Good evening.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

Some of you are probably, oh, is that what all the greens about?

No.

So welcome to the regular meeting of the Olatha City Council for Tuesday, March seventeenth, twenty twenty-six.

Would you please stand with me for the pledge?

So that's item in on the consent agenda.

Item A is consideration of resolution number twenty-six-1024, reappointing a member to the planning commission.

Do I hear a motion?

Yes, I moved to approve.

Second.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacchus.

Yes.

Mr.

Creighton.

Yes.

Mr.

Danault.

Yes.

Motion passes four zero.

The Oletha Planning Commission plays a critical role in guiding our community's growth to ensure we're thoughtful and strategic and laying the best path forward for a bright future.

Here to introduce her is Commissioner Chair Wayne Janner.

And again, happy St.

Patrick's Day to everyone.

I would say the majority of the time.

Megan will bring up an issue through comment and questions through the application.

And usually my first response is wow, that's really good.

I didn't think of that.

Um because her knowledge is just so deep and so useful to us.

So we are very proud that she made the decision to continue uh for another term, and we're excited to have her on the planning commission.

Megan.

Thanks for doing this again.

Thank you.

You're welcome to right there.

I just want to uh thank the um the mayor and the city council for the opportunity to serve Olathe again.

It's a pleasure.

Thank you.

Let's take a quick picture.

So thank you, Megan, for uh signing up for another term.

We appreciate your volunteerism on the board.

Item B is consideration of resolution number 26-1025 appointing members to the Parks and Recreation Leadership Board and Board of Trustees of the Olatha Parks and Recreation Foundation.

Do I hear a motion?

Uh yes, Mayor.

I move to approve resolution 26-1025 for appointments and reappointment.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk.

Please call the roll.

Mr.

Vacas.

Yes.

Mr.

Creighton.

Yes.

Mr.

Denult.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Motion passes.

4-0.

The Parks and Rec Board works to advocate for the Parks and Rec activities and facilities and is also an important voice for our residents about what they want and expect from these departments.

We know that these amenities play a big role in our quality of life in Olatha, and we're grateful for our board for the work they do to ensure that quality stays high and that they are accessible for all.

Here to introduce our new and reappointed members is Board Chair Greg Foss.

Greg?

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

I need to excuse me, I need to start by uh doing a little bit of promotion.

The Olatha Park and Rec Foundation for the last two years, and this will be our third year, offers two $1,000 scholarships for Olatha uh high school students that are continuing their education.

Uh this year, the um application deadline is April 30th, so we've still got a few weeks to get applications in.

You could go to the city's website under Park and Recreation Foundation Higher Education Scholarship.

If you have a student or know of a student that uh is in need of a scholarship, we are looking for applicants for that again this year for the um appointments.

We have three tonight.

We'll start with Phil Arbuckle.

Phil has been serving on the board uh since uh 2018, been a very vital member of our organization and very, very involved in everything that the foundation does for the city of uh Olatha.

Phil?

Thanks for doing this.

Our second reappointment is Tim Richards.

Uh Tim has been serving uh this doing his second term uh since uh 2022.

He's uh well known in this city from his 32 years of experience working in the fire department and been a very good asset for the foundation.

Our nine member board consists of also a student, excuse me, a student in the uh school system of Olatha Public Schools.

A new appointment is gonna be Zed Ashker.

He's a high school junior.

He's involved in the Olatha Teen Council as social chair.

He grew up playing football and basketball in the youth programs.

He's not able to be here tonight, so I just wanted to introduce him and uh look forward to his uh participation with the the foundation and the board.

Thank you.

You want to take this to him?

I I can if he Yeah, we have a meeting this week.

Okay.

Congratulations to all our appointees on the Parks Direct Board.

We'll now move to item C.

Item C is proclamation recognizing Olatha as a seven-day city.

We do this proclamation each year to remind ourselves of our commitment to being a welcoming and inclusive city, to celebrating our differences, and to making sure Olatha is a place where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential.

Joining us today to accept the seven days proclamation is seven days board member, Parveen Sadiq.

Parveen, if you want to come up.

And whereas we are proud to support the Seven Days Foundation and share their goal of overcoming our conflicts by focusing on acts of kindness and friendship.

And whereas Olatha's rich cultural diversity enhances our lives and strengthens our city.

And we commend the Seven Days Initiative on its efforts to encourage activities that foster peace and harmony.

And whereas we look forward to the opportunity to meet new neighbors, explore new cultures, and give back to our community each year during this celebration.

Now, therefore, I, John Bacon, mayor of the City of Olatha do hereby proclaim Olatha to be a seven-day supportive city and encourage all Olathians to spend time with their families and neighbors celebrating our differences and focusing on making our community a better place.

Good evening, Mayor Consil.

So thank you very much for the opportunity.

And thank you for being recognized as an uh kindness uh county.

Uh your uh dedication and uh spreading the kindness uh helps create um uh powerful uh ripple that truly can change the world.

Also uh we'd like to invite you, everyone in here uh for our uh kindness breakfast event that is on uh April 23rd.

And the rest of other details, more details are on our website, sevendays.org.

Thank you very much.

So thank you.

Thank you, Parveen, for being here tonight and to make and to helping us make our community a better place.

We'll now move to item D, which is a presentation of the Johnson County 2026 reevaluation.

So everybody, this this time of the year is talking about property taxes.

We've been talking about them for a while, so this is very appropriate tonight.

Johnson County appraiser Carolyn Logan is here to present today for a look at residential and commercial property value assessments across Olatha.

This is important for our city budget and also our residents' budget as well.

So, Carolyn, thank you for being here.

Thank you so much.

Mr.

