Elect City Council members to keep Prairie Village as the gem it is | Opinion

The Kansas City metropolitan area is special. Two states, many towns, lots of unique and interesting neighborhoods.

All in this one big community, people find what they’re looking for in urban, suburban, and even rural settings. It’s a beautiful thing, reflective of the diversity and strength of our metro.

Which brings us to Prairie Village, population 23,000 in 6.2 square miles — just one of Kansas City’s many gems.

Prairie Village is a landlocked, built-out city, and people who live here seem to prefer it that way. We may not be the newest or the fastest growing, but our hometown has its charms.

Mature trees lining the streets. Much-loved parks and neighborhood shops. Friendly people.

Given our quintessential suburban reputation, it’s no surprise that 90% of Prairie Village is made up of single-family neighborhoods rather than multi-family buildings such as the shiny, new Three Light apartments downtown.

So why is any of this news?

Last year, the Prairie Village City Council advanced a plan to revamp its municipal zoning rules in a way that would dramatically alter our single-family neighborhoods.

The changes would encourage the building of rental units in the back yards of single-family homes, leading to more traffic, bigger classroom sizes in our schools and an increased burden on aging infrastructure. These issues are kind of boring to many, perhaps, but important to us.

The council made this move even though Prairie Village is already the most densely populated city of its size in Johnson County. We don’t have vacant land for continual expansion as Lee’s Summit or Overland Park do, and we don’t want to render Prairie Village unrecognizable by further carving up the existing space.

Opposition to such a plan in a small community shouldn’t be unexpected or particularly controversial, and it is certainly nonpartisan, which I can attest to as a candidate for City Council.

I’ve spoken with hundreds of Prairie Village residents of all political stripes. Nearly all agree it’s common sense that people like certain qualities about where they live, and they want to maintain those qualities. Democrats and Libertarians like Prairie Village for the same reasons Republicans and unaffiliated voters do, and it has nothing to do with politics.

This was evident this summer as residents showed up in droves to sign petitions to maintain our city’s single-family neighborhood structure — an effort the current council spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to silence.

Voters will finally have a chance to weigh in directly at the ballot box on Nov. 7. They can choose the current council members who created this mess by initiating highly unpopular changes to single-family neighborhood zoning — and who then sued their constituents to block a vote of the people.

Or they can vote for new council members committed to maintaining the character of Prairie Village’s unique neighborhoods and who will let the people vote on important issues.

Sadly, those seeking to radically change our single-family residential zoning process are pushing desperate, false-flag arguments, even personal attacks, that have nothing to do with the issue at hand. They seem more interested in confusing, distracting and scaring voters than making the case for their viewpoint.

That’s not the Prairie Village way.

This zoning debate shouldn’t be about good guys or bad guys, just a choice between two different visions for Prairie Village. That’s why I stepped up to run, as did Kelly Wyer, Nick Reddell, Terry O’Toole, Edward Boersma and Tyler Agniel. The six of us don’t agree on all issues — but we are united behind the belief that Prairie Village is worth preserving.

If you’ve ever enjoyed watching the big, beautifully colored leaves drifting from our 50-foot trees on a crisp, fall day, you’ll understand why.