City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Olathe City Council for Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026. The next item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. Would you please stand with me for the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. We have one quick change to our agenda tonight at the request of staff. New business item C will be held for a later date. We'll now move to special business. First item on our agenda is item A, consideration of resolution number 26-1044, appointing and reappointing members to the Olathe Public Art Committee. Do I hear a motion?

I move to approve resolution number 26-1044.

Second.

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

Mr. Bacon.

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover. Yes. Dr. Felter. Yes. Mr. Vaucas.

Yes.

Ms. Essex. Yes. Mr. Creighton. Yes. Mr. Denault.

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

Our public art committee works to inspire, educate, and engage our community with art, something that raises the quality of life for everyone. Here to introduce our new and reappointed members is committee chair Chelsea Walker. Chelsea.

Good evening, Mayor Bacon, city council members, city staff, and guests. I had such a wonderful conversation with Mayor Bacon about our incoming appointees and our reappointees, and we're just so excited to have these highly qualified people join our team. So I'm just going to tell you just a little bit about our committee and what we've been up to this year. I am just so pleased to welcome our members, and we're just so also grateful for your willingness to serve in our community. The mission of the Olathe Public Art Committee, as Mayor Bacon discussed, is to make Olathe a memorable, distinct place where culture is appreciated and celebrated. We work to integrate art into public spaces, support local and regional artists, and create opportunities for residents and visitors to connect with each other in creative ways. Over the past year, our committee has been involved in a number of exciting initiatives. We continue to manage the outdoor sculpture series, bringing new pieces of art into our parks and public spaces. And that used to be kind of all we really focused on. But now we are preparing for the fourth annual Olathe Arts Festival this October. Four years, which is amazing. which has grown into one of our community's signature culture events. In addition, we're working to create a gallery space here at City Hall, which would provide exhibition opportunities for local artists, and it would definitely elevate this building through art. The committee is currently managing a call for artists for the new downtown parking garage, and the architects have done a great job providing lots of opportunities for art installations there. And we continue to advance our mural initiative, which has a goal to bring vibrant spaces to our newly revitalized downtown. I won't get into everything else for the sake of time, but these projects reflect our belief that public art strengthens community and identity, creates welcoming spaces, and enriches the quality of life for everyone who lives, works, and visits here. To our new and existing members, thank you for joining us in this important work. We look forward to your ideas, perspectives, and contributions as we contribute to building a more creative and connected Olathe. Thank you. Now I'm going to call forward the new appointees, and the first would be Frank Varon.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. Now, I usually don't make too many comments because I make myself look foolish. But thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, City Council, for allowing me to be a part of this.

Next is Michelle Cormack.

I'm never a stranger to speaking in front of people. I'm very, very, very excited to be a part of this. I have lived in Olathe for a number of years, and I'm a struggling artist here in the community, but I love what Olathe stands for, and I'm excited to be able to use what I'm passionate about to help out with this committee. So thank you all very, very much.

Next, we have Greg Dixon.

I just want to thank everyone for the opportunity to work with these great people. I've been working with them for a few years on various projects, and it's a great group. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, City Council.

And next is Becky Giles.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, City Council, for the opportunity to be a part of this group. And it's been amazing to help Olathe bring art and culture and theater and music and all the wonderful things to elevate our community, to bring more of that into our space and our beautiful city. I'm excited to be a part of it.

And this is our reappointment. We're so grateful that he will put up with us again with all of his extensive experience in the arts. We have Ron Fredman.

Just wanted to remind everybody that the name of our city means beautiful, and the Public Art Committee is doing its bit to help ensure that we're good to our name. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor and City Council, for this opportunity, and thanks to all the citizens who helped make this a wonderful place to live. You want to put them in there.

