Overland Park has entered the final phase of building its new comprehensive plan, which will set the tone for development across Johnson County’s biggest city in coming years, potentially through 2045.
In the new plan — the city’s first in decades — Overland Park is turning away from the old land-use forecasting formula, putting more emphasis on how a neighborhood feels and what could fit in with what exists over specific uses.
The first draft also highlights strategic investment areas — primarily north of 119th Street — that are ripe for redevelopment, infill opportunities and more intense development.
In turn, some of the plan, dubbed Framework OP, is dedicated to balancing rural and suburban areas in the southern area of Overland Park.
Find the full draft of the Framework OP plan here.
What is a comprehensive plan?
- Local governments use comprehensive plans to forecast long-term development patterns for a city.
- These documents also tend to mull infrastructure needs, sustainability goals and resources available in a community, among other variables.
- Comprehensive plans can guide decision-making for decades but are not necessarily legally binding. They are also periodically updated.
- City councils sign off on them, typically after lengthy public discussion and input from the community.
Framework OP draft has 10 character types
The new land-use forecasting formula included in Framework OP’s draft is called “character types,” which considers both future land use designations and other elements to create a holistic approach to guiding future development decisions.
This does not take the place of the city’s current zoning regulations, nor does it eliminate the planning process associated with zoning changes.
Character types also incorporate design considerations, parking transition zones and other variables, like walkability and traffic, that define an area.
The new character types proposed in the draft are:
- Commercial Hubs
- Compact Neighborhoods
- Downtown District
- Innovation/Flex Hubs
- Local Activity Districts
- Public Parks and Open Space
- Regional Activity District
- Rural Transition Zone
- Suburban Neighborhood
- Traditional Neighborhood
For example, in the prospective Regional Activity District, mixed-use developments that are vertically-stacked — where different compatible uses are placed on top of each other in multistory buildings — would be the preferred land-use type, per the draft. Additional uses in the Regional Activity Districct would include commercial, retail, office, craft manufacturing, health care, denser housing, hotels, civic centers or parks and open spaces.
In the Regional Activity District, buildings would ideally be two or more stories and they should be massed together in blocks that encourages walkability.
Such a character type would be most appropriate for “the northern and central areas of the city,” particularly “along transit routes, major streets and in high activity areas,” including the busy Metcalf corridor.
Framework OP emphasizes development goals
- One of the primary goals of a revised comprehensive plan is to increase housing choices across Overland Park, specifically “missing middle” housing as well as diverse options that blend in with the existing housing stock.
- The plan also identifies “focal points” in the northern and central areas of the city that it calls strategic investment areas ideal for “higher-intensity” redevelopment of older office and commercial buildings. Those areas include 79th Street and Metcalf Avenue, 103rd Street and Antioch Road and 119th and Lamar Avenue.
- Plus, Framework OP’s draft prioritizes creating sustainable developments, supporting walkability and preserving transition zones between different land-uses across the city.
Next steps:
- A presentation last week to the Overland Park City Council and Planning Commission sets off the third and final round of public engagement for the new comprehensive plan.
- Open houses, smaller-scale presentations and online forums will run through the next several weeks. Find more information about those opportunities here.
- After that, the feedback gathered from the community will inform the final draft of the plan.
- Finally, the planning commission and the city council will take up the plan for final discussion and possibly approval in late spring or early summer.
- Down the road, the new comprehensive plan will help inform updates to the city’s unified development ordinance, which is planned for sometime this year as well.
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