After a brief setback, plans for a multifamily residential development near Lenexa City Center are now moving forward.
The Lenexa Planning Commission earlier this month voted 7-0 to approve rezoning and a preliminary plan for Ross Canyon, a 44-acre multifamily residential project planned for one of the last vacant lots near Lenexa City Center. Commissioners Brenda Macke and Don Horine were absent during the Nov. 4 meeting when the vote was taken.
The project consists of 374 apartment and 95 townhomes stretched across seven buildings on a plot of land south of Lenexa City Center, off 93rd Street between Mill Creek Road and Renner Boulevard.
It will include two different zoning district designations, RP-3 and RP-4, that allow for higher density residential projects like apartments.
Wichita-based PETRA is the applicant and El Dorado, a firm with an office in Kansas City, Missouri, is the project’s architect.
The approval comes after the planning commission earlier took the rare step of telling PETRA to bring the project back to the table after citing problems with its initial design and plan.
The second time around, commissioners seemed pleased with the changes.
“We think that’s a vast improvement,” said Dave Dalecky, planner with the city’s community development department.
Changes to buildings’ appearance were a big focus
During their last discussion about Ross Canyon in September, commissioners noted the design and color choices of some of the buildings left “something to be desired,” Dalecky said.
In response, the developer made revisions to the buildings on the east side of the site, including variations with color, design patterns and window sizes, according to city documents.
“These changes are more subtle in nature but create a sense of randomness from unit to unit within the same building and resolve the issue of a monotonous appearance,” city documents said.
Other changes address neighbors’ concerns
When revising the plan, PETRA met with neighbors in the nearby Cottonwood Canyon neighborhood, the closest single-family residential subdivision to the project, to address residents’ worries.
Developers now plan to add more landscape buffers, including a sidewalk and additional trees, between the development and homes, as well as preserving the existing trees, to dampen noise and light coming from the site.
It will also try to address concerns about an increase in traffic that would potentially come through the Cottonwood Canyon neighborhood.
Road features, like a divided section of the street with a raised median, will be installed in the area connecting Mill Creek Parkway to Ross Canyon to slow down and control the flow of traffic.
“Traffic calming measures would encourage residents to go down 93rd Street and then exit onto Renner Boulevard, as opposed to trying to travel through Cottonwood Canyon,” Dalecky said.
Residents at Cottonwood Canyon were satisfied with the changes and thankful that their concerns were taken into account.
“I think they’ve done a nice job of making what we didn’t want to have happen, is having R-3 and R-4 right next to us, actually to be a lot more palatable,” said Chris Demetroulis, a Cottonwood Canyon resident. “I think that they want to do what’s in the business of everybody.”
Planning Commission responded positively
Noting his criticism of the project’s previous submission, Dalecky said the revisions were in line with what the city wanted to see.
Commissioner Curt Katterhenry agreed, noting the extra time devoted to revisions made a difference.
“I really like the direction it’s gone in since the last meeting,” he said. “I would agree with the comment … that the extra month has really pushed this forward to a much better solution.”
The collaboration between the developers, city and neighbors also made a difference, said Commissioner David Woolf.
“I think it turned out fantastic,” he said. “This is kind of what you hope would happen when you go through this but doesn’t always end up that way. So, the collaboration that you guys had is really good.”
Commissioner Mike Burson, who compared the previous design to “World War II barracks,” was also pleased with the changes.
“I was the person that said it looked like a barracks from World War II. It no longer does,” he said. “It is actually one of the better looking projects we’ve seen in quite some time.”
What’s next
Lenexa City Council will have the final call on the project and is scheduled to review the rezoning request and preliminary site plan on Nov. 19.
If plans are approved by the city council, then PETRA plans on starting the first of construction on Ross Canyon in March.
The second phase could then start by summer 2026.
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