Housing costs in Johnson County remain a concern – new ‘toolbox’ pushes cities to find solutions

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A so-called “housing toolkit” is now available for towns in Johnson County to use to advocate for more affordable residential development in their jurisdictions.

The new document, dubbed the Universal Housing Toolkit, aims to guide cities in their thinking about adding more accessible housing, as housing affordability and cost remains a major concern for many Johnson County residents.

United Community Services of Johnson County, a local nonprofit that facilitated the recent Johnson County Municipalities Community Housing Study, released the Housing Toolkit earlier this month at its summit annual on social services.

“The most important thing we have learned in this multi-year process is that we need to find a place at the table for everyone,” said Julie Brewer, Executive Director of UCS. Above is a file photo of Brewer at a summit a few years ago.

Representatives from the association are now visiting towns in Johnson County this summer to talk about the toolkit and how its recommendations could be implemented.

For example, in a June 21 meeting with Overland Park City Council, Julie Brewer, executive director of UCS, said the toolkit offers strategies to help communities respond to residents on the road. ‘Addition of denser housing options, which are often opposed by’ NIMBY ‘attitudes.

“The biggest thing we’ve learned during this multi-year process is that we need to find a place at the table for everyone,” Brewer said. “Because if you do something to me, I’m going to have a very emotional reaction, and it’s going to be very intrusive to me.” If you do something with me and participate in the development of this next ecosystem that I am a part of and the following residents are a part of, we think it’s that recipe, that secret sauce for success.

Objectives of the Housing for All Toolkit

The five main goals set out in the Housing for All toolkit are:

  1. Preserve and rehabilitate the existing building stock
  2. Reduce overall household expenses to make housing more affordable
  3. Increase the variety of housing types, in particular “medium density” stock such as condos and duplexes
  4. Encourage the production of affordable and accessible housing by sharing risks, reducing gaps in the private market and financing housing
  5. Build an advocacy behind the idea of ​​affordable and accessible housing

City leaders and staff from several Johnson County communities participated in the housing study, including some in Prairie Village, Lenexa and Shawnee.

Here are some of their takeaways.

Lenexa

Part of Lenexa’s housing stock is aging, while much of the city is still rural and underdeveloped. The city is exploring ways to preserve its existing building stock. Above, single-family homeowners have spoken out against higher density apartments offered between their subdivision and the K-7 highway. Photo file.

Scott McCullough, director of community development for Lenexa who participated in a working group for these efforts, said Lenexa city leaders will meet later this year to discuss the Housing for All toolkit and the best way to meet the challenges facing the city.

These conversations will likely be paired with discussions to update the overall city plan.

“Our team was happy to be part of the process leading up to the report,” said McCullough. “It will be an ongoing process as we continue to explore this important topic. “

McCullough said he thinks the toolkit would be helpful for cities to review and determine which tools work best to solve their specific housing issues.

“I think for the city of Lenexa, understanding the issues is going to be a key part of the challenge, which is understanding what issues are affecting Lenexa itself, and then we can explore ways to resolve those issues,” McCullough said.

One such problem that is not unique to Lenexa is “NIMBYism,” said McCullough, the rejection of neighboring landlords who do not want to live near apartments or commercial projects.

At the same time, Lenexa is already working to promote the preservation of the city’s existing building stock.

The city recently revamped its Outside Grants program, which helps homeowners pay for home improvement projects. Rehabilitation of housing keeps the housing stock more affordable and helps to avoid the trend of demolition reconstruction seen in older neighborhoods.

Land park

City of Overland Park leaders learned about Housing for All toolkit in committee on June 21. Several council members showed their support for the project, while others had questions about how to tackle the housing challenges.

Council member Fred Spears has shown interest in taking a county-wide or more regional approach to creating workable housing opportunities. He added that he believes NIMBYism is one of the biggest challenges for the development of achievable housing.

“You said everyone wants a safe, well-lit neighborhood, good schools, good infrastructure,” Spears said. “So we all look alike, how do we do it?” I am confused.

Board member Holly Grummert shared her support for using the toolkit to develop various housing options for people of all age groups.

“It’s great to see these toolkits being usable for us,” said Grummert. “The important things I hear are how do we preserve our stock, how do we make homes livable for a long time, how do we preserve our affordable housing that we have now. It’s really exciting to hear about housing advocates.

Prairie Village

Affordable housing is still a priority for many residents of Prairie Village, as the city’s long-term plan, Village Vision 2.0, is taken into account. A resident said affordable housing is not something the city can achieve, it’s determined by the market. Photo file.

Prairie Village has already started tackling housing issues with the development of Village Vision 2.0, the city’s updated comprehensive plan.

Prairie Village City Council will learn more about the toolkit on July 19, and then discussions will begin on next steps.

Jamie Robichaud, deputy city administrator for Prairie Village, said “finding ways to get the needle going” on accessible housing is a top priority for the city.

“Village Vision 2.0 says the city should create a comprehensive housing strategy to address accessible housing and workforce issues in Prairie Village,” said Robichaud. “So I think the toolkit is going to be a very big part of that discussion in creating this specific Prairie Village strategy.”

As an older, landlocked town, Prairie Village faces a growing trend of dismantling and rebuilding, where smaller, lower-priced homes are demolished and replaced with larger homes that eventually push people out of these areas. neighborhoods. Older neighborhoods in Johnson County and the Kansas City metro area are also facing this trend.

Robichaud said Prairie Village will likely review residential design guidelines and zoning regulations to see how they affect housing affordability. The city can explore ways to encourage the preservation of the housing stock, for example through an external subsidy program.

“There are probably a lot of things in the toolbox that are relevant to Prairie Village, but not everything will be,” said Robichaud. “I think there are ideas in this toolkit that can certainly help cities take a more active role in the issue of housing affordability in their communities, and we will certainly be looking at that very closely.

Shawnee

Shawnee faces pushback from single-family homeowners who don’t like living near apartments. Above is a rendering of the 5700 King Apartments that had been proposed for the former site of the Wonderscope Children’s Museum in the city center. Photo file.

Shawnee City Council will be meeting later this year to learn about the Housing for All toolkit. A date has not yet been set, but a city spokesperson said it could be later this summer or early fall.

Shawnee City Manager Nolan Sunderman said he learned about the opportunities and gaps in the Shawnee housing market when he helped develop the toolkit.

“I look forward to working with the staff and our Board of Directors to identify opportunities to connect members of our community who are looking for safe, stable and accessible housing,” Sunderman told the Shawnee Mission Post via email. .

“There are affordability issues – where one can afford a house may not be close to their workplace, which creates a need for transportation,” said Nolan Sunderman, City Manager of Shawnee.

Like other communities in Johnson County, Shawnee has seen “NIMBY” push back single-family homeowners when developers attempt to come up with multi-family housing projects.

Likewise, Shawnee faces housing affordability issues, Sunderman said.

“There are affordability issues – where one can afford a house may not be close to his workplace, which creates a need for transportation,” Sunderman said. “Residents also want to age in place and remain independent. “

Sunderman said the toolkit along with a recently updated comprehensive plan can be helpful for the city as it tackles housing affordability.

“This information provides an opportunity to have a conversation in our community,” he added. “With this information, we can continue to engage members of our community to make sure we are providing the right housing that meets everyone’s needs. “

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