or marketable. There is just too much land in this parcel to be absorbed by the limited range of businesses listed as permitted. The most likely use of this property, if it were to remain in this district, is offices. The proposal includes this use, so in this aspect, changing the zoning from B-1 to PUD is not a change. The obvious difference is having an entertainment use as opposed to a retail use, and replacing the potential for duplexes under the R-2 residential district with the office buildings in the proposal. The development of office buildings with no access to County Road H2 is a quieter use than duplexes fronting onto County Road H2 would be. The offices will be probably be closed on weekends and evenings. There will be no driveways onto County Road H2 and no neighbors in closeby yards. • C Conclusions The community must decide what its goals are for this property and how it fits into the bigger picture. One consistent theme in the adopted Comprehensive Plan and in all the subsequent versions is that the O'Neil property is very significant and it is located in what the community regards at its City Center. The desire in 1979 was for this area to become a strong, vital, identifying community focal point, with a mixture of commercial, public, low, medium and high density residential and open space uses (p. 172). The 1979 Comp Plan also included a Community Development Concept and land use recommendations (see Appendix 4). The concept is described as "the basic idea behind the plan." It then discusses two topics • The importance of the O'Neil property and the need to create a compact, functional center incorporating retail commercial activity, the civic center and medium and higher density residential development, and • The importance of providing protection to the quality of life in residential neighborhoods. There, in a nutshell, are the two main issues raised by this application. Staff is supportive of the request from Anthony properties for amending the Comprehensive Plan and rezoning the property to allow development of the theaters and office buildings because we believe it: • Is designed in a manner which provides protection and buffering for the surrounding IP residential neighborhoods • Preserves the wetland and leaves the undeveloped portions of the site in their natural, wooded state.