JoCo news: Should this city allow short-term rentals? Hens allowed in Spring Hill
Overland Park has posted an online survey as it studies short-term rentals like Airbnbs or Vrbos, which are rented for short periods of time.
Mayor Curt Skoog announced the study in March after a Wichita woman was shot to death during a party at a short-term rental property in the 9700 block of West 145th Terrace.
“Short-term rental operators need to be considerate of their neighbors in the community and we need to ensure our residential neighborhoods will continue to be safe and welcoming,” Skoog said at the time.
In April, the City Council directed the staff to research policy options for short-term rentals. No proposals have been offered so far, but the 3- to 4-minute survey asks respondents about all sorts of strategies, some of which might not be feasible in Overland Park. The options include:
▪ Imposing no new rules and continuing to respond to complaints about rental properties.
▪ Licensing short-term rentals.
▪ Limiting the number of guests, bedrooms or days the properties can be rented out.
▪ Restricting short-term rentals to certain parts of the city.
▪ Requiring the property owner to live on the premises for all or part of the year.
▪ Requiring the property owner to notify neighbors that a home is being used as a short-term rental.
▪ Passing stricter rules for party houses, which would affect all properties in the city, not just short-term rentals.
Find the survey, which will be posted through June 30, in the news announcement at opkansas.org. City officials will use the feedback as they figure out how best to address issues surrounding the increasingly popular rentals.
Meanwhile, citizens can use the website, and its OPCares customer service system, to report potential code violations at a specific property.
Sunflowers and ‘bright playful shapes’ for staircase
By the end of the summer, residents and visitors to Roeland Park will be able to see a sunflower design on a staircase that connects the Aldi store and nearby businesses to neighborhoods to the east.
The selected design was submitted by local artist Ashley Corbello. City officials said the design is a “nod to the Sunflower State, combined with bright playful shapes to incorporate a sense of youth.”
Corbello, of Independence, is known for her paintings of pets and other animals but has branched out into murals and public art, including the recent Parade of Hearts. Also this summer, she is working on a mural for KC PAWS, a rescue group on Wornall Road in Kansas City.
Spring Hill OKs backyard chickens
More Spring Hill families will be able to have female chickens on their property, after the City Council on May 26 approved an ordinance regulating the practice. A previous council rejected a similar ordinance last year.
Previously, chickens were legal only on lots of 3 acres or more. The new rules allow hens on single- or two-family properties of at least a quarter-acre, and the number of hens allowed varies by the size of the property:
▪ Four hens on lots of .25 to .49 acres.
▪ Six hens on lots of .50 to .99 acres.
▪ Twelve hens on lots of 1 to just under 3 acres.
An unlimited number of hens are allowed on lots of at least 3 acres.
The rules set out standards for housing the chickens. Permit fees are $100 for the first year and $50 for subsequent years.
PV police create ‘safe exchange zone’
The Prairie Village Police Department has established a “safe exchange zone” in the public parking lot west of police headquarters at 7710 Mission Road.
The exchange zone is designed to increase safety when people complete transactions begun on websites like Facebook Marketplace. The stalls, marked by a distinctive green color and monitored by video surveillance, also can be used for child custody exchanges.
Bandages collected for kids with cancer
Through the end of June, Lenexa is collecting fun, colorful bandages to cheer up kids with cancer.
Noah’s Bandage Project was founded by a young cancer patient before he died. From experience, he knew that a cool bandage was far preferable to the brown ones usually used after needle sticks.
Donations can be dropped at these locations: the Indian Trails Aquatic Center, Ad Astra Pool, Flat Rock Creek Pool, City Hall, the Lenexa Rec Center, police headquarters, the Lenexa Community Center, the Lenexa Senior Center, the Municipal Services Service Center and Fire Station No. 3.
Cash donations ($2 covers the cost of one box of bandages) also are accepted, with proceeds going to pediatric cancer research. Checks should be made payable to Noah’s Bandage Project.
Blue Star awards for theater students
Theater students in Johnson County are among those honored with the 2021-22 Blue Star Awards presented by Starlight Theatre. The Blue Star awards are modeled after Broadway’s Tony Awards.
Twenty-eight winners took home the top prizes in 24 categories, and more than $8,000 in scholarships were awarded. The Johnson County honorees:
▪ Outstanding Orchestra: Blue Valley High School for “Anastasia.”
▪ Outstanding Hair & Makeup Design: St. Thomas Aquinas High School for “Grease.”
▪ Dream Production Award: Molly McBride of Olathe South High School for choreography.
▪ Outstanding Actress in an Ensemble Role: Charlie Trent as Odette/Swan Lake Dancer/Ensemble in “Anastasia” at Blue Valley High,
▪ Performance Scholarship: Molly McBride from Olathe South.
▪ Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role: Will Edeal as Robert Martin in “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Shawnee Mission West High School.
▪ Rising Star Scholarship: Brandon Heflin from Olathe West High School.
Mission opens renovated tennis courts
Refurbished tennis courts have opened — on time — in Mission’s Victor X Andersen Memorial Park, off 61st Street east of Lamar Avenue.
The two courts now have a new surface, new fence and gates, new lighting and markings for both tennis and pickleball. Shaded seating has yet to be built. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. June 15.
New driveways, courtesy of Merriam
Five low-income households in Merriam have new driveways, installed for free under a city grant program. Construction crews poured concrete this spring for the last one.
Eligible residents applied for the $50,000 in grant money last year, and the city coordinated with a contractor to replace the driveways.
“This has been a great opportunity for some of our residents,” Community Development Director Bryan Dyer said in a news release. “Our hope is the program will be able to return in 2023.”
Grant money can also be used to repair driveways that don’t need total replacement.
Grant money can also be used to repair driveways that don’t need total replacement.
Construction postpones pool opening
The Leawood Aquatic Center opened for the summer season on June 7, more than a week after the expected opening date of May 28. Blame construction delays.
After the aquatic center in Leawood City Park closed for the season last year, the city began making substantial upgrades there, including a new bath house and space for community meetings. But critical work took longer than expected.
“The delay was a result of supply chain and labor issues as well as the weather, which had a major impact on construction,” Chris Claxton, director of parks, recreation & arts, said by email.
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "JoCo news: Should this city allow short-term rentals? Hens allowed in Spring Hill."