So thank you all for being here tonight and for serving. We appreciate your talent and your time that you're willing to give to the city. You know, we've got a beautiful piece that's going to be going up soon on 119th Street at the roundabout. I can't wait to see it. It's going to be something that people will probably drive a few miles to see and witness, especially at night. So I'm anxious to see that. All right, we'll move on now to item B. So this is recognition of Honorable Judge Katherine McElhenney. Judge McElhenney is retiring after 15 years with the city, serving the past 10 years as a full-time judge. Throughout that time, she has been an important part of our team, and we're honored to have her here tonight so we can recognize her for all the work she's done for Olathe. She's led from the bench with integrity, been thoughtful, just, and always with a commitment to the betterment of Olathe. During Judge McElhenney's time, she oversaw the establishment of our mental health diversion program. She streamlined dockets for a better customer experience and led the way during important leadership changes among court staff. Judge McElhinney also had a significant impact on the culture in her workplace. Court Services Program Manager Brandi Feldler shared a story of how the judge helped to save her wedding. After COVID derailed Brandy's ceremony plans in 2020, Judge McElhinney not only officiated the nuptials, but even helped with the paperwork. So, awesome. And City Prosecutor Chad Sublett put it this way, Judge McElhinney is a great judge, but even a better person. And that is reflected in the respect earned from everyone who has had the opportunity to work with her. He said her leadership, thoughtfulness, and commitment to doing things the right way made a real difference. So, Judge, would you please join me up front? I don't know if you're going to need this much anymore, but we thought you might want to put this on the shelf. Awesome.

Yeah, thank you so much. This is great. It has truly been my honor to preside over the Olathe Municipal Court for the past 10 years as the municipal judge. Protecting our community while offering compassion and resources to those municipal defendants who struggle with mental health and with drug addiction issues came naturally to me. The partnerships that the municipal court has fostered with Johnson County Mental Health and with the Johnson County Department of Corrections continues to grow, providing more services and more options so more municipal defendants can make positive life changes. I am happy with the state of the court. and know in my heart that I am leaving the court in very good and capable hands of Judge Kenney. So thank you very much.

So we do appreciate the judge's service for Olathe. We know it's a better place because of your involvement and wish you all the best in your next adventure. So we'll now move to item C, which is a presentation of a service award to Bob Courtney. Tonight, we were also recognizing one of our longest serving tenured volunteers, Bob Courtney. Bob has been serving on Olathe committee since 1999. He served on our downtown master plan committee, the steering committee that led to the creation of the museum at Heritage Center at Mahaffey. He served on the Mahaffey board for 20 years in our comprehensive plan advisory committee in 2006. Tonight, he is here so we can thank him for his service on our historic preservation board. Here to say a few words about Bob is board chair Tom Kearney. So, Tom.

Good evening, members of the City Council and El Presidente Bacon. I just want you to know we throw nothing away in our house. These are those flyers you get on your door. We save them and we print them. My gosh, we're making the country better. In the Western world, time is divided into BC and AD. Now, you all know what that means. On the Olathe Historical Preservation Board, we divide time into BC and FC. meaning before Courtney, and semper conservare. SC means always preserve. Bob has been a driving force for local historic preservation since the inception of the board in 2009. To date, at least 13 properties have been placed on the Olathe Register of Historic Sites. These sites include his own house, dating back to 1921, the Olathe Memorial Cemetery, Pickering, Hodges, Mahaffey, and Lanter houses, and many more. Although I didn't join the Board until 2018, I have seen the diligent efforts of Bob. In addition to the recognized sites, the Board has identified an additional 26 sites for consideration for the Local Historic Register. Also on the Board's inventory are an additional 40 sites that can tell the story of our formerly little town. We of the Board will continue his work in identifying and registering these historic sites. But of course, Bob has not been content just to work with historic properties. In recent efforts, Olathe has erected signage denoting the Jefferson Highway, pine trees to palm trees, as this historic byway came through Olathe. We all know of the historic trails that went through Olathe in the early to late 19th century. You know, the ones designated by the brown rectangular signs that say the trail crossed here. Well, In concert with fellow historians, there have been identified numerous soft points where the trails probably crossed our area. One of those soft points crosses the playground of Westview School where I attended kindergarten and first grade. Thanks to his direction, the board will continue to cooperate with other cities to identify and erect signage at these points. And, as is well known, Bob has been instrumental in telling the Olathe story in video and in print. If you have not already, please view the City Beautiful series and learn about the colorful characters and events that make up the history of Olathe. And that's not all. Bob has written two books on the history of the Olathe school system, which itself is almost as old as the city. He assisted on the book Trails, Rails, and Tails as well. And Bob cannot escape his own history. A few years ago, I was in Victoria, British Columbia. There was a street sign that said Courtney Street. I took a photo of it, showed it to Bob, thinking I could make a joke of it. He had a little smile. You know how that looks. Twinkle in his eye. and said, actually, that was named after a relative of his. The courtly name is International. Bob came to Olathe in the 1980s when the population was almost 38,000. We are now a city of over 150,000. What Bob has not allowed to get lost in that growth is the story of our town, born in the tumult of bleeding Kansas to become the place that we all call home. Thank you again and again, Bob Courtney, for all you have done for the Preservation Board, Olathe Schools, and the people of this city beautiful. And by the way, don't go too far. We will continue to need your knowledge of history to guide the board. Thank you, Bob.