Mayor, Council members, Ms.

Sherman, thank you for having me.

I appreciate the opportunity to come.

I will be presenting a brief snapshot of the 2026 property tax role, and this is a culmination of the very hard work that my staff has put together.

So let's get started.

So very briefly, my presentation will cover a little bit about the city of Olatha, which is our primary focus this evening.

We'll do some um very high-level city comparisons, and then we can dig into a little bit about the county as a whole, the residential property, commercial property, personal property, land values, and abated properties.

So we always start this presentation with a mention of our an alphabetical list of our top ten employers here in the county, and this list is virtually unchanged from last year, but strong local employment does reinforce a strong local real estate market.

And I'll start off tonight with our information that we have, and thank you very much, Olatha, for participating and helping us gather this information.

These are the residential building permits.

So we do receive this information from your office.

In 2025, my staff worked, collected data, and appraised 480 new construction permits on single family homes.

You can see the historic trend.

While it is down from the all-time high on the snapshot from 2021 post COVID, it is continuing to increase in the correct direction, which is more homes being built.

The last time you heard from Johnson County about your property appraised values was in November when the abstract came for your property tax bills.

And so that figure is the line above the green, and I think it's green for St.

Patrick's Day.

So in November, you had an appraised value here in Olathe of about $23 billion.

This spring, we're reporting an appraised value in Olathe of $24 billion.

You can see the dollar increase, $1.2 billion, and that's an increase of about 5.27%.

That percentage is slightly smaller than it has been in recent history.

We do have in this slide appraised values by property classification.

I think the point of this slide is to highlight as we all feel that residential property owners are shouldering the burden of appraised values, not just in Olatha, but in Johnson County as a whole.

So that is an increase.

It is a smaller increase than the appraised values, but that's an increase of a little bit more than 110 million dollars.

These slides demonstrate the average appraised value for single family homes in Olatha and the average sale prices.

The red bars are the average sale prices, and the blue bars are the appraised values.

You can see that in 2019, which is the oldest data on this chart, that gap was fairly narrow.

And then during COVID and after the pandemic, of course, that gap spread just a little bit, and my office is beginning to close that gap slightly.

So for 2026, the average appraised value in Olatha for a single family home is 457,000, and I'm rounding down there.

Last year in 2025, the average sale price, and that's represented by the red bar, that average sale price in Olatha was about 498,000.

So I promised you a city comparison, and that starts now.

So Olatha is in the green text, and you can see again, these this is comparing November of 2025, which is the last report that you've had from my office about values.

So in November of 2025, Olatha was sitting at about 23 billion dollars in appraised value.

Right now we're at 24 and 0.3 billion dollars, and then you can see the comparisons between the cities there.

So the increase that I've already reported of 5.27% is one of the lower increases on the chart.

But in terms of appraised value, Olatha is still number two there.

This is just focusing on the single family homes, and this is the average appraised value by city, new and existing homes.

That would be new construction and then existing homestock.

Olatha, of course, is in the green there on the bottom line.

Last year we reported an average appraised value for a single family home in Olatha of 433,000.

This year we're reporting 457,000.

That's an increase in appraised value on single family homes on average of about 5.5%.

Here are your building permit numbers last year, the ones that we collected during 2024 and then the 2025 numbers, and then you're compared and contrasted with the other cities here in the county.

So it looks, it looks like the numbers are saying that Olatha is producing more new construction than the other competitor cities, if you would.

And then we'll touch briefly on Johnson County real property as a whole.

Overall in the county residential valuation changes, the blue section of the pie represents the residential values that were increased, and that's a little bit more than 90%.

There's almost 9% of the residential values in the county that decreased, that's the red section of the pie, and a very, very small sliver did not change at all.

So the tax roll grows in one of two ways either from reappraisal, which is work that my office does, that also includes sale prices, or it also grows by new construction.

So this slide just demonstrates for reappraisal growth on the residential side of the tax roll.

We had a growth of 5.92%.

That's countywide.

So that includes sales and the work that my office does in response to Kansas statute.

That new construction dollar amount, which is reported separately for 2026 countywide, this excludes apartments, this is just residential housing, 625, almost 626 million dollars.

That is a decrease from 2025, but if you think of 2025 as perhaps an anomaly, if you look at the trend historically, things are headed in an upward direction.

For residential building permits countywide, this includes single families, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes.

We call all of that residential.

Last year as a whole in Johnson County, my office followed up on 2,014 residential building permits.

That is an increase over the last couple of years, but it's still a decrease from where we were in 2021, probably in response to the pandemic.

So this map, and I apologize that it's difficult to see this far away.

This map represents the average percent change in residential values in the county for 2026.

The lighter areas are smaller percentage changes, and the dark blues are the highest increase of changes.

So those dark blue areas represent changes of up to about 9.5%.

This includes just appraised values.

There's no new construction figured in here.

But we have here on this slide, we have, and this is countywide.

We have single family homes, their average appraised values, those are in the blue bars in the front.

And in the back are the green bars, and those are the average selling prices countywide.

My office has reported an average selling price for a single family home in Johnson County last year of about $583,000.

The average appraised value this year is about $536,000.

And the trend is demonstrated very clearly on that slide.

You can see that the blue bars continue to be lower than the green bars in the back.

That means on average, an existing home is less expensive to purchase for a homeowner than a new construction home.

The second interesting piece that we see there is that for the first time ever since my office has been reporting these statistics, that the average selling price of a new construction home actually dropped last year.

This is the residential valuation changes, and this pie chart includes apartment values.

So we did see some very strong apartment value changes in the county this past year, and this pie just adds those changes into the residential evaluation changes.

So about 87, 88% of the residential properties saw an increase in appraised value.

