After months of protests, a court fight and a contentious election, Prairie Village is once again considering plans to amend zoning laws to allow for more housing — but now only limited types in commercial areas.
The City Council at its meeting last week heard an update on a long-running, strenuous examination of the city’s zoning ordinances. It’s been a point of major controversy for the past couple of years, stemming from an effort to enable more affordable housing in the city, which morphed into an intense political battle. In November, four newcomers, backed by residents who opposed zoning changes in their neighborhoods, won seats on the council.
After resident uproar over ideas to potentially allow for a wider variety of housing, city leaders committed to maintaining the status quo in residential neighborhoods, a main point of concern, and only focus on updates in commercial districts.
Chris Brewster, a city planner, said the latest plans call for allowing mixed-use residential projects in commercial areas, something that is currently restricted. Such projects could include adding apartments above office or retail space.
“That comes from the idea that some commercial buildings could be repurposed for residential. And that comes from the idea that perhaps we would want mixed-use buildings to be built in the (commercial) centers,” Brewster told the council.
The code updates would also set standards for developers to adhere to when they submit mixed-use project plans. Brewster said the city has generic standards in place, but the change would require developers proposing apartments or other residential projects to meet more specific size and height requirements. Such proposals would be subject to council approval.
A public hearing on the zoning code changes is expected to be held at the May 7 planning commission meeting. The council will vote on the issue as early as June 3.
New changes make fewer waves
The proposed changes, brought forth by the planning commission, have so far been much less controversial than the talking points at the center of last year’s opposition.
Commercial and non-residential districts make up only about 15% of Prairie Village, which is largely single-family neighborhoods, according to city documents.
At last week’s meeting, Councilwoman Lori Sharp, one of the four newcomers to win in November, asked Brewster whether the proposed changes would limit the ability for residents to voice input on housing projects — a main concern cited by residents who have protested zoning amendments.
Brewster said as developers seek approval for mixed-use project plans, residents would have opportunities to provide opinions on proposals as they move through City Hall.
“I think what we put in here actually has more criteria and specific targets for someone to hit,” he said. “ … I think it makes it easier for a governing body to say ‘no’ to it, because you can literally go to the ordinance and look at the criteria and say, ‘I don’t think you’ve met these criteria.’ Whereas right now it’s a little bit more subjective.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Sharp replied. “I’m going to look into that. But I’m glad that you said that.”
Councilman Dave Robinson said considering how dense Prairie Village already is, there aren’t many opportunities for a developer to propose a project from the ground-up. City officials expect new projects to come from redevelopment.
“A lot of these things are trying to give developers or potential developers ideas on what they can propose. But that doesn’t mean they can just come and do it,” Robinson said. “They’ve got to go through the process. They’ve got to go through some of the consistency checks, the neighborhood hearings, the reviews and everything else.”
Tense housing debate
The northeast Johnson County city was embroiled in conflict as soon as leaders started debating how to enable more affordable housing in the affluent suburb with soaring home prices and property taxes.
In Prairie Village last year, homes on average sold for $616,988, a 12% increase from the year before, according to the Johnson County appraiser’s annual report.
City officials, following a countywide push to tackle its affordable housing shortage, initially studied whether it could make it easier for developers to build duplexes, row houses and smaller apartment buildings — cheaper options that are often restricted by zoning laws across the county.
The talks set off a firestorm, with many residents protesting ideas they worried would lead to multi-family developments crowding the built-out city and changing the character of their neighborhoods. Others supported the initiatives, saying that misinformation was flowing, and meanwhile young families and older residents are being priced out of Prairie Village and need alternatives to the city’s large, single-family homes.
That debate escalated as a group of opposing residents, formed under the name PV United, passed around petitions, aiming to let residents vote on restricting rezoning, changing the city’s form of government and halving the size of the council. Attorney Rex Sharp, husband of Councilwoman Lori Sharp, represented the group.
Citing legal issues with the petitions, the city took the issue to court, asking a judge to rule on whether they were valid. The judge ruled only one of the three petitions met legal standards, but the issue wasn’t resolved in time for any such initiative to be placed on the November ballot. Both sides appealed the judge’s ruling.
The tension led to one of Johnson County’s most closely watched elections this past fall. Four PV United candidates won seats on the 12-member council, in addition to two incumbents who were reelected. It wasn’t enough to flip the council, but has offered residents wary of the zoning changes greater representation on the board.
What’s next for the housing talks?
As tensions mounted during last fall’s court proceedings and in the lead-up to the election, the City Council passed a motion specifying that it would not consider allowing multi-family developments in single-family neighborhoods.
The council agreed to maintain zoning laws in residential districts. It also decided to ax any discussion of making it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, also called “granny flats,” in their backyards. Several residents opposed allowing more of those detached homes on single-family lots, even writing restrictions for them into one of the circulated petitions.
Officials said they already had thrown those ideas out, but some residents remained convinced they would resurface, hence the formal resolution.
While residents remain organized, the debate has quieted down some since the election.
In addition to the newly proposed zoning code changes, city officials are expected to next discuss updating neighborhood design guidelines for smaller residential lots. The goal, city leaders say, is to ensure that new construction, as well as teardowns of existing homes to build larger ones, better fit with existing neighborhoods.
The council also is expected to consider new regulations for short-term rentals, following the lead of other cities in the Kansas City metro and across the metro that have cracked down on Airbnbs.