One of my memories in this room was back in 2007 when then-Mayor Mike Haskin said, we're getting ready to celebrate our 150th birthday in Olathe. We'd like for you to come in and speak about the history of Olathe and some of the highlights and things that were happening. And by the way, you have five minutes. And when I came in that night, and the place was full, it was standing room only. And we got through the whole thing in six minutes. And I apologize to Mike for taking so long. But we went through from 1857 to 2007. There's so much history in Olathe, and it's really been fascinating to discover it. That's one of the neat things about history. We're making more of it every day, and it's really an opportunity. Thank you.

So thank you, Bob. And I don't, you know, every community needs a history buff like Bob Courtney to help guide it. So we're so grateful that you're part of our community. Thank you for all your influence. We'll now move to our public hearings portion of tonight's meeting. Item A is a public hearing in consideration of Resolution No. 26-1045 on behalf of 167-08-03, LLC, and assigns for an issuance request for industrial revenue bonds and phase-in resolution for a single-series project. The project will entail the construction of a 76,800-square-foot office building on an 8.98-acre parcel at the northwest corner of 167th Street and Lone Elm. This would be the third building for Faith Technologies at this location. Do we have anybody that has signed up to speak tonight on this? Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in this public hearing? Seeing none, a motion to close the public hearing would be in order. I move to close the public hearing.

Second.

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

Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Denault?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

A motion to approve resolution number 26-1045 would be in order. Is there any need for a presentation or questions of staff on this? Seeing none.

Good. I move to approve resolution number 26-1045. Second.

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

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Dinnall?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon? Yes. Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

Item B, I'd like to open a public hearing. and consideration of resolution number 26-1046 on a request by OFI manager, LLC, and assigns for an issuance request for industrial revenue bonds and tax phase-in resolution for a single series issuance for two industrial warehouse office facilities. The project will entail the construction of 260,870 and 80,000 square feet of industrial space on a 60-acre site east of the intersection of Monticello Drive and Erickson Road. This project would be adjacent to several existing facilities developed by the applicant. Do we have anyone that's signed up to speak in this? Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in this public hearing? A motion to close the public hearing would be in order. I move to close the public hearing.

Second.

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

Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Dinault?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon? Yes. Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Motion passes 7-0.

A motion to approve resolution number 26-1046 would be in order.

I move to approve resolution number 26-1046.

Second.

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

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Dinnall?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover?

No.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Vaucus?

Yes.

Motion passes 6-1.

Item C, I'd like to open a public hearing in consideration of Resolution No. 26-1047 on behalf of Mitchell Properties II, LLC, and assigns for a request for the issuance of industrial revenue bonds and tax phase in for a single series issuance for an industrial warehouse office facility. The project will entail the construction of a 33,000 square foot industrial space on a 2.25 acre parcel at 15680 South Keeler Terrace. This would also be an expansion of the applicant at their current location. Has anyone signed up to speak in this? Anyone in the audience here to speak in this public hearing? Seeing none, a motion to close the public hearing be in order. I move to close the public hearing.

Second.

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

Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Dinault?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Motion passes 7-0.

A motion to approve resolution number 26-1047 would be in order.

I move to approve resolution 26-1047.

Second.

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

Please call the roll.

Mr. Denault?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Vakas?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton? Yes. Motion passes 7-0.

