KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nearly 300 Overland Park residents have signed a petition opposing a rezoning request for the Ranchmart South shopping center.
EPC Real Estate Group is requesting that the center be rezoned to mixed-use, which would allow for the construction of a six-story apartment complex at West 95th Street and Mission Road. More than 200 units would be in the complex, according to site plans.
The petition states that the “density of the apartment portion of the project at 48.8 units per acre far exceeds the Overland Park Comprehensive Plan for the surrounding neighborhood areas.”
However, city planning commission documents state that there is not a density limit for apartments in mixed-use zoning.
Also argued in the petition is that the majority of the development would remain “as it currently exists -- thus not requiring rezoning” -- and would not have an “edge” or “general” subzone separating it from an adjacent subdivision.
Residents raised concerns about the project at a July neighborhood meeting, questioning the location of the proposed complex and how it will affect neighboring homeowners, among other issues.
City staff did not anticipate “any negative impact on adjacent property owners,” according to city documents.
“The building has been designed with significant offsets to help prevent it from appearing like a singular long building,” the documents state, “and the adjacent property owners are used to the length of the existing commercial building and parking structure.”
However, resident Joan Unger, who has been a realtor for more than 25 years in the Kansas City metro, said in a letter that real estate values will be negatively affected. Unger provided the letter, which was addressed to Overland Park Planning and Development Services Director Jack Messer, to 41 Action News on Sunday.
"I encourage the Planning Commission to deny these two request and send the developer back to the drawing board to work with local residents to develop a better redevelopment plan that meets the needs of the City while not financially harming their neighbors personal wealth by economically depressing the value of their homes," Unger said in the letter.
The developer also reduced the number of units by 20 after the first neighborhood meeting, along with other changes.
The Overland Park Planning Commission will vote on the rezoning at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at the Overland Park Convention Center. The meeting can be attended in person or online.
