Plans for a new townhome project near the site of the former Incred-A-Bowl in south Overland Park have been put on hold for now.
At Monday’s meeting, the Overland Park Planning Commission contemplated and ultimately deferred a proposal for a new cluster of townhomes on the northeast corner of 151st Street and Antioch Road.
Details: The townhomes, spearheaded by property company N. M. S., LLC, are proposed for a roughly 3-acre property immediately behind the hold Incred-A-Bowl, 8500 West 151st Street.
The site would include five two-story buildings, with a total of 20 units across all of them.
Each home would come with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a basement and a two-car garage.
The site would neighbor the existing Brittany Pointe and Brittany Highlands single-family neighborhoods to the north.
The proposal also includes various trees and landscaping to buffer the property to its neighbors.
Why it matters: The company proposing the townhomes also own the Incred-A-Bowl building. The former entertainment complex now sits vacant after closing in 2015.
Dr. Paramjeet Sabharwal, an agent for the property company, purchased the property in 2016.
The city later approved a special use permit for a weight-loss treatment center Sabharwal proposed for the property, but that never came to fruition.
Considering this and the current deterioration of the vacant Incred-A-Bowl building, some residents who opposed the project voiced concerns on Monday about whether Sabharwal would take care of it.
They also had concerns about the townhomes themselves, saying there would not be enough space between the development and the neighboring residential properties.
“My privacy, my family’s privacy and the neighbor’s privacy would be gone,” said resident Elizabeth Krueger. “My family and I have lived in our home for 29 years. We have worked hard to maintain our property, including our back fence, which we’ve replaced at our own expense.”
Resident John Paul pointed out that the property had previously been zoned and approved for office space and said that would be a better use of the site.
“I believe that cramming 20 units behind our houses between a liquor store and defunded bowling alley is not proper use of land in our area,” he said.
Commission input: The commission was relatively split, with some deeming the proposal an appropriate use for the site and some echoing the concerns residents shared.
Commissioner Thomas Robinett said putting a residential property at the site might make a better transition than office space would.
“I heard concerns that maybe we shouldn’t ever have allowed a bowling alley there and it failed relatively quickly,” he said. “With the change in environment from the pandemic and the lowering of demand for office space, we may be looking at the same thing right now if we went forward with office space there.”
Vice Chair Kip Strauss said he would likely view the proposal differently if it was coming from a different applicant.
“The owner of the development — of the Incred-A-Bowl — just hasn’t proven to me that this is going to be a good project,” he said.
The commission ultimately voted to continue the item for further discussion at a later meeting.
This item could potentially be revisited at the Planning Commission’s meeting on June 13.
