An undeveloped lot at 127th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park, surrounded by single-family homes and other residential uses, could become a small group of homes through an infill development project.

An infill development occurs when a developer embarks to build something on a vacant property already surrounded by other development or on a plot of land that may otherwise be underutilized.

In Overland Park, there’s a residential zoning code focused specifically on infill development that loosens some of the design and site standards typically applied to residential projects.

In the case of this project at the northwest corner of 127th and Nall, applicant KARIN 127 Nall LLC, wants to rezone the 8.5-acre property to that zoning code — called RP-1N, the Planned Single-Family Infill Residential District — to build seven homes.

However, the project, dubbed Riva Ridge, has faced pushback from neighbors who worry about stormwater and the fit of the proposal with the existing area. City officials, too, have fretted over some of the details, leaving the application bouncing back and forth among the city’s decision-making bodies over the past few months.

What is proposed at 127th and Nall?

• The Riva Ridge infill housing development at the corner of Nall and 127th Street in Overland Park is proposed to include seven residential lots arranged in a cul-de-sac.
• According to city documents, the lots would be between 10,000 and 21,000 square feet.
• A large section of the property included in the rezoning request falls in a stream corridor for a nearby creek, which the applicant intends to dedicate for future city greenspace or trail access.

Infill housing proposal at 127th and Nall faced hurdles

This specific proposal to build a handful of homes on the undeveloped lot has bounced around a fair amount over the past few months.

Originally, earlier this year, the Overland Park Planning Commission had a public hearing on the rezoning and nearly unanimously recommended its denial due to concerns that there were too many unanswered questions.

At that meeting, commissioners were worried about traffic and what they considered to be less-than-ideal plans for site access. Neighbors to the project had also raised concerns about those elements, but worried about stormwater runoff leading to flooding given the project’s proximity to Tomahawk Creek and whether the homes would fit in with the existing character, as well.

Initially, the planning commission had wanted to continue the application to a later meeting to allow for more details to be sorted out, but a representative for the applicant had urged the commissioners to vote on the project as presented instead. So, feeling pressured, commissioners said they felt they had no choice but to vote to recommend its denial.

Later, neighbors to the project submitted a valid protest petition against it, which raises the threshold of votes needed to approve a rezoning request at the city council level.

In July, the Overland Park City Council narrowly voted to remand the project back to the planning commission for further discussion, particularly hung up on site access and stormwater concerns. A previous motion to approve the project as proposed had failed.

Planning commission now supports the rezoning

Earlier this month, the rezoning application returned to the planning commission for consideration. In the end, the commission voted 9-0 to recommend approval, content with the additional details provided by city staff and the applicant that answered the lingering questions.

Specifically, with just seven homes proposed in the Riva Ridge infill development, the staff report suggests it will not be a large traffic generator and would not create flooding issues in the area.

Additionally, staff and the applicant had come to an agreement about putting an access point to the homes from 127th Street. Keith Gooch, senior city planner, called it “the best location” for the project.

“I think these are good questions, but we have to make a decision based on the information in front of us today,” said Commissioner Rob Krewson. “Weighing all those things, I can support the application as presented.”

Commissioners also said, with all those details settled, they feel like the infill housing would match what’s already in the area.

“I think this is very compatible with the area; it’s a residential development within a residential area,” said Commissioner Kip Strauss, who chairs the planning commission. “I see this fitting in very well.”

Since the planning commission had previously held a public hearing for the infill housing development plan at 127th and Nall, another was not held during the Aug. 11 meeting. However, even though neighbors did not officially have time to speak during the meeting, some residents made their continued concerns and disagreement with the decision known by speaking from the audience anyway.

Commissioners Matt Masilionis and Holly Streeter-Schaefer were absent from the meeting.

Next steps:

• The rezoning application at 127th and Nall goes back to the city council for consideration on Sept. 8.
• There is still a valid protest petition attached to the application from before, so the city council will need 10 votes to approve the project instead of the standard simple majority.

More Overland Park development news: ‘No deal’ in place for Royals to acquire Overland Park’s Aspiria campus