Prairie Village is exploring options to mix residential projects into some districts of the city already zone for commercial uses.
The planning commission on Tuesday asked city staff to research the feasibility of allowing different types of housing to exist alongside office buildings and shopping centers in some limited quarters of the city.
At the meeting, staff laid out current standards and options for growth for each district — multifamily, commercial and mixed-use districts — and the commission discussed what options they’d like to see in the future.
The commission’s discussion Tuesday was the first time in months that the city had hosted a formal discussion about housing, the city’s most-watched topic since last summer when approving housing recommendations sparked an uproar among some residents.
No decisions about specific changes to zoning codes in any district the planning commission is reviewing were made on Tuesday.
This would be different than a mixed-use district
On Tuesday, the commission mostly discussed potential tweaks to existing zoning standards in commercial districts that could make room for housing.
Many larger cities in Johnson County will sometimes convert open fields and areas deemed blighted into mixed-use districts — featuring a mix of housing and commercial uses.
In the case of landlocked Prairie Village, only one mixed-use district exists currently: Meadowbrook Park and the housing and commercial uses surrounding it.
The vasty majority of Prairie Village’s land is zoned for single-family residential housing, which was not part of Tuesday’s planning commission discussion.
Commissioners appeared to be cautious
- Currently, the standards in some commercial districts prohibit residential development altogether.
- Several planning commissioners on Tuesday expressed interest in loosening those rules while avoiding a “carte blanche” approach that would give developers too much leeway.
- Most commissioners agreed that finding ways to incorporate residential developments into commercial districts — akin to something like Mission Farms in neighboring Leawood — would be one way to address housing shortages and rising costs in Prairie Village.
- They agreed looking at ways to modify commercial districts is a good place to start.
- Planning Commissioner Patrick Lenahan cautioned against making too many substantive changes that would change the character of the city’s shopping centers, namely the Shops of Prairie Village and Corinth Square, because residents enjoy them the way they are.
Commissioners want to know which multifamily complexes are noncompliant
Planning commissioners also reviewed ways to diversify the city’s housing stock by making changes to design and building standards in the city’s limited number of multifamily districts.
Commissioners said they like what exists in multifamily districts now. However, City Planner Chris Brewster said some multifamily developments in Prairie Village are currently noncompliant with the city’s current design and build standards.
That means that if the planning commission wants to see similar structures replace aging multifamily buildings in the future, then some changes to the current standards need to be made.
Commissioner Melissa Brown said it would be difficult to revise the standards — which effectively say what the city wants to see in multi-family districts — when it is unclear what is currently happening in these districts.
Brewster said apartment complexes normally do not meet standards, and it is typically because of how much of the land the building and parking occupies.
Next steps:
- City staff will bring back more information about existing projects, like apartments that do not currently meet multifamily district standards.
- At that same time, city staff will also bring forward options on how to implement residential into commercial districts.
- This may come back before the planning commission as early as September, but it may be pushed to the October meeting based on how quickly staff can get the information together.
Go deeper: Watch the entire discussion on the city’s website here.