After we finish final valuation, my office tallies the homes in each city by their valuation.

And so the first green column is showing the number of houses by city that are valued under 150,000.

So in Olatha, in 2026, we're reporting 51 homes that are valued under 150,000.

Countywide this year, there's 152 homes that fall into that category.

Last year at this time, countywide, we had 315 homes that were at that valuation point.

The numbers are interesting to watch as you head from left to right as the price point increases across the chart.

That next column lists the same tallies for homes valued between 150,000 and 300,000.

In Olatha, this year we're reporting 400,000, excuse me, 250 homes that are between 150,000 and 300,000 in value.

Countywide, we have a little bit more than 18,000.

Last year at this time, countywide, we had 24,000.

So the market is definitely telling us that homes valued $300,000 and below are quickly disappearing.

As you look at the trends on the other end of that graph, homes worth more than 1.1 million dollars, that category continues to grow.

So you can see the properties shifting categories year over year.

The other interesting thing, this this chart also supports the average sales prices that we've been discussing for single family homes.

The majority of our housing stock in Johnson County does fall between 300,000 and $800,000 in appraised value.

Commercial property, we'll switch gears.

Commercial property, the reappraisal this year, when we add all the categories together and measure that over last year's values.

Commercial reappraisal came in at about 0.13%.

So here's a chart that just demonstrates the reappraisal growth in bars over the last five or six years.

So you can see that this year is definitely coming back to maybe even before COVID numbers.

So the tax role grows one of two ways by reappraisals and also from new construction.

So in 2026, my office added $577 million of new construction in the commercial categories.

And which commercial values decreased.

We saw almost a 50-50 split there in that.

So we do hope that that number will pop up next year.

The office market, last year we added a little bit shy of 90,000 square feet in new office space in the county.

That is definitely down from the large spike in 2022, which represents a significant office development in Overland Park.

The industrial market, last year we added about 1.6 million square feet of industrial space to the property tax roll.

I think the spikes in 2022 and 2023 were significant projects in the western part of Johnson County and the southern part of Johnson County.

So we are continuing to decrease there in value in size of new construction added to the tax roll.

But I would think there are several significant industrial developments in the pipeline.

So we're looking forward to adding those.

That continues to increase if you take a look at the chart over time.

That trend is certainly headed up.

I understand there are currently about 2300 units under construction in the county with an additional 6,000 in change in development approval processes.

And then I think this is great news.

For the first time since 2020, we actually added hotel rooms to the property tax roll.

Last year we added three hotels to the property tax roll.

One in Lanexa at City Center, one development there, one at Blue Hawk, and then one at 119th in Nall.

So I understand there are some more hotels that are coming.

So we're looking forward to that.

Very briefly, we'll touch on some personal property.

This category continues to receive exemptions from the legislature.

Strangely enough, in 2025, we actually saw a slight increase, the personal property tax rolls.

This is attributed almost completely to heavy truck purchases in the county, as well as there were some purchases of personal property that it's exempt this year.

So we think maybe there are some property owners trying to get in front of that exemption.

So this trend will not continue to increase unless the legislature reverses some of their recent activities.

And I'm getting, let's see, talk about maybe some abatements.

Last year, between 2024 and 2025, we did see some abatements come off, but there were also some new ones.

So our net increase last year was 195.

We're still tallying this year, so that number will be reported a little bit later.

And Olatha does lead the county in terms of those economic development incentives.

And then we do like to show this slide.

The blue part of the pie here is the total county appraised value, and the orange slice is the abated appraised value.

So that is 2.38% of the county's appraised value is currently under some type of abatement or economic development.

And that's all.

I have 30 seconds.

Thank you, Carol.

And are you open for some questions?

Um Carolyn.

I guess the only thing I would say is thank you for a great presentation.

I kept jotting notes down and you kept getting to the answer.

So thank you.

Oh, okay.

Great.

That's best case scenario.

Any other questions?

Councilmember DeLall.

Uh thank you.

Yeah.

What can you tell us about the models that you use and accuracy and how you kind of uh watch for pockets of inaccuracy and kind of adapt to correct the models?

So the models are multiple regression models.

So we're we're using multiple regression analysis.

That is not just a scientifically documented method for valuing sales using comp valuing residential property using comparable sales, but it's also approved by Kansas Statute and the Kansas Department of Revenue who oversees the county appraisers.

So each month, my staff has to report to the Department of Revenue our residential sales.

And we communicate back and forth with the Kansas Department of Revenue who oversees us.

They have a division called property valuation division that oversees county appraisers statewide.

And we're working back and forth validating our sales.

So we are required to go out and inspect the sales, attempt to talk to the property owners and then verify our characteristics.

So we're doing quite a bit of due diligence to make sure that the information we have about the properties that sell are accurate.

We have a computer-assisted mass appraisal system that's in use statewide by every county appraiser's office.

And that system is called the Orion system, and that's where the multiple regression models are located, and that system performs the regression analysis, producing the coefficients for the to place the values to come up with the new values to predict the new values, if you will.

And then we are required to submit our coefficients and our model statistics when we finish to the Kansas Department of Revenue, the property valuation division.

So we are in compliance with Topeka, and we feel very confident in our sales research, the better the sales data, the better the value that you're getting.

We are also feel fairly confident in the processes that the Department of Revenue and the Property Valuation Division has given us to work with.

And then we're working with property owners currently with the appeal process.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

One other little question I had was I know you had a graph showing kind of the ratio of uh it was commercial to residential, you know, lathe.

Um do you have any information on how latha compares to some of the cities around us or similar cities if that's easier?

I do not have that with me, but I can get that to you.

I'd love to be happy to do that.

