OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Overland Park City Council voted 10-3 Monday night to approve a proposal for a new apartment complex in town, despite concerns and a petition from dozens of neighbors.
The vote was a continuation of an Aug. 5 council meeting item to allow Thompson Thrift to develop a four-story, 303-unit apartment complex in the vacant lot at 97th and Metcalf.
Certain stipulations — like an eight-foot fence, a request for deviations and newly adopted lighting standards — were added to this most recent resolution.
This space, which formerly housed the Metcalf South Shopping Center, sits across the street from dozens of residential homes, including the Pettit family.
“You've got well-established, single-family home communities that are stable,” said Bob Pettit, a resident who lives along 98th Terrace. “There's a sense of community, people look out for each other.”
Bob and his wife, Donna, also look out at their backyard, where they already see a multi-story development across the street.
Their fear is they’ll start to see more.
"Having four stories overlook your backyard, it’s just not what we were expecting," Donna Pettit said.
The Pettits and dozens of their neighbors formed a petition months ago against the development, largely because of privacy concerns with balconies facing their homes.
After it was voted down at the Aug. 5 council meeting, they thought the conversation was over.
However, the city says the vote happened a second time because there was a council member missing Aug. 5.
“When a developer is interested in building in Overland Park, they come to the staff and they submit a proposal of what they’re interested in building, and that can be anything from a house to many apartments,” said Meg Ralph, strategic communications director for the city. “They meet with the staff, the staff goes back and forth and says, ‘It needs these changes to fit with our plan, to conform with our codes; that kind of thing.'"
From there, once the staff has a recommendation for approval or denial, it goes to the planning commission, which it did in May.
"They recommended it for approval with quite a few stipulations, but basically, minor changes to the plan that would let the city council consider it," Ralph said. "The council saw it at our last meeting in early August, made a motion, it ended up failing to approve, and so they ended up continuing it to this meeting.”
Ralph says the 97th and Metcalf development plans are part of a larger initiative called "Framework OP."
The plan, which wrapped up in May, set the standard for where development would go in Overland Park.
"It took us about two years of working on updating that plan; there was a lot of community engagement, talked to a lot of people, did surveys, went to businesses and heard from residents," Ralph said.
Ralph said the feedback was wide-ranging and was considered heavily before any action was taken.
“People want walkable spaces, they want more housing, they want access to things like grocery stores, hospitals, really just making those quality of life things easier than they already are in Overland Park,” Ralph said.
It’s something the Pettits aren’t against, they’d just like a compromise.
“It’d be great to have a park there, but that’s just not going to happen,” Donna Pettit said. “We’re not anti-apartment, we just don’t want a monstrosity on top of us.”
Council members cited things like the fact that the lot has been vacant for a long time, a need to move Framework OP forward and the desire to add population density to the area as reasoning for voting in favor of the complex.
Beyond privacy concerns, neighbors like the Pettits worry about their property values.
“The renters don’t have to pay property taxes, that puts more burden on us as property owners to fund the schools, fund the police, fund the fire department,” Bob Pettit said. “I can’t imagine anyone would rather buy a home with that in their backyard than not.”
It’s a valid concern, said Majid Ghavami, local realtor.
“Some of the pros may be more retail, more restaurants — things like that,” Ghavami said. “But some of the cons, it could lead to more traffic.”
He says he understands why renters would be attracted to the area.
“I think it’s a good thing new development is coming in because it was kind of an eye sore, to be honest,” Ghavami said. “Especially when they tore down. And so now, there’s a QuikTrip, there’s some restaurants, a Lowe’s — things like that.”
The city’s reassuring residents their concerns do matter, even if it doesn’t feel that way.
“The things that people have to say about these kind of projects really do matter, and that’s why we ask on a large scale, get involved so we can hear what you want when you want it,” Ralph said.
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