A new group calling itself Prairie Village for All is encouraging the city to move forward with an ad hoc housing task force’s recommendations aimed at addressing housing affordability in the northeast Johnson County suburb.
- Members of the group turned out at Monday night’s city council meeting in an attempt to contrast their message with arguments that have been made frequently in recent months by opponents of the recommendations.
The state of play: There now appears to be two sets of residents organizing on either side of the housing issue in Prairie Village as city officials continue to discuss how, if at all, to implement the housing recommendations.
- A group of opponents organized under the umbrella now calling itself Stop Rezoning PV has packed council chambers during recent city council meetings, voicing their concerns about the housing recommendations — specifically that the recommendations would make it easier for multi-family developments like apartments to be built in or near single-family homes and neighborhoods.
- In general, these previous meetings have been dominated by opponents with a handful of residents voicing support for the recommendations, but those dynamics were flipped on Monday, with the Prairie Village for All group making their first concerted appearance.
- A few opposition residents showed up to Monday’s meeting, as well, but the Stop Rezoning PV group’s website says the group attends the first city council meeting of each month.
What they’re saying: On Monday, some residents like David Magariel said they believe the process the city embarked on in June 2021 to explore housing concerns should be allowed to play out and not stopped before it starts.
- Magariel said if the city changes nothing about its current housing policy, then Prairie Village “will be economically inaccessible to large segments of our society.”
What else: Jessica Fick also spoke Monday and said she’s already experienced being pushed out of Prairie Village after she and her family moved out of an apartment to a multi-family condominium in Overland Park because they could not afford a single family home in Prairie Village.
- Fick said she’s thankful she still works in Prairie Village and is grateful for the ongoing housing conversation the city started with its ad-hoc housing committee.
Key quote: “When you picture affordable housing in Prairie Village and multi-family units, I’d like you to picture me. I am ‘those people,’” Fick said. “I am ‘those people’ who can’t afford single family housing in Prairie Village. A family who wants to invest in the welfare of our neighborhoods and city, churches and community.”
The back story: In June, the city council approved the ad hoc housing committee’s recommendations — which were aimed generally at addressing the affordability and diversity of the city’s housing stock — but took no official action on implementing them.
- Since then, droves of residents, led by some former city councilmembers, have voiced their concerns.
- City staff created a webpage aimed at dispelling what city officials said was misinformation about the recommendations and what actions are currently being taken.
- Most recently, the city council amended the recommendations to remove references to multi-family housing in currently zoned single-family districts in certain segments of the recommendations — a key concern for opposing residents.
Prairie Village housing controversy
Currently, Prairie Village for All and Stop Rezoning PV are calling on the city council to do different things when it comes to the housing recommendations.
- Stop Rezoning PV argues the recommendations would allow more housing units per lot in single-family zoning districts and remove residents’ rights to provide input on potential developments nearby, according to the group’s website.
- Additionally, the opposition group is concerned with elected officials’ transparency and keeping “control of Prairie Village’s future in the hands of its residents,” according to its website.
- Read previous Post coverage about Stop Rezoning PV’s concerns here.
The other side: Prairie Village for All, meanwhile, supports the current housing recommendations because it wants to see “affordable housing in a city that is reckoning with a long history and the lingering effects of exclusionary housing policy,” according to its website.
- The group’s website states its support for equity and inclusion in Prairie Village — though the Stop Rezoning group’s website also says it “welcomes diversity.”
What happens next? The Prairie Village planning commission on Oct. 25 will meet for a work session to discuss the amended housing recommendations.
- A public input session will be held after the new year, followed by another planning commission work session about two months later.
- The city planning commission plans to host at least three public input sessions with work sessions in between each.
- The process is expected to last at least through summer 2023.
