Lenexa is making a slight change to its ward boundaries to ensure the city’s population remains relatively balanced among its four city council wards.
Who is impacted: The change relocates precinct 2-06 from Ward 2 to Ward 1 in the western part of the city.
That change impacts about 938 Lenexa residents who live in that precinct. It also reunites the entire Whispering Hills neighborhood directly east of Black Hoof Park and Lake Lenexa int one ward.
The new precinct boundaries are now generally:
- Woodland Road on the east
- Monticello Road on the west
- the Mill Creek streamway on the north
- West 91st Street on the south
After some discussion, the Lenexa City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the change.
By state law and the U.S. Constitution, cities must ensure their wards are relatively balanced in population size, with each ward’s population remaining ideally within 5% of the average ward population.
Under Lenexa’s change, each ward’s population has about 14,000 residents. Here’s a chart showing each of the ward’s new populations under the amendment, based on 2020 U.S. Census data:
Here’s a chart of the populations in each ward before the amendment, also according to 2020 U.S. Census data:
City staff noted that as Lenexa’s population grows westward, the city will likely need to address ward boundaries in the future, possibly as soon as late 2026.
Key quote: “…We want to make sure that the wards [are] rebalanced, rejoin the Whispering Hills, and get it done before the city council elections next year, and then have an opportunity to really relook at this when the time is appropriate before 2027.” — Mike Nolan, assistant city manager of Lenexa
Next steps: Lenexa will notify the Johnson County Election Office of its ward boundary change.
The new precinct will be in place before the 2022 elections, which do not feature races for any city offices. The new wards will be in place for city council elections in 2023.