Yeah, I'd love to love to know more.

Okay.

Appreciate that.

Councilmember Vaucus.

Thanks very much, Mayor.

Carolyn, great presentation.

Obviously, this kind of thing we could spend hours talking about, but could you go back to your your previous slide?

So on this represents the county as a whole.

That's correct.

Okay.

And the abated policy, and go back to your slide before that if you would.

Okay.

So as we look at Olatha, do we have such a large number because of the nature of development in Aletha?

I I didn't I I don't think I can answer that.

Okay.

What I can tell you is we're reporting this by parcel.

Okay.

So you may have one economic development package, and it may encompass 15 or 16 parcels.

Sure.

Or even more.

And so that could skew the graph, if it were.

Okay.

Because I would think the municipalities as a whole across Johnson County have similar incentive or abatement policies.

So at least in my mind, you know, what this suggests to me is that we the nature of our development, so much commercial and industrial that is the kind of things that are abated.

Perhaps that's part of the reason why this is so large.

The other thing that I might offer as a possibility, and again, I'm sure I'm guessing.

Sure.

Yeah, yeah.

If you take a look at the graph, and this is one more previous to where we we just were, but if you take a look at the graph over time, typically abatements are 10 to 20 years.

And it's not unusual.

So I know that we had between 2024 and 2025, we had several 10-year abatements roll off, and that is just how my office refers to them.

They just rolled off.

And so over time, that could also be that we're seeing new ones coming on.

So between on this chart 2020 and 2021, but how long are those?

And maybe some of the other cities that aren't represented on this side.

Maybe theirs have come off.

Maybe they were using this 10, 15 years ago, and theirs have all come off or are no longer relevant.

So that could also be an issue, that the time lag here.

I mean it's obviously something we'll look deeper into, but yeah, multiple explanations of why that is.

Certainly not necessarily anything wrong at this stage.

I guess the one one thing that troubles me is as probably troubles all of us is the continual decline in lower price point housing.

And that's not anything we can address here tonight.

So yeah.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Carol, I have a couple of questions.

Um on your, I think it was slide 29 where it talks about number of um commercial properties.

Commercial properties.

And I was just wondering if that is for permits or is that certificates of occupancy, how you come with that number.

So I believe this is when my staff is adding the square feet to the tax roll and we are actually valuing it.

But I I probably need to check that answer.

So there could be a little gap because we're actually only valuing one day a year.

Okay.

We're working all year.

Don't misunderstand me.

But by statute, we're allowed to value one day a year, and that's January one.

So there, you know, there's always a time lag there.

So I I'm happy to check are these certificates of occupancy or but my understanding is that when we're adding them to the tax roll and we are valuing them as finished, that's when we're reporting the square feet.

So you don't do any percentage of completion valuations?

We do.

Percentage of completion, of course.

That is required by law.

But as far as when we are reporting the square feet, that's what I'm not sure about.

And then on slide 42, is there a way to that's the one that it compares the number of abatements by city?

Um something else that would be interesting there is the dollar amount, because I am sure DeSoto would jump way up there if we had the dollar amount.

So um I don't know how late that would fare, but I so that's something I'm so on this presentation obviously we can get a copy of it.

But is there a place where we can drill down a little more?

Like I think uh Councilmember Denult wanted to compare some other cities.

Is is there information also available so we could peek at that?

Yes, we can do that.

Um then a comment that was made in the past is that um overall when you appraise a house, typically you are at about 90 percent of the fair market value or the sales price.

Is that still the case, or are you getting closer to the actual fair market value, the sales price?

The likely sales price.

So we are required to be at 100 percent.

So we're we're trying to get to 100 percent.

That is our goal.

So if you were going to sell your home for $300,000, that should be what our appraised value is.

Those things should be one and the same.

The reality is my office is allowed to place value one day a year.

And we're using historical information.

We're using sales data that's already happened.

It's one year old, it's eighteen months old, it's it's 24 months old.

And so the sales prices that are actually happening are always hopefully going to be higher than where our appraised values are.

That's just sort of the reality of the time lag.

We're we shouldn't predict we have to we're forced to be reactive, I guess is is what I'm trying to say.

And so as we take a look at me this slide.

So you can see that we are closing the gap, which would indicate that maybe the sales prices are beginning to slow down, or maybe there's more information in the market, and our multiple regression models are acting and reacting a little bit more specifically or or better.

As a property owner, I think this would be a good news if there is good news in increased values, that the likelihood that I could sell my home for what the county appraiser says it's worth, this chart tells me that that likelihood is very, very good.

So does that appreciate it.

Um Thanks for coming.

Always great information.

And uh we appreciate your you know helping us out trying to understand what's going on.

So looking forward to uh having you next year, I guess.

Okay, thank you so much.

Thank you.

We'll now move on to the consent agenda.

Uh the items listed below are considered to be routine by the City Council, may be approved in one motion.

These may include items that have been reviewed by the City Council in a prior planning session.

There will be no separate discussion unless the council member requests that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately.

So council, are there any such items tonight?

Councilmember Vaucus.

Uh please, thank you, Mayor.

I would like to pull item H.

Any others?

A motion to approve the consent agenda would be in order.

Uh so move.

Um move to approve items A through M plus O less item H.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Would the City Clerk please call the roll?

Mr.

Yes.

Mr.

Creighton.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacas.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Motion passes 4-0.

Item H is consideration of resolution number 26-1026, which is SU 25-0007 requesting approval for a telecommunic telecommunications facility for Mather West, located southwest of 151st Street and South Redbird Street.

Planning Commission recommended approval 7 to 0.

Councilmember Vaucus.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just note that we all received several letters of concern from residents.

