The Shawnee City Council is questioning some proposed elements of a new incentive district on the western side of the city, with at least one councilmember pushing for the district’s concept plan to include more affordable single-family homes.
Last year, the council authorized the formation of the Hickok-Zarah tax increment financing district, which spans more than 1,600 acres between Monticello Road and Woodland Drive, from Shawnee Mission Parkway to the southern city limit.
The city’s preliminary concept plan for the district includes a mix of retail and low-density housing, including row houses and townhomes.
No action on the plan was taken during a discussion at Monday’s city council meeting, but a majority of councilmembers indicated they hoped to see flexibility with what is ultimately approved in the district.
“I’m willing to go ahead and give the nod to this concept plan at this point as a guide reserving the right to be flexible moving forward,” council president Eric Jenkins said.
Hickok-Zarah TIF district aims to spur development
- Tax increment financing typically works by turning over tax revenues from increased property values — called tax increments — in a designated area over a certain time frame, usually to a developer or private firm.
- The Hickok-Zarah district is unique, in part, because all the diverted revenue would return to the city instead of a private developer in order to finance improvements inside the district’s boundaries.
- It’s also a conservation TIF, which requires a certain portion of the land included in the district to be kept as greenspace, stormwater detention or park space.
- The area has long been considered difficult to develop given the lack of public infrastructure and a rough topography. Councilmember Kurt Knappen said the plan is an “innovative” approach to addressing those challenges.
Concept plan calls for retail, mixed-density housing
- The concept plan shows small-scale, neighborhood commercial developments at 75th Street and Monticello Road that could include boutiques, retail shops, services, doctor’s offices, among other uses.
- Nearby would be an area with some mixed-use, putting some commercial buildings next to low-density multifamily housing options instead of stacking them.
- Further down Monticello would be senior living, row houses or townhome-style buildings, according to the concept.
- That would buffer into more conventional neighborhoods and tie into the Bristol Highland communities already approved near 83rd Street and K-7.
Infrastructure improvements would be included
- Along with those proposed developments, the city’s concept plan shows a mix of open space, parks, trail access and pedestrian connections for the nearby Maranatha Christian Academy and Horizon Elementary.
- The plan also calls for the construction of an on- and off-ramp for K-7 at 75th Street, as well as extensions or improvements to Woodland, 72nd, 73rd, 75th and 80th streets in the area.
Councilmember Gillette wants more focus on single-family housing
- Gillette expressed particular concern with the concept plan’s proposal for retail and multifamily housing at 75th and Monticello, saying he didn’t think some things that could fall into those categories would be “appropriate.”
- Gillette said he’d rather see smaller, starter homes built there that his newly married son, who is in his early 20s, could afford.
- “What better way to have him come back to his hometown in Shawnee than with some new, what I’ll call, affordable and smaller homes?” he said.
Next steps:
- There aren’t necessarily prescribed next steps — the council won’t be asked to vote on the concept plan, per se.
- Instead, the Shawnee Planning Commission and the city council will consider rezoning requests, site development plans, infrastructure projects and inclusions in the TIF district on a case-by-case basis.
- City manager Doug Gerber also stressed that no landowners already in the district will be forced to sell their land or convert it for uses outlined in the concept plan, though there has been some interest in selling already.
- There isn’t a set timeline or priority list on this either, which means what happens will be driven by current and future landowners within the district and development.
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