Item D and E are related. I'm going to open a public hearing in consideration of Resolution No. 26-1048 and also Resolution No. 26-1049. Item D is resolution number 26-1048 on behalf of Scannell number 798 LLC and assigns for an issuance request for industrial revenue bonds and tax phase in for a single series application under master resolution. The project will entail the construction of a 646,380 square foot industrial facility on a 32.47 acre lot located on the northwest quadrant of 159th Street and Clare Road. Both of these items are D and E concerning a business park at 159th and Clare. This item is for an industrial building and the next item is for a master resolution for the larger project. So these two combined, is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in this public hearing? No one signed up to speak. A motion to close the public hearing would be in order. I move to close the public hearing.

Second.

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

Mr. Dinault.

Yes.

Mr. Bacon.

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover.

Yes.

Dr. Felter. Yes. Mr. Vacas.

Yes.

Ms. Essex. Yes. Mr. Creighton. Yes. Motion passes 7-0.

A motion to approve resolution number 26-1048 would be in order.

I move to approve resolution number 26-1048.

Second.

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

Mr. Bacon.

Yes.

Mr. Skrinova.

No.

Dr. Felter. Yes. Mr. Vaucus.

Yes.

Ms. Essex. Yes. Mr. Creighton. Yes. Mr. Dinnall.

Yes.

Motion passes 6-1.

Item E is resolution number 26-1049 on behalf of Scannell Properties, number 476, LOC, and assigns for an issuance request for a master resolution for industrial revenue bonds and tax phase-in for the construction of a business park. The project will entail approximately two buildings totaling 683,800 square feet on a total of 43.54 acres located on the northwest quadrant of Clare Road and West 159th Street. Um, need for a question or presentation? No. So a motion to approve resolution number 26-1049 would be in order.

I move to approve resolution number 26-1049.

Second.

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

Mr. Schoonover?

No.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton? Yes. Mr. Dinnall?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Motion passes 6-1. Okay.

We made it through all our public hearings. We'll now move to the consent agenda. 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 a council member requests that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. Council, are there any such items tonight to be considered? So a motion to approve the consent agenda would be in order.

Well, I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. That's items A through F, six items.

Second.

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

Yes. Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Vakas?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Dinnall?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Mr. Skinover? Yes. Motion passes 7-0.

We'll now move to new business. Item A is consideration of ordinance number 26-27, which is UDO 26-0001, amending Title 18 Unified Development Ordinance Chapter 18.20- or .260, pertaining to the Northridge View Road Overlay District. These changes would better align the district guidelines with the new Elevator Lathe Comprehensive Plan. Senior Planner Jessica Shuler joins us for a presentation. Welcome, Jessica.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Jessica Shuler, Senior Planner. And as introduced, this is an amendment to the UDO 182260, the North Ridgeview Road Overlay District. This district has existed in our code since 2002. It serves as an additional layer of development standards for the area between K-10 Highway to the north and 119 to the south. roughly a half mile east and west of Ridgeview Road. The purpose of the overlay is really to promote high quality development and create a positive first impression as you enter the city from Cape Town Highway. One of the primary things this overlay district does is restrict certain land uses on various properties. So the overlay specifies that if a property is currently zoned agriculturally, then it can only be rezoned to Office C1, C3, or BP districts. Since 2002, there is only one remaining agriculturally zoned property in this overlay, and that is at the northwest corner of College and Ridgeview. The overlay also restricts land uses within those various office and commercial districts, including various auto-oriented, manufacturing, and industrial uses with outdoor storage components. The overlay is also attached to design guidelines, and they include a set of design criteria for sites, landscaping, and architecture. The intent of the guidelines is to encourage harmonious development, building designs and themes. LLB Olathe is our recently adopted comprehensive plan, and it includes the northern portion of that existing Ridgeview Road overlay in what the plan calls a subarea. Subareas received additional planning and design considerations as they are areas of the city that are seeing more rapid growth and development. The subarea takes a look at undeveloped properties as well. It identifies future land use opportunities, locations suitable for mixed use, commercial nodes, multifamily uses, et cetera. Extensive public engagement went into the development of these subarea plans. The city held open houses. There were online survey opportunities and mapping opportunities as well. We did speak with many developers and residents before these recommendations were ultimately approved by city council. Elevate Olathe calls for the city to review our area plans, design guidelines, and overlay districts for alignment with the recommendations of the comprehensive plan. So as such, staff is recommending some adjustments to this overlay district. We are recommending that we amend the boundary of this overlay to remove the land area north of College Boulevard and allow that area to be guided by our Elevate Olathe subarea. That action would remove the land use restrictions on that last remaining agricultural zone property and allow LLV Olathe to guide development there. We would recommend that the overlay and associated design guidelines remain in place for the land area south of College Boulevard. There are still a few development opportunities remaining here. Of course, always the opportunity for redevelopment. So the existing overlay and design guidelines would ensure some continuity with our existing commercial development that is south of college in respect to building form, landscaping, etc. Staff's full red lines were attached to your meeting packets. The Planning Commission did recommend unanimous approval of these UDO amendments. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any questions of staff? Thanks, Jessica. I don't see any. Must have done a great job. All right. Any need for any comments or anything? A motion would be in order. Thanks, Jessica.