So I'd ask Chet to step up and just review this application with us so we understand exactly what's happening.

Chet?

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and members of the council.

Chet Belcher, Chief Community Development Officer.

I'll give you a brief uh presentation on this just to kind of highlight what the city is uh can do and regulate versus what is regulated by the state and the federal government.

So the site is uh located, it's in M2 zoning, so it's in an industrial zone, and it's located about 500 feet anterior to the site.

So that keeps it all the notificate public notification didn't go out because you've notified within 500 feet.

Um and the rest in the nearest home is 675 feet.

So this just kind of demonstrates that it is part of an industrial development.

It's not in a residential neighborhood.

Um here's the site again uh with the red X.

And this just demonstrates with the landscaping how much berming and trees will be along 151st Street, then also two layers of uh buildings that will range from 40 to 50 feet tall between 151st Street and the tower.

So here's probably the more important stuff.

These things are regulated, they just can't be regulated by the city.

So we can't tell them you can't tell a provider you know where they go based on coverage if there's gaps or overlaps.

Um we can't tell uh ask them to co-locate.

Uh we don't get to dictate the type of uh equipment or the appearance of the tower.

Um the airport restricts the height near the airports and the radio frequency and that type of equipment is regulated by the FCC.

So with that, I will stand for questions.

Any other questions?

Um thanks, Jet.

That that's the one I'd looked for.

Thanks.

It uh clarifies.

Thanks very much.

Yep.

Any other comments or questions of staff?

Thank you, Chet.

Um a motion be in order on item H.

Thank you, Mayor.

I move to approve.

Um approve resolution 26-1026.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk please call the roll.

Mr.

Rockus.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Mr.

Denult?

Yes.

Mr.

Creighton.

Yes.

Motion passes 4-0.

We'll now move to new business.

Item A is consideration of ordinance number 26-11, which is RZ25-0020, requesting approval of a rezoning from the BP Business Park District to C2 Community Center District, with a preliminary site development plan for Dillon's at Sunnybrook and the public dedications for a final plat, FP 25-0043 of Sunnybrook Business Park, fourth plat, on approximately 14.11 acres, located southwest of College Boulevard and South Lone Elm Road.

Planning Commission recommends approval 7 to 0.

Uh this proposal is for a much requested and anticipated grocery store for Olatha's West Side.

Senior planner Nathan Jury joins us for a presentation.

Welcome, Nathan.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council.

Nathan Jury, senior planner.

Um before you tonight, as uh stated, is a request to approve the rezoning with a preliminary plan and a final plat as well for the Dillons at Sunnybrook Development.

Um this 14-acre site is located South College Boulevard, west of the shops at uh Sunnybrook, and east of the future Sunnybrook Boulevard extension.

Um the site was zoned to the BP district back in 1998 as part of the overall Sunnybrook development.

Um this area was originally envisioned as a business park BP zoning intended for larger scale offices such as those found north of college.

Um but the area to the east has really developed in a more commercial development pattern.

Uh Dillon's is requesting to rezone to the C2 uh community commercial district to allow the grocery store with a gas sales use.

Um the C2 district allows for general retail and service type uses in addition to the office uses currently allowed on the site in the BP district.

Um staff is supportive of this rezoning.

Um but for continuity, we do recommend carrying forward uh some of the same land use restrictions that are found in the Sunnybrook development and Dillon's is agreeable with this list.

The Plan Olatha future land use map designates the site as employment area.

The employment area is envisioned predominantly for office or other high employment uses, but complementary retail and service uses may be carefully integrated to serve the overall employment area as well.

The C2 district aligns with this designation as it does allow for those retail and service uses and is limited really to that area directly adjacent to that neighborhood existing neighborhood commercial center.

This request also aligns with several comp plan policies, including creating a hierarchy of commercial activity centers, providing a mix of complementary uses, and also balancing uh the jobs and housing and the need for grocery in North West Aletha, especially.

Dylan's development does include nearly uh 100,000 square foot grocery store with a 14-pump gas station uh along college there.

There is a drive-through pharmacy uh located on the east side as well as uh online grocery uh pickup area.

The project will extend uh Sunnybrook Boulevard all the way to college.

Um the required turn lanes will be installed on college with this development as well.

Um there will be a limited access drive on college and three access drives on Sunnybrook.

Uh loading dock and trash compactors are located to the rear of the building.

Uh there will be signature landscape areas located at the hard corner, um, a pedestrian amenity area uh provided along that main entry sidewalk along the building.

Um additionally, uh there's uh landscaping uh that exceeds Uyo provided along the rear of the building to help screen and soften that back of house operations for Dillon's.

The grocery store is predominantly clad with high quality uh masonry and glass materials with limited accent materials as well.

Um the uh all four sides of the building are well articulated for four-sided design exceeding our UDO standards.

Uh the gas station canopy uses the same masonry materials as the grocery store, creating a unified look as called for in our UDO.

Um, and the request does include that final plat for the Sunnybrook Business Park fourth plat, um, which will establish the lot lines for Dillon's one lot and dedicate the right-of-way and easements necessary for Sunnybrook Boulevard's extension.

Staff is supportive of three waivers on this um site uh as requested by the applicant to accommodate their development.

Uh their uh requests are for uh waiver to the maximum building footprint, um, a waiver to the minimum glass requirement, and a uh waiver to the loading dock placement that requires loading docks to not face public streets.

To offset these requests, the building is well articulated and designed with four-sided architecture and masonry materials that exceed our UDO requirements.

Uh in addition, uh loading docks are significantly set back from Sunnybrook and screened with a masonry wall, and will be well landscaped and burned from view uh along that western side.

