KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The site of the former Deer Creek Golf Club will become a 68-home subdivision after the Overland Park Planning Commission approved a proposal to divy up the parts of the property that aren’t in a floodplain.
The planning commission also recommended approving the rezoning of empty land behind the former Incred-A-Bowl at West 151st Street and Antioch Road to build townhouses.
The planning commission approved both measures on a 7-2 vote, but the rezoning request still needs approval from the Overland Park City Council to move forward.
Developers for the townhouses project will be required to create a pedestrian path, which would connect the property to Hardy Street, if the project receives final approval.
The city council is expected to consider the proposal, which was modified to include 18 townhouses instead of the original 20, at its July 11 meeting.
Development of the former golf course site can begin immediately without action from the city council.
Building permits to begin constructing the first homes along with needed roads and sewer lines for Highlands of Deer Creek are expected to be issued soon.
The first homes in the new subdivision, which some neighbors in the area opposed out of concern about increased traffic, should be completed next year.
Deer Creek Golf Course, located near West 133rd Street and Metcalf Avenue, closed April 1, less than two months after the city council scuttled plans to build an apartment complex on the property.
The planning commission had recommended moving forward with the apartment project, which Great Life KC, which owns the property, said was necessary to generate the revenue needed for flood control.
Great Life KC is working with EPC Real Estate on the development plan, but the full city council shot down the proposal.
Much of the former golf course will remain vacant, because flooding from nearby Tomahawk Creek, which cuts through the former golf course, has exacerbated erosion issues for much of the property.
Residents in the area had tried to save the course and rallied against the apartment complex over aesthetic concerns.