So I move to approve ordinance number 26-27.

Second.

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

Please call the roll.

Ms. Essex. Yes. Mr. Creighton.

Yes.

Mr. Dinnall.

Yes.

Mr. Bacon. Yes. Mr. Schoenover.

Yes.

Dr. Felter. Yes. Mr. Baucus.

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

We'll now move to item B. Item B is consideration of RZ25-0009, requesting approval of a rezoning from the NC Neighborhood Center District to the R3 Residential Low Density Multifamily District for Lone Elm Townhomes, located northeast of West 119th Street and South Lone Elm Road. Planning Commission recommends denial 5-0. This item first came to the Council in January. I think it was some of your first meeting that you were on the council. So Planning and Development Manager Kim Hollingsworth joins us for an update. Welcome, Kim.

Thank you, Mayor and Council Members. Kim Hollingsworth, Planning and Development Manager. So we are back before you this evening with Lone Elm Town Homes Development, the rezoning, and the concept preliminary plan. So the property, 7.7 acres, is located northeast of 119th and Lone Elm Road. And the request before you this evening is a rezoning to the R3 district for a townhome development. I'm going to go over the timeline just a bit because this case did start back last year. So we were before the Planning Commission in December of 2025. Staff did recommend denial of the rezoning request. That was due to comprehensive plan policies, including providing complete neighborhoods, preserving commercial at the intersection of arterial roadways, and the continued suitability of this property for mixed-use commercial development. The Planning Commission did concur with that recommendation and recommend denial 5-0. So after that, we came to the city council meeting that was the first of this year. There was direction provided to the applicant team to work with the neighborhood, consider commercial development. So since that time in March, the applicant team did meet with the adjacent neighborhoods, had a conversation, and worked on the letter of understanding that you have in your meeting packet this evening. So that was submitted to staff in April and May. We looked at it along with that revised concept plan. So we are back before you this evening with the same request of the R3 district, but with a revised plan based on that neighborhood feedback. So that letter of understanding covered four main topics, one being the density. So a reduction of the density from 71 to 64 townhomes, providing access to the development from Lone Elm Road, providing perimeter landscape buffers, and also consistent architectural design with the existing adjacent townhomes. And so this is the revised concept plan. It is still for townhomes. There's no commercial included. It does provide that ride-in, ride-out access along Lone Elm Road that I've circled right here. Also that reduction in density. But I have provided for you just a comparison of what would be allowed in the R3 district. So with no other parameters, there could be quite a bit more density, different land use types and height allowed in this district. So I'm going to give a little bit of insight into the land use side of this. So prior to the Planning Commission meeting, the Plan Olathe Comprehensive Plan was in place. So that is what we used as our guidelines in analyzing this development. There are several policies within the Plan Olathe Comprehensive Plan. One of those main components is planning. ensuring there's an adequate supply of residential and commercial land within our city. You can see this area circled here within the general vicinity of this development is largely residential development. Then in April of this year, we did adopt the Elevate Olathe Comprehensive Plan. I provided a snapshot of the economic development map of this plan. It does carry forward the same objectives of Plan Olathe, strategies about integrating commercial uses into residential neighborhoods at the appropriate locations, and then strengthening the city's commercial tax base. One important thing to note here is just as an example, preserving those nodes of commercial along arterial roadways, you see it along 151st Street as an example. As you work down Merlin at the intersection of those main arterials, we have preserved commercial, but there is less of that happening in West Olathe. So the action before you this evening, you have a couple options. One would be to deny the rezoning request, concur with the Planning Commission. If you do overturn the Planning Commission's recommendation, that would take five positive votes of the City Council or returning to the Planning Commission. So I am available to answer any questions, as well as Curt Holland is here representing the applicant team and would like to make a brief presentation.