Um staff is not supportive of the one waiver request from our standard trash enclosure requirement.

Um Planning Commission after some discussion did agree with plan uh staff's uh stipulation, and uh uh there is a stipulation in your packet that is including the requirement that the trash service area is screened as required for all development in Alatha.

Uh the neighborhood meeting was held in January with 17 residents um in attendance.

Uh discussion really centered around uh four main topics stormwater, uh landscaping and aesthetics of the site, lighting security, and screening and noise.

Uh the required notices were sent and mailed and signs posted.

Uh staff corresponded with three individuals, two that were pretty excited about the project, one that had some comments about the stormwater, um, particularly uh Dylan's being part of the overall Sunnybrook shared uh regional detention system and the the associated shared maintenance costs uh associated with that.

Um public hearing was held in February by the planning commission.

No individuals spoke at that meeting after some discussion.

Planning commission did recommend approval subject to all staff recommendations.

In summary, uh this request does meet the golden criteria and aligns with the comp plan as outlined in the staff report.

Um staff recommends approval of the rezoning with just the one step on uh limiting certain uses uh that are also limited in the Sunnybrook area.

Uh Dylan's is agreeable.

Um staff also recommends approval of the preliminary development plan with uh the five way five uh stipulations, the first three uh being about the three waivers.

Uh the fourth is screening the trash enclosure and then our standard uh just screening stip as well.

Um lastly, staff recommends approval of the final plat with no stipulations.

Um just as a reminder, there are two uh actions for city council tonight.

One is for the rezoning case with a preliminary development plan, and the second is for the final plat.

Um so with that, I'll stand for any questions.

And Tom Barnes uh with the Pickering firm, the engineer for the uh Dillons is also here for any questions as well.

Thank you, Nathan.

Uh, we have a few questions.

So Councilmember Creighton.

Mr.

Jury, would you please talk about the connection to the east?

You were talking about the Sunnybrook dropping down from College Boulevard, but it did not look like in that picture that it connected to 113th Street or did I miss that?

So uh uh Correct.

Uh the development just to the south, um, Kremda Le Creme Daycare was approved previously.

Um they are starting to grade out this road and this construction site for their extension and their required extension of that public road.

So 113th will extend with the daycare in the near future.

Very good.

Thank you.

Councilmember Vaucus.

Uh thanks, Mayor.

So, Nathan, uh well, first of all, what a wonderful project.

You know, we uh we have uh many great grocers in the Kansas City region.

Well, I think uh the community has missed Dylan's for several decades.

So bringing them back into Kansas City with the first location in Latha is just wonderful news for all of us.

It's a beautiful building, great layout.

Um you mentioned the stormwater management plan, and I know that we're giving much thought and due diligence as we move forward.

I would just ask that we leave we leave no stone unturned in fully understanding the drainage pattern to the south.

Since this lot slopes to the south, you know, it would it would spoil everything if we find out as we come to the conclusion that we've underengineered the south requirement for stormwater management.

So I just ask moving forward that we we again have special focus on that and don't just assume that we have enough in place to handle the volume of stormwater that's gonna run off this lot.

I have to admit, my wife and I traveled to Lawrence routinely to go to Dillon's.

So being able to shop here in Olatha is wonderful news.

I'm very supportive of the project.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I would just echo those same comments.

Excited for this project.

I know this part of our community is um excited as well to see a grocer here.

And uh we're we're welcoming Dillon's back to our community.

And uh we were sorry to see them leave in our downtown and also at 151st in Merlin.

So exciting project.

So the the uh the staging of the trucks that back up into the the um truck bay in the on the south, will they block sunny will they block the road or can they get into the parking lot and then back into the loading area?

They can make all their truck turning movements on site.

They have a little uh turnaround space right here that they can really um use and and they have their truck turning movements shown on this site plan.

But yeah, everything's on site, they will not block Sunnybrook.

Excellent.

Excited for the project.

Any other questions or comments?

Okay, a motion be in order, and we do need the uh the final plat to mention.

Yes.

And so I would uh move that we approve ordinance 26-11 as RZ 25-002.

Second.

We have a motion and second.

Did you want to add the the final plat or do them separately?

Let's do it, so we can do them separately.

Well, the we have a motion and second on the ordinance.

Would you please with the city clerk please call the roll?

Mr.

Danault.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Mr.

Vaccus.

Yes.

Mr.

Creighton.

Yes.

Motion passes 4-0.

Uh entertain a motion for the final plat.

Uh I move to approve the final plat 25-0043.

Second.

We have a motion and second with the city clerk.

Please call the roll.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacus.

Yes.

Mr.

Creighton.

Yes.

Mr.

Denult.

Yes.

Motion passes 4-0.

Timing-wise, do we know when this store will be open?

Just kind of a final thought there.

Last I talked to Dylan's Nathan Drew, Senior Planner.

Last I talked to Dylans, I think fall 2027 is when they're looking to open.

Excited.

All right.

Well, thanks for being here.

We'll now move to item B.

Item B is consideration of ordinance number 26-12, which is RZ25-0008, requesting approval of a rezoning from the C3 Regional Center and MP2, Planned General Industrial District to C3 Regional Center District with a preliminary site development plan for the Olatha Animal Care Campus on approximately 7.44 acres, located northwest of East Santa Fe Street and North Ridgeview Road.

Planning Commission recommended approval 7 to 0.

Olatha is working on a bigger and better animal shelter to serve our growing community.

This is at the site of the old Sutherlands on Santa Fe and Ridgeview.

Thank you, Mayor Council.

Back again.

Nathan Jurry, Senior Planner.

So before you tonight, uh as mentioned, is the I do have the pleasure of presenting this uh request from the city for rezoning the preliminary plan uh for Olatha Animal Care Campus.

