After three hours of deliberation and public comments, the Shawnee City Council opted to send The Zarah, a proposed multifamily project on the city’s western side, back to the city planning commission for further review.
In front of an audience of about 100 people on Monday, the council voted 7-1, with Councilmember Jill Chalfie the lone dissenting vote, to remand the rezoning request and preliminary development plans for the site to the Shawnee Planning Commission.
Because of a valid protest petition signed by neighboring residents, the project would have needed a supermajority of seven votes from city council to receive approval.
The Zarah proposes adding apartments and townhomes
- It would be a mixed apartment and townhome project at 5095 Old K-7 Road that would include nearly 185 multifamily housing units, including apartments and townhomes.
- The plans call for four three-story apartment buildings and seven two-story townhome buildings.
- There would also be on-site amenities, like a pool and clubhouse.
- Currently, the site has agricultural uses, and there’s one single-family home on it.
- Click here to see the city council agenda item, which begins on page 110.
The council wants to lower density and increase parking
Listening to more than an hour of public comments from people in nearby neighborhoods, such as Highland Ridge, the city council heard a repeating pattern of worries.
Those included:
- Overflow parking they fear would find its way into their neighborhoods and Old K-7 Highway.
- Environmental and public safety concerns, such as increased traffic.
- The project causing a change of character to the area.
Emotions with the city council went from mostly mixed to negative.
While Councilmember Eric Jenkins said he was originally positive about the project, some of the public comments swayed him to vote to remand it.
“I was favoring the project. It looked like a good project,” he said. “Then I come in here tonight and I hear some pretty good arguments.”
Other councilmembers, such as Mike Kemmling and Tammy Thomas, were more negative toward the project, citing concerns that The Zarah appeared like a high-density project and negative perceptions of other rental projects, such as Prairie Pines Townhomes.
“I would like to see something less dense going in,” Kemmling said. “At the end of the day, that’s a lot of units for that amount of space, and I don’t think it fits the character.”
Some of the council and public challenged data on impacts
In a presentation to the city council, Jason Osborne, who represents Rosemann & Associates P.C., the architect on the project, said he worked to create a project that fits well as a buffer between Kansas Highway 7 and the surrounding neighborhood.
While Osborne tried to calm fears of parking problems and neighborhood conflicts, most of the residents who spoke in opposition reiterated that they don’t trust the team behind the project.
“How are you going to make people park where you want them to park? The reality is they have a garage, they’re going to fill it full of stuff. They’re going to park their car in the driveway and the rest just spills out onto the street,” said Tyler Smith, a neighbor to the planned project.
The comments from residents ranged from challenging the information presented by the city staff about the project to emotional pleas to reject the project proposal.
“If I bought a home next to 100 acres of emptiness — I get it, something might go in there and we should talk about it. But this is somebody’s house that’s been there for 50 years. I wouldn’t have bought my home, had I known this was the case,” one resident said.
Voting on the project via conference call, Thomas accused the developer, Brian Jones of Brian Jones Enterprises LLC, of being absent at Monday’s meeting and stated that crime is increasing because of the nearby Prairie Pines Townhomes.
Mayor Michelle Distler clarified by stating the developer was in the room during the discussion. And Police Chief Sam Larson clarified that the nearby existing townhomes aren’t causing a spike in crime rates.
A few people spoke in favor of the project
Of the 16 people that participated during city council’s public comment period, two spoke briefly of their support for the project.
Lisa Vanmeerhaeghe, a lifelong Shawnee resident and owner of the 15-acre property the developer would buy from her to build The Zarah, said she was all for it.
“The care taken by the city staff and the city planning commission to adhere to ethical statutes (and) zoning … It leaves no doubt that the project has been thoroughly vetted and deserves your support,” she said.
Being the lone dissenting vote to not remand the project, Councilmember Chalfie voiced her support. Chalfie had made a motion to approve the project, but it died without a second.
“I believe that this developer has done everything that they’ve asked. I feel like they went through the process right and said, ‘What do you guys want?’ They looked through our comprehensive plan (and) decided what would fit,” she said.
What happens next?
The approved motion from Councilmember Tony Gillette to remand the project included a number of reasons:
- Reducing density
- Increasing parking
- Conducting a review of the flood study
- Increasing discussion of traffic safety and public safety impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods
It will be up to the city staff and planning commission to craft suggestions on how the project will address those issues before it’s brought up in city council again.
Go deeper: Click here to follow along with the discussion at Monday’s meeting. The item begins at 46:15.