Okay. Thank you, Kim. Questions of staff at this point? Council Member Creighton.

Yes. And Kim, this probably would be for Mr. Love. Could you, Mr. Love, come up and talk a little bit about the traffic STUDIES THAT WERE DONE WITH THE I THINK THIS WAS THAT STUDY WAS DONE SOME TIME BACK NOW WITH 119th STREET COMING UP. I'M CONCERNED THAT THE WHEN WE HEAR THAT THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE A LOT OF SIGNIFICANT INCREASE OF TRAFFIC ON 119th STREET JUST SUPPORT COMMERCIAL WITH ALL DUE RESPECT AND I'M BECAUSE IT'S NOT MY area of expertise, but it seems like it's going to be much higher traffic volume. And it's one of those things that I hate to lose potential commercial based on the possibilities that the traffic is actually going to be a greater. So could you just quickly talk about the numbers and why we haven't adjusted those or just set me straight if I'm wrong?

Yeah, Charlie Love, Chief Development Engineer. So the last traffic study that was kind of done in this area was the study that was associated with our 119th Woodland and Northgate project that's currently under construction. At that time, that study, I believe, was done and it's dated 2021. So it is fairly old, but that was a study that we had that was there to kind of analyze the need for that project. So that study has a 2021. It's looking at existing traffic data. And then it also looked at two scenarios if it projected forward out to a year of 2045. One of those being if no improvements were made, but then the other one, was if the Northgate, this 119th roundabout bridge project went through, there was a future traffic count that was associated with it that was also that year of 2045. So those are really the two things. studies that have kind of given us a snapshot of traffic volumes. Since then, we've been collecting some data through various locations out there with just kind of annual traffic counts to kind of take little snapshots. But We don't have anything that's going to immediately tell you what the exact traffic is going to be once the project that's to be slated there, the roundabout and bridge gets completed, which I believe is later this year in the fall of 2026. Thank you.

Council Member Hall.

Councilmember Denault. Thank you, Mayor. Kim, this is going to be a question for you. Would you be able to speak to some of the undeveloped area around this that is commercial that would perhaps give some opportunity to the neighbors there in northwest Olathe for something to come in the future if this piece of land were to lose commercial?

Yeah, I'll speak to this from that land use layer of the new comprehensive plan because it provides that snapshot. I've extracted out everything in color and bold here is going to be commercial of some type or mixed use. So the concept of the neighborhood note is that you're focusing that within the neighborhood. As you migrate west here and get to K7, you're going to have some areas that are going to be more of a regional draw, that bright red color employment area, mixed use. There are just a sprinkling of properties that already have zoning on them, kind of in this area, but generally some of these areas have county zoning. They still need to go through a zoning action, but this is the vision moving forward of where commercial would be focused.

Have you heard from anybody with those properties that they have anything in the works?

We're always having active conversations with developers. I'd say this area was selected as a sub-area very intentionally, knowing that there's a lot of development interest in this area. So presumably there could be development coming your direction soon, which is why we really focused on it during that comprehensive plan update. But it could be a variety of types. It might not just be commercially focused. Yeah.

And then I have, I think, one last question right now. It's more of a traffic question to kind of piggyback on what Jeff was asking, but accessibility, I understand, access into this piece of property, I understand, is a concern. And if you have right in, right out on Lone Elm, but no entrance on 119th. Is this property just small, so small in this particular location that there aren't good places for entrances and exits?

Yeah, it's typical, and Charlie can add in if needed, but it's typical that you wouldn't have access points near the intersection, right? So that pushes that access point further away. This is a piece that came off that neighborhood conversation. Originally, there was no access proposed off of Lone Elm or 119th. You would come through the neighborhoods. This access point on Lone Elm came for that neighborhood conversation. It does meet our access management guidelines. But outside of that, it it could be challenging to have further access.

Okay. Thought of one more question for you.

Okay.