Uh this property is seven acres in size.

It's northwest of Santa Fe in Ridgeview, uh just west of the quick trip there on the former Sutherlands and Jiffy Lube site.

Uh the uh project will replace our current animal care facility located at the public safety campus that the city has outgrown.

Um the site was zoned to the MP2 and the C3 districts back in the 1970s and is surrounded by commercial zoning to the south and east, and the sites buffered from the residential um zoning to the north by the uh buffered by the BNSF railroad.

Uh the city is requesting to rezone to the C3 district, uh, mainly uh to one, get rid of the 1970s industrial zoning in this area, uh, and also it's a rezone um for uh commercial development that uh will directly align with the surrounding area.

This request also aligns with the city's um future land use map and designation as a commercial corridor, um, which a commercial corridor um uh does accommodate as defined in Plan Olatha, accommodates a few full range of commercial uses, including auto-oriented uses, um, but does have the opportunity to be transformed over time um into a more walkable uh type of development.

Uh the C3 district does allow for that full range of commercial uses, and staff is recommending to limit uh some of those uses in a C3 to help transform Santa Fe as envisioned.

Additionally, the request does align with several comp plan policies, including the transformation of the Santa Fe Corridor, uh providing well-designed um public spaces, and reinvesting in existing commercial areas.

So the project does include a 26,000 square foot public animal care facility.

Um Sutherland's old access drive will be improved, uh retained, and um the there are two future pad sites that will access that central drive.

Um as stipulated, a revised preliminary plan is required for those two pad sites when end users are are identified in the future.

The building does uh comply um with city's design standards.

Uh the proposed building is predominantly clad with high quality brick and glass materials with some accent materials as well.

Uh the main public entry is designed with signature landscaping and limestone seating as well.

The neighborhood meeting was held back in July um last year.

Uh two attendees were there with just general questions about the scope.

Um all public notice requirements have been met.

Um and uh staff received correspondence from just one resident uh that just had uh general inquiries and was interested in the project as well.

Um the public hearing was held back in February um just a month ago uh by the planning commission.

Uh and uh at that meeting, uh no one spoke.

Um planning commission recommended unanimous approval.

Uh in summary, this meets golden criteria and aligns with the comp plan as as outlined in the staff report.

Um staff recommends approval of the rezoning with just one stipulation to limit uses as envisioned in the comp plan.

Um staff also recommends approval of the preliminary development plan with just one stipulation that the pad sites come back for revised preliminary.

Um with that, I'll stand for any questions, and we have city staff here to answer questions.

Thank you, Nathan.

Uh a couple of questions.

Uh Councilmember Bacchus.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Not so much a question, but just a comment.

So, you know, I've been watching this develop over the past few years.

It's so good to see us to the point now where we're about ready to kick kick off construction.

You know, there's no doubt that this uh this new build will serve Olatha well for the next 30 to 50 years, given proper maintenance.

And finally, we're we're correcting a long-standing need.

That is our short shortcomings in the management of animal welfare.

Once this building is built, it will have a significant impact on the quality of of all lives in Olatha.

So let's get it going.

Thanks very much, Nathan.

Thank you, Mayor.

Any other questions?

Uh Councilmember Denult.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh mostly a comment.

I um quite looking forward to seeing this project go uh forward.

I know that uh we've spoken a lot about it, previous council members included, and uh there's a lot of concern in wanting to make sure that we are responsible.

So I'm very excited to uh keep this moving forward responsibly.

I've taken my daughter to the old uh facility, which is so small, to to donate things to them, and uh I look forward very much to getting to take her to this new facility as well.

So thank you.

Well we look forward to moving forward.

Thank you, Nathan.

Um I'm excited for this project.

I know I wish it like a lot of us, I wish it didn't cost as much, but um it's the cost of construction today, and I think this is uh the comments about it serving our community for the next 30 to 50 years is important and uh do it in the style that Olatha is accustomed to.

So appreciate the staff working hard to bring this forward and um and I've been at the old facility several times and and I echoed the thoughts that it needs to be replaced.

So we're excited for this project.

And it'll be built in the next year and a half, is that right?

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh motion to approve ordinance number 26-12 would be in order.

Thank you, Mayor.

With that in mind, I move to approve um ordinance number 26-12.

That's RZ 25-0008.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk, please call the roll.

Mr.

Creighton.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacus.

Yes.

Mr.

Denult.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Motion passes 4-0.

We'll now move to general issues and concerns of citizens.

We do have one individual that has signed up to speak tonight.

So I would ask that the city clerk please invite uh the our for our speaker and read the guidelines, please.

Uh Mayor, uh City Clerk's office received an email from our speaker shortly after the meeting started, and she is unable to be here to this evening.

Okay.

So we do not have a speaker.

All right.

So then we'll uh convene our planning session.

We have uh several reports.

Um is there a need to pull any of those reports?

Would you like to discuss any of these reports with staff?

Councilmember Vacus.

Um thank you, Mayor.

If we could pull um item A1.

Okay.

Just for a few questions.

Sure.

I have a few questions on that too as well.

See staff coming up.

Good evening, Council.

Bob Gallimore, Assistant City Attorney.

Thanks, Bob.

Good to see you tonight.

Mayor, did you want to go first?

Well, um, I well, no, you you go right ahead.

I have to have one simple question.

So you know, we're talking about uh e-mobility devices.

And I I see a lot of different terminology.

I see e-bikes, I see e-scooters, I see e-moto.

And uh, but I seem to be hearing a catch-all e-mobility devices.

Do these different labels all mean different things to us, or can we capture everything by simply saying e-mobility devices?

