A mixed-use development off of K-10 Highway in western Lenexa received a key approval after an emotional four-hour city council meeting in which about 100 residents showed up in opposition to the project.
On Tuesday, the Lenexa City Council approved rezoning and a preliminary plan for the Canyon Ridge Apartment Homes, a mixed-use development containing 346 apartments, an 80-bed nursing home and a 6,100-square-foot convenience store and gas station.
The council voted 5-2 on rezoning the undeveloped land, with Councilmembers Joe Karlin and Bill Nicks in dissent. The council also voted 4-3 to narrowly approve the preliminary plan, with Karlin, Nick and Melanie Arroyo in dissent. Councilmember Craig Denny was absent.
The plan had previously been unanimously approved by the Lenexa Planning Commission earlier this month.
The project includes three components
The planned site is on a roughly 46-acre tract of undeveloped land that was annexed by the city in 1989.
Oddo Development is the developer and Klover Architects is the applicant on city documents. Both firms are based in Lenexa.
The plan includes:
- A multifamily residential development with 28 “mansion-style” buildings containing 346 units total. Most of the buildings are two and three-story structures. The complex will also have a clubhouse and a pool.
- A nursing home, contained in a three-story, 68,800-square-foot building with 80 residential units.
- A separate gas station and convenience store in a one-story, 6,100-square-foot building.
A previous proposal for the site, Vistas at Canyon Creek, was higher in density and was ultimately rejected by the Lenexa City Council in 2018.
Neighbors laid out their objections
Residents from nearby neighborhoods turned out in force Tuesday night, laying out a number of concerns with the project.
“We have an exceptionally high level of concern,” said Tracy Thomas, a resident at the neighboring Canyon Creek Point subdivision. “We’ve experienced every emotion that you can possibly think of. We’re angry. We’re disappointed. We’re concerned. And yes, we’re scared.”
One of the biggest sticking points voiced on Tuesday was residents’ concern about the project’s potential to have a negative impact on vegetation.
“Deforestation is a big one,” Thomas said. “There’s going to be a very direct impact on wildlife.”
Residents said they felt misled by developers, who have told them that nature in the area would not be affected by projects on that mostly undeveloped site.
Thomas quoted a website used to promote Canyon Creek Point that described it as a city-owned park land nature conservation area.
“‘(The subdivision contains) sweeping views of nothing but nature, assuring residents that those views would remain forever. unspoiled,'” he said. “This same line, word-for-word, appeared in print ads in the Kansas City Star and in other trade journals as well. This is what we had to go on.”
They also expressed worries about increased traffic coming off of K-10 Highway and elevated potential for more accidents.
They are were also concerned with the number of deviations the developer was requesting, including increasing the square footage of the gas station and reducing the amount by which the buildings are setback from the freeway.
“Our issue is this site being developed the way it is,” said Steve Bennett, also a resident at Canyon Creek Point. “It wasn’t zoned for that and we’re making things fit to make it work on a difficult site or it wouldn’t be given four variances.”
Some councilmembers objected to the project
After the council closed public comments, it openly deliberated their thoughts.
Some, like Karlin and Nicks, said flatly the project should not move forward.
“Years ago, the Chamber of Commerce had a slogan: ‘Plan to work and then, work to plan,'” Nicks said. “If we approve this re-zoning, we are not working to plan.”
Karlin and Nicks entered a motion to remand the project back to the planning commission for further review, but that narrowly failed by a 4-3 vote, with Chris Herron, Chelsea Williamson, Mark Charlton and Courtney Eiterich voting against remanding the plan.
Other councilmembers said they were torn
Arroyo and Eiterich wrestled with their thoughts, balancing the pros and cons of the project.
“I know that what you thought you were getting isn’t what you’re getting and I apologize for that,” Eiterich said to protestors. “But I also have to look at what we want to see here and I don’t feel like I have a clear idea what everybody else here wants.”
Charlton admitted that his vote for the project would likely cost him votes when he’s up for re-election in 2027.
“This is, to me, the best location for an apartment,” he said. “It’s just a common sense approach. And I apologize to my constituents out there. I might not get your vote in four years.”
What’s next for the project
Following the council’s vote to approve rezoning and a preliminary development plan, developers now have two years to submit a final plat for the project to the Lenexa Planning Commission.
