A more than seven-hour Lenexa City Council meeting ended early Wednesday morning with the governing body approving a plan to build 50 affordable single-family homes near the site of a planned future city park in the western part of the city.
Stretching until 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the marathon meeting concluded with three separate 7-2 votes in favor of items that will allow Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City to build the new neighborhood on 17 acres of land near the southwest corner of 86th Terrace and Clare Road.
Those votes came after a parade of more than 90 speakers gave public comment, with hundreds more in the council chambers looking on.
Many of those opposed to the plan, including homeowners in neighboring subdivisions, wore green, an indication of their support for keeping the land dedicated as a future park.
“If this passes, I will commit to never spending one more cent of my sales tax money in Lenexa,” said Ben Wilson, a resident of the Timber Rock subdivision near the planned Habitat project.
Many of those in attendance who supported the Habitat plan, on the other hand, wore red. They argued that Habitat’s proposal was needed to begin addressing Johnson County’s dearth of affordable housing, particularly for middle- and working-class people, like teachers and firefighters.
Those arguments ultimately won out.
At the end of the night, Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers, whose votes were needed to give the items the final margin to pass, voiced her full endorsement.
“I believe that we should be leaders, and I will be the first one out there with a hammer to build a Habitat for Humanity house,” she said.
The project will be the second Habitat neighborhood in JoCo
Each home in the Highlands at Clear Creek subdivision is expected to cost around $250,000, less than one-third the average sales cost of new homes hitting the market in Johnson County.
It will be the nonprofit’s second neighborhood in Johnson County, after the Pathway at Heritage Park in Olathe, which is 15 homes being built on land near a church.
It will be part of a Community Land Trust, an arrangement through which a homeowner would own the house, but the trust would maintain ownership of the land. Then, those homes would be set aside as affordable housing, even if they are resold.
Habitat KC requires prospective homebuyers to meet a number of criteria.
For instance, a buyer needs to prove at least two years of steady income and must fall within the set minimum and maximum for their family size.
They also must demonstrate:
- Their ability to afford a mortgage payment that is 30% of gross monthly income.
- At least one year of good rental history.
- That they have less than $1,000 in non-medical collection debt.
- The ability to pass a criminal background and sex offender check.
- Proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status.
More than 90 people spoke at the meeting
Hundreds of people packed into Lenexa City Hall on Tuesday night, the green and red colors lending the room a vibrant atmosphere.
Many people also brought pre-printed signs.
Some of those in green carried signs that bore messages like, “Kids Need Parks” and “Green Is For The Parks. Red Is For Satan.”
Likewise, those in red carried signs with messages like “Teachers Need Homes” and “Firefighters Need Homes.”
One of the big issues repeatedly brought up by the project’s detractors was the idea that the Habitat homes would be built on land that had previously been planned for a city park.
Lenexa started buying up property in that area in the late 1990s, eventually acquiring around 130 acres by 2006. The plan at the time was to convert it all into a regional lake.
Around 2015, Lenexa moved away from the lake plan and turned several acres into wetlands with a trail system.
At the same time, Lenexa took steps to decommission three chunks of the property as dedicated future parkland under state law, with the intent of seeing it developed with residential uses in mind.
That plan leaves about 40 acres for future development as Centennial Park, which remains part of the city’s long-term park goals. (In the capital improvement plan list maintained by Lenexa, design on the new park is scheduled to commence in 2027.)
“The city rezoning signs identify this land as parkland. The official sale contract identifies it as parkland, yet leadership now claims it is not parkland. This is a serious misrepresentation,” resident Pam Mosher said.
Community Development Director Scott McCullough said at Tuesday’s meeting that there was no park planned for the land where the Habitat project will go.
“It was understood (in 2006), at least as from staff that were working through this, that this was more property than needed or desired for a park (or a) storm water facility, so private development was always envisioned at this property.”
On the flip side, those who supported the project talked about the economic hurdles people face when trying to buy a house in Johnson County and how the Habitat plan would give a toehold in the county for those who can’t currently afford it.
“If we want the next generation have the opportunity to build the stability and security that home ownership brings, we need projects like this one,” Melissa Guinto said.
What exactly was approved Wednesday morning?
In total, the city council approved three items related to the Habitat project, all by 7-2 votes, with Mayor Sayers also voting.
Those items included:
- An ordinance rezoning the property, which will now be known as the Highlands at Clear Creek subdivision, from AG (Agricultural District) to RP-1 (Residential Planned Single-Family)
- Approval of a preliminary plan/plat for the Clear Creek subdivision
- A resolution authorizing Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers to execute a Kansas Real Estate Contract for the sale of the property, transferring its ownership from the city to Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City.
City Councilmembers Bill Nicks and Mark Charlton voted in dissent on all three measures.
Neighboring residents filed a valid protest petition, raising the threshold to approve the project from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority.
The city council’s affirmative votes followed the recommendation of city staff to approve the project, as well as the planning commission’s recommendation for approval earlier this month.
Sayers’ votes were needed to surpass a two-thirds majority threshold.
“A unique opportunity” for affordable housing
Following more than four hours of testimony, the city council weighed the public comments, as well as hundreds of pages of emails they had received leading up to the meeting.
The majority of councilmembers who supported it cited how it fit both the Golden Criteria for rezoning decisions, as well as the city’s Vision 2040 plan, which calls for more diverse, affordable housing.
Councilmember Chris Herron said Vision 2040 played a key role in his decision to vote for the Habitat plan.
“I think we do actually have a unique opportunity to actually deliver on the promises that are articulated in Vision 2040, and I know it’s a platform that many of us ran on, to explore ways to increase opportunities for development of affordable housing or attainable housing,” he said.
Councilmember Courtney Eiterich agreed.
“One of the goals that has been out there for a long time, ever since before I ran for office, was having diverse housing, and that was for everybody: incomes, ages, stages of life,” she said.
2 councilmembers voted in dissent
Both Nicks and Charlton were not sold by the project. They agreed that it didn’t fit the character of the neighborhood.
“This is prime land next to a park. We can wait and make sure that the sale and the development that goes into this land fits and respects the context and the fabric of the area. We’ve just got to slow down,” Nicks said.
In his dissent, Charlton asked the city council to reconsider the project.
“I don’t feel that this neighborhood is in harmony with this area. I’m sorry to Habitat for Humanity. Lenexans are for Habitat for Humanity, but we as a council need to be also for our citizens that currently live in Lenexa,” Charlton said.
Weighing the opinions of both sides, Sayers said she thinks the difference can be split, where nearby residents can still have a park to enjoy, and the city can offer attainable housing.
“Our choice tonight is to be leaders and decide whether we’re here to solve problems or not, because delaying this further doesn’t solve any attainable housing problems. It only continues this conversation, and it conveys to the world that we aren’t sure still about how we’re going to handle that problem,” she said.
Go deeper: Lenexa advances plan for 50 Habitat for Humanity homes near future city park site