That's an excellent question.

Some of the issues caused by state law that does have quite a few different defined terms uh that breaks these devices into kind of different um sets subject to different regulations.

One of the things we're trying to do with this proposed ordinance is actually simplify some of that.

So what we would do, we where we currently have three different categories of devices, the electric assisted bicycles that we refer to as e-bikes, the electric-assisted scooters that we call e-scooters, and then motorized skateboards.

We would collapse kind of the motorized skateboards and similar uh ordinance into uh with the e-scooters into a micro-mobility device.

Okay.

So that would simplify, hopefully help understanding, kind of simplify the enforcement by putting two classes of devices that really have a lot of similarities, but currently we treat somewhat differently into one category that we treat the same.

Thanks very much.

That's helpful.

Thanks, Bob.

Mayor?

Yeah.

Councilmember Creighton.

Thank you.

A couple of things.

First of all, to staff, thank you for uh your assistance.

I did hear from a resident who had some concerns because of the information you provided, uh we were able to able to put those uh concerns to rest.

And more importantly, because of that uh uh interaction, we did make some adjustments.

So thank you for that.

Uh specifically, though, how do how does our ordinance compare to some of the neighboring communities who have been updating theirs?

Do you kind of have an idea?

Um I I guess it was late last week that I member of the Overland Park City Council reached out to me just asking me about what we were putting forth.

And so I'm just curious how that this compares to I think we would also updated theirs recently as well.

So we do have uh kind of some information on that that we can get to you.

Uh we try to kind of keep that updated.

Uh we have similarities with with other communities.

We we have some differences.

Um I think one of the proposed changes uh in this ordinance that is something that other communities have done recently would be the requirement uh for riders under the age of 18 of e-scooters to wear helmets.

That's something that I think Shawnee, we would maybe another community or two has just done recently.

So that's something we added.

Um but we have some more comprehensive information that we can get to you that would compare this with what other cities are are doing.

Okay.

Thanks, Bob.

I and I apologize.

It just kind of hit me while we were sitting here uh that uh I had heard from the council member in uh Overland Park.

So I apologize if I put you on the spot.

Thank you, Bob.

Um, you know, I I would uh say that this technology keeps changing so fast, I wouldn't be surprised if we're not visiting something about mobility devices every year.

I was reading the other day about verteports and possibly coming in the next five years.

So exciting stuff.

Um and on this particular uh change, I think there's been a little bit of a disconnect between what the ordinance will do and then what's been reported in some of our media.

So what I would what I was thinking, we we are short some of our council members tonight.

So what I was thinking is maybe not bring this forward just yet, maybe bring it back as a a report again.

And um then also I was wondering if we couldn't have our team council just look at this, because we have them as uh as a resource, and I think that uh I'd I'd welcome their input.

I know they're on these devices a lot, and um I own a scooter too, so I'm not I'm not it's just not our youth that has scooters.

But uh so um that's where I would like if you're okay with that instead of bringing this right back for a vote, we'll see this again as a report.

And if you wouldn't mind providing some of that comparable information from other cities in the meantime, that would be helpful.

And I'm not sure about the timing of the team council, but uh we'll I'll coordinate with Liz and see if it's something that's not too long.

Maybe every G needs.

Yeah, and if they I would be happy if they would be willing to uh maybe interview some of their um colleagues at our at some of our school campuses.

So I appreciate that input.

All right.

Any other reports that we need to poll tonight?

Uh then we'll move on to additional items.

I'll start on my left.

Councilmember Creighton tonight.

Uh just one item, uh Mayor, and thank you.

Um just kind of following up on your comment about the animal shelter, which we just completed the rezoning request.

Um two of the council members that are not here did not support that at last year.

And I know that they would probably be uh doing the same thing you did, just reminding staff that it's a lot of money.

Let's get the most for our bank for our buck, and let's just keep a sharp pencil on that.

So uh I figured since they weren't here, especially Mr.

Scoon over, I'm gonna speak on his behalf without his permission.

Thanks.

Councilmember Vacus.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Well, um happy St.

Patrick's Day to everybody.

It's wonderful.

You know, uh I planted a hundred daffodils last fall, and they've looked great uh a few days ago.

I think they've passed away, you know, but nonetheless, spring is here, and I'm so looking forward to the spring weather in in Olafa.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Denall.

Thank you.

Um yeah, I wanted to bring up the uh seven days um proclamation one more time.

It's something that as I've talked with people over the last year, especially in this capacity.

Uh you know, I know there are a lot of influences in the world that are trying to uh make us feel divided and isolated in in some ways.

And uh but I hear people uh frequently saying uh they want to connect with each other and learn about each other and understand each other better.

And uh that's something that I have believed for a long time and I take to heart, uh especially as I sit here every every meeting and talk with everybody uh about making the city better.

So something I just want uh to say again and and remind people we have a lot of similarities and our differences uh should be celebrated uh more.

So thank you very much.

Thanks.

City Manager Susan Sherman.

Any comments for tonight?

Just really quickly, um, I think I mentioned this in the Friday update, but Eric Strymple was promoted to deputy city clerk, and so wanted to uh celebrate his success and welcome him to even more meetings, I'm sure.

So congratulations.

Congratulations, Eric.

And I have one item.

So once again, this April and May, we are encouraging you to participate in the Olatha Mayor's Community Food Drive.

Uh many children rely on the food they get at school to eat, so this effort helps us stock local food pantries for the summer months when school is out.

So if you'd like to help us out, you can go to feedolatha kids.com and we appreciate any of your assistance.

That concludes our meeting tonight.

Thanks for being here for joining us.

Have a wonderful evening, and we are adjourned.