Prairie Village will allow residential development in commercial districts

Years of battling over zoning in Prairie Village continued this week with the city council's decision Monday to update the city's codes.

The council voted 12-1 to approve new zoning regulations for all non, single-family districts, with the biggest change coming to commercial districts.

The city will allow residential uses in all commercial districts, including the Shops of Prairie Village and the Corinth Square shopping center.

A small number of residents supported the zoning changes, but a large group of residents did not want changes made.

KSHB 41 News staff

Councilwoman Lori Sharp said residents wrote over 350 emails to the planning commission requesting changes.

The proposed height maximums of four stories were reduced to three and green space was increased from 20% to 30%.

The only vote against the changes came from Councilwoman Inga Selders.

Though Councilwoman Sharp voted "yes", she knows the decision by the council was largely unpopular.

"I think the burden should be on the developer coming here trying to make money, trying to change our town and we should look on it on a case-to-case basis instead of just having a free for all," she said.

Prairie Village is the only city in Johnson County to make changes to their zoning codes without requiring developers to receive the council's approval as long as they meet development standards.

Developers will only need a site plan approved from the planning commission if they follow the code.

Otherwise, they will still need to follow the standard rezoning process.

"I’m someone who believes in forward thinking and change," Sharp said. "But I know, because I worked in healthcare and education, a lot of times you bring these programs in and they have unintended consequences."