Olathe City Council approves another massive residential development
The Olathe City Council on Tuesday approved a sprawling pair of subdivisions in south Olathe that could potentially add more than 330 residential units to the area.
Council members voted unanimously to rezone both pieces of property that make up the proposed Boulder Ridge development.
One includes 212 single-family home lots on 102.6 acres and the second includes 60 lots for two-family villas on 32 acres. The two sites are on the east side of Ridgeview Road between 167th and 175th streets, with the single-family neighborhood to the north of the villas.
Mark Breuer with engineering firm Schlagel & Associates, representing developer Day3 LLC, told the council that the single-family home prices will likely range between $350,000 to $600,000, depending on the lot size. The villas are expected to range between $225,000 and $400,000.
To accommodate the greater traffic, the development will add turn lanes at where 169th Terrace, 172nd Street and 173rd Street connect to Ridgeview Road.
Mayor Michael Copeland asked whether it would make more sense to expand all of Ridgeview Road from two lanes to four lanes now to prepare for expected future development rather than make the limited three-lane expansions, which could ultimately be scrapped.
Beth Wright, the city’s transportation manager, said the current traffic volume doesn’t warrant a four-lane road, although estimates indicate traffic will make that a necessity in around 10 years. She added that the city has a number of competing roads that already have significant congestion and need added lanes immediately.
Still, Copeland asked Wright to look at a potential new policy that takes future development into consideration when evaluating the need for road expansion.
“At some point, do we need to stop doing what we’ve been doing for a long time, which is build three-lane roads and then a few years later build four-lane roads?” Copeland said. “It seems like a costly approach as opposed to just doing what we need the first time.”
In other business, the council approved issuing up to $2 million in industrial-revenue bonds to help with the development by William R. Miller LLC of an 11,153-square-foot commercial warehouse at 15520 S. Mahaffie St. The developer is responsible for paying back the bonds, which developers typically seek through local governments to receive certain tax and interest benefits.
The council also held a public hearing to consider issuing $29.7 million in industrial revenue bonds and a 10-year, 50-percent tax abatement for a proposed 550,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility on 53 acres at Old 56 Highway and 155th Street.
Finally, council members voted unanimously to approve a $116,662 contract with George Butler Associates Inc., to develop a master plan for making improvements to Lake Olathe, Cedar Lake, North Frisco Lake, South Frisco Lake, North Waterworks Lake, and South Waterworks Lake.
These improvements will include renovating dams and spillways, dredging and creating sediment pools and wetlands. The plan will help city officials determine how to maintain and restore the lakes and prioritize future projects.
David Twiddy: dtwiddy913@gmail.com
This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Olathe City Council approves another massive residential development."