Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify aspects of Prairie Village’s housing recommendations.
Leawood, one of the richest cities in Johnson County, wants to make way for smaller and more affordable homes.
The Leawood City Council on Monday discussed plans to review and alter the city’s code for single-family lot sizes, with the intent that smaller lot sizes would ultimately lower home prices and diversify the city’s housing stock with more townhomes and twin villas.
The city’s discussion follows Johnson County’s release of property valuations earlier this year, which showed the average home price in the county crept above half a million dollars.
Although no final decisions were made on housing code, the city council labeled affordable housing as a priority when it unanimously approved the city’s goals and objectives for 2023.
The change would allow for smaller lot sizes
- Councilmembers said smaller lot sizes will set aside more opportunities for developers to build more townhomes and villas.
- The city’s development ordinance requires single-family home lots to meet a minimum of 6,000 square feet.
- Director of Planning Mark Klein said the most feasible locations in Leawood for housing like this would be near West 143rd Street and Mission Road or West 151st Street and Mission Road.
Smaller homes would allow residents to downsize and stay in Leawood
- Councilmembers said a change like this might allow Leawood residents to downsize when appropriate — like when their kids move out — while remaining in Leawood.
- At the same time, councilmembers’ discussion Monday evening suggested that city leaders want to continue promoting home ownership and discourage renter culture.
- Councilmember Mary Larson pointed out that smaller homes would give residents more affordable housing options while still allowing them to own their homes.
- “I just think ownership of their homes is important for a community that’s invested in our city,” Larson said. “I think if this type of change is made, it would help our community to downsize and still remain invested in our community.”
Prairie Village is also discussing affordable housing
- Over the past year, the Prairie Village City Council has received pushback from some residents over its own housing affordability recommendations that were created last year by a special committee.
- Those recommendations are still on the table but have gone through some revisions as opponents have continued to claim they could open up some single-family home neighborhoods to “unwanted” development.
- Like what Leawood is considering, Prairie Village’s housing recommendations have also tried to tackle lot size and adding so-called “missing middle” housing, including duplexes, triplexes, row houses and accessory dwelling units.
Go deeper: Prairie Village leaves housing recommendations largely intact
