A pilot program intended to make it easier to build homes in Overland Park from a group of pre-selected designs is nearly ready to launch.
Earlier this month, city staff told the Overland Park City Council Community Development Committee that preparations for the pilot program were wrapping up and that it could be available in June or July.
City wants to encourage more varied housing stock
Housing choice and affordability emerged as a theme during Overland Park’s Forward OP strategic planning process back in 2018 (see page 17 of the Forward OP plan here), and from that, the city’s planning department started focusing on ways to encourage different types of housing stock.
At the same time, Overland Park and other cities in Johnson County have grappled in recent years with how to pave the way for more attainable housing and fill in gaps in the market.
Out of all of that, the portfolio homes pilot program was born.
“The goal of the [pilot] is to increase housing supply, give options that are not just large single-family or large apartments,” said Director of Planning and Development Services Leslie Karr during a May committee meeting.
How would Overland Park’s housing pilot work?
The portfolio features 25 pre-reviewed plans for smaller single-family homes and duplexes designed to blend in with the architecture in Overland Park. They range in size from just under 1,000 square feet to 2,000 square feet.
These designs would be available for any resident to use for free on any lot in the city that carries the corresponding residential zoning designation. That, staff have said, could simplify the process as a way to encourage this type of development toward the middle of the housing spectrum.
The idea is that these designs are almost build-ready, save for a few administrative tasks that would need to be taken care of before the city would issue actual building permits. Using them over starting from scratch would fast-track the process.
Previously, the city approved some amendments to the building code aimed at smoothing the approval process. At the time, Councilmember Logan Heley, who chairs the community development committee, said he sees housing as the “number one community issue right now.”
Looking ahead:
The pilot itself will last for three years, and at the end of each year, Karr said the city will be able to review the designs in the portfolio and consider changes to the offerings based on the usage.
Karr said the city is also developing a framework through which someone could more easily build a whole neighborhood using designs from the pilot portfolio — for instance, zoning incentives or other tools.
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