Bellmont Promenade faces more opposition. Shawnee Council wants evaluation

The oft-delayed Bellmont Promenade project in Shawnee is taking another detour as the developers have agreed to adjust their proposal in an attempt to avoid further opposition from neighbors.

On Monday,the Shawnee City Council voted to send the project at the southwest corner of Shawnee Mission Parkway and Mauer Road back to planning commissioners for evaluation after its developers, Legacy Development and Bach Homes, submitted a revised proposal that would move parts of the development farther from property owners south of the site along Bell Road.

“This revision and remand is made based on our hope and belief that it resolves the key objection of the Bell Road neighbors,” Greg Musil, an attorney for the developers, wrote in his request for the council to send the project to the planning commission’s Feb. 4 meeting.

The council also voted to schedule a pair of public hearings on Feb. 25 to consider changes to some of the many financial incentives the developers are seeking for the $98 million project.

A series of companies have been attempting to develop the 26-acre overall site since at least 2014. The current developers began working on the project in early 2017 and have had to restart twice because of setbacks.

The two companies are proposing to build 157,000 square feet of stores, restaurants and other commercial space, as well as 249 market-rate apartment units.

To help pay for the work, they are seeking public financing, including tax increment financing, or TIF, which allows the developers to keep 90 percent of property tax increases over the next 20 years to pay for certain development costs, such as roads, storm drains and other infrastructure.

They also seek a 1 percent TIF city general sales tax, a 1.6 percent community improvement district (CID) sales tax, a CID special assessment and the city to issue $19.5 million in special obligation bonds to help get construction started earlier. The developer would be solely responsible for paying off the special obligation bonds using TIF and CID funds.

The planning commission in December recommended approval for rezoning a 7.5-acre parcel to add a multi-story building with the apartment units and more than 10,000 square feet of retail and office space. Following the commission’s December meeting, the neighbors — who have complained about building heights, density and how close the project would be built to their property — filed a protest petition with the city.

Earlier this month, after the planning commission recommended approval of the new TIF project plan, the neighbors submitted a proposed site plan to the developers that would move part of the western part of the buildings closer to the center of the site and away from their property.

In other business, the council unanimously agreed to accept final plats for three phases of Kenneth Estates, a 92-lot luxury subdivision being built on the last 60 acres of the Kenneth Smith golf club manufacturing company and golf course near Quivira Road and 71st Street. The company made custom clubs from the mid-1930s until the company closed in 2003.

Mike Schmitz, who lives nearby, asked the council to table the items over continued questions about traffic calming measures on Richards Drive and storm water management.

But city staff said they had determined the area does not present evidence of existing or potential future traffic problems that would require traffic calming, and some council members said they worried about setting a precedent when dealing with other neighborhoods seeking traffic calming. They also said numerous studies reviewed by staff showed storm water runoff would likely decrease after the development was completed.

This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 9:56 AM with the headline "Bellmont Promenade faces more opposition. Shawnee Council wants evaluation."