Earlier this summer, the Post asked our readers what issues you wanted to hear candidates running for Lenexa City Council to address leading up to the Nov. 4 election.
Based on that feedback, we developed a five-item questionnaire centering the issues most important to Lenexa residents.
Each day this week, we’re publishing the candidates’ responses to one question.
Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
Housing: Many factors driving Johnson County’s tight and expensive housing market are out of local cities’ control, yet there are some things cities can do to try to address this issue, from incentivizing affordable housing developments to tweaking zoning codes that allow for more diverse types of housing. What policies would you like your city to pursue to make housing in your city potentially more affordable? Is this a priority for you?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on this issue:
Ward 1
John Michael Handley (incumbent)
Increasing housing availability in Lenexa is a priority for me, and we have plenty of opportunities to explore. For one, offering a broad range of housing types enables options that fit people and families at all life stages and needs. As our remaining undeveloped acreage is built out, we will begin to see less apartment projects (our Comprehensive Plan has only identified so much area for them) and more single-family; I hope to help enable “missing middle” types, like duplexes, rowhomes, or other small-scale infill.
While I’m open to exploring incentives that encourage new housing, I’m wary of placing the burden of those incentives on existing taxpayers. We need solutions are fair to our existing residents, as well, especially to ensure that the city remains welcoming without creating unexpected costs for our current neighbors.
I’m looking forward to ongoing collaboration with city staff, organizations like the Homebuilders Association, and other stakeholders to identify creative approaches that allow for contextually-appropriate projects. We have plenty of options to consider, like enabling smaller-scale, thoughtfully designed projects, or fast-tracking permits, or anything else, and my goal is to support housing options that fit Lenexa’s character while addressing the shortage.
Joe Shull
Lenexa has enough apartments. Period. And collectively, residents have reiterated that they do not want more high-density apartments complexes in Lenexa. Yet the City Council continues to approve more and more apartment developments, particularly in West Lenexa.
Residents are frustrated that their voices are not being heard on this issue. Instead of actually listening to its citizens, some members of the Council choose to ignore them, and approve of the apartment developments in almost robotic fashion. Now, what you hear a lot from City Council, is “well we have a comprehensive plan that we must follow, and since it calls for apartments, we need to put apartments in this area.”
Here is the bottom line: The comprehensive plan is a guideline; it is not gospel. It is not law. It is not a code. So, if the residents do not want a development that is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, then we should not move forward. Because it is about the residents, not the Council.
Instead of jumping to apartments, there needs to be other frames of thinking—such as incentivized single-family developments in the $250,000 – $350,000 range, so that young families can start their lives in Lenexa and expand the taxbase organically.
Ward 2
Bill Nicks (incumbent)
Lenexa should look at our zoning regulations as well as our planning and permitting processes to make sure they are in line with what we want as a city. I would support more cottages and ‘in-law’ homes and a diverse range of housing options; housing that encourages residents and families to put down roots and join the PTA, Historical Society, Chamber, Rotary etc. to become embedded in the community which will build a cohesive friendly ‘get to know your neighbor’ town. We should look at moderate infill development in established neighborhoods, as long as it fits the neighborhood. I find the ‘single family TIF district’ idea to be an interesting one that should be investigated when talking about incentivizing developments. Land costs, labor, materials, profit, regulations etc. must all be considered when talking about the kind of housing we want.
Nicole Wasson
City council can directly impact affordable housing, but should be selective. I believe we need to get creative with housing and not solely rely on either apts or single-family homes. Other cities have successfully used methods like the following:
- Assess accessory dwelling units (ex. mother-in-law quarters)
- More quickly and predictably approve developments that meet zoning laws
- Evaluating the establishment of affordable housing trust funds
- Support community land trusts
Not all of these are recommendations, but we need to focus on having a variety of solutions that fit different needs and support the end goal of having housing opportunities for people who want to make Lenexa their home.
Ward 3
Avery Bell
This is indeed a priority for me. I have told a few people now, I am not certain my wife and I could afford to buy the house we are in today based on appraisals and interest rates. In many ways I feel we got lucky – and I do not feel like that should be the case. Much of the development we see throughout Kansas City is for apartments – and there is certainly a lot of value for apartments. I lived in an apartment in Lenexa City Center for a few years and fell in love with our city quickly. Apartments allow folks to live and work in Lenexa to understand if it meets their lifestyles and needs before locking up their capital into a non-liquid asset like a house. However – rental apartments are not a mechanism to start building equity. I would like to see more inventory in Lenexa that provides people with an option for equity positions at a lower price point. I have a lot of reasons for this, but I think of two different types of people who could benefit. 1) People who want to stay in Lenexa and start building equity in our community, and 2) People looking to downsize from their homes that want to capitalize on their built equity while also reducing their tax burden. I’d call this: “Housing Equity – Market Liquidity” – a sort of oxymoron… but the point is: more housing at different price points helps people to stay in Lenexa.
Corey Hunt
Lenexa does have a role in determining what types of housing are offered and where housing exists. In fact, there is quite a history of Lenexa pioneering alternative housing offered to residents looking for a different suburban experience, just look at the Four Colonies sub-division. A state-of-the-art neighborhood designed to have smaller, more affordable homes on smaller pieces of land, connected by a network of internal sidewalks to the community. Looking further around the city and specifically in Ward 3 neighborhoods you can find both single family homes, multi-family homes and senior residential living all in the same neighborhood in a way that makes sense and promotes the very community Lenexan’s tell us over and over again they want. Lenexa has some of the most affordable housing in Johnson County and I believe our city does a great job of helping to maintain the value of your property. So, what is “affordable “housing? (>30% of income distributed to housing per month), imagine that?! Instead of the term “affordable”, maybe we should use the term “attainable” how can Lenexa mitigate for attainable housing? We can do this by incentivizing redevelopment in areas in need of a fresh start. By taking a hard look at our In-Fill projects where pieces of land can be re-purposed /re-zoned if needed and if that is the right thing to do. I believe Lenexa is lucky in the fact that Lenexa offers some of the most attractive land for development in all of Johnson County. I believe that fact puts the city in a great position to work with developers to develop housing types that Lenexa residents continue to vision at a quality point Lenexan’s expect. I support regularly reviewing city ordinances regulating residential zoning in a transparent and inclusive way.