Was there a discussion about what any commercial might look like on this, since the last meeting?

Yeah, so what we do have before you is the letter that was provided from the applicant team, which I'm sure Kurt Holley can speak to further of their analysis of the commercial piece. Our analysis is based on the vision out of the comprehensive plan. So we did retain that commercial node that you see that pattern in the Elevate Olathe comprehensive plan.

Okay, thank you. Council Member Essex.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Kim. I just wanted to double check. Were all neighborhoods invited to participate in that? Because from what I understand, not everybody was invited to the conversation.

Yeah, maybe Kurt Holling can expand on this further. I do understand the retreat at Foxfield Village was included, and then there is a master HOA of sorts that represents various entities of these Foxfield neighborhoods that were also included. The letter that you see that was signed was really between the retreat at Foxfield Village, the current landowner, and then the developer, just because of the adjacency there. But my understanding was that there were other entities of neighborhoods that were invited to attend.

Okay.

But staff was not present in that, so maybe there could be more information provided by the applicant.

There were some that had shared with me that they knew nothing about this conversation going on. And just for my understanding, I think the reason we sent it back was to negotiate the clash between preserving some commercial and maybe doing some extensity, and it sounds like nothing commercial came through in that negotiation. Is that correct?

We have not received a plan that shows commercial in it. Okay.

And one more quick thing, if I may. Sure. So about another thing about the traffic situation, is it true that there are five schools within 10 blocks of that area, at least five, including a private school?

That could be true. Yeah, there's elementary, middle schools around this area.

Okay. Thank you. I was just checking on some of those facts. Appreciate it. Council Member Schoonover.

Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Kim. And I kind of want to go back to the slide that was on before, the comparison between what is proposed and what is allowed under R3. And I guess I'm... I understand that... Staff is saying we don't think that this should change to R3 at all.

Our recommendation that we've laid out is keep it neighborhood commercial so it preserve that opportunity for mixed-use development or commercial.

I understand and I know we've got a whole, but can you help me understand why the recommendation wasn't zone it in R3 with restrictions as proposed, with the allotment for perhaps some commercial in there. I guess, why are we saying don't rezone this entirely versus if they want to do it, keep it at this?

Yeah, Ron is grabbing his mic, but I might start and then you can add in. So our current R3 district does not allow for commercial uses. So if the ask is to the R3 district, you can't also mix in commercial. That is one component. And then...

The other component, council member, is we want to take the council's direction on proposed stipulations for an ordinance that you do not have in front of you tonight. So recall on the presentation the request would be if we had five votes to proceed with presenting you an ordinance, we'd bring that forward. next time and try to articulate the stipulations that you would request that we include, and we could include stipulations that you've mentioned in that particular rezoning ordinance.

To follow up on that, if we were to approve this tonight, if council were to say, proceed with our, it's not as if they would be able to turn around tomorrow and build 132 units of apartments on this. We would still have to go through the process to actually approve this with stipulations.

Correct. And those stipulations would be in the pre-zoned ordinance that would be in front of you as soon as we would be able to turn it around and put it on our agenda. Okay. And it would be effective upon publication of that ordinance. All right.

So the city council could provide direction as to land uses, density, height, you name it, and that's something that we would put into that ordinance because otherwise our three district allows a variety of things by right.

And we couldn't also in that ordinance say we're going to allow some light commercial in here? If we're approving an ordinance anyway that says, hey, we're going to do this and we're going to stipulate to stuff on this, why can't we just say?

Council member, the R3 doesn't permit it.

But wouldn't we be permitting it by ordinance?

It depends on the zoning designation that you determine that you want to approve. That's part of what we're trying to seek clarity from the governing body on. The applicant is requesting what you have. The proposed is the applicant's proposal based off of what has been discussed and negotiated with the HOA in the area. So that's the question you had before you. That's probably a question that you would want to probably talk through with Mr. Holland after he does his presentation, but it's R3, and that commercial isn't by right in R3. So if you want to go back to the drawing board on a different zoning designation, that's a different matter.

But I take your point that commercial isn't allowed under R3, but if we're putting in stipulations or restrictions under R3 anyway, You're saying we couldn't, as part of that package, say, oh, we will also allow you to do some light commercial in this?

We need to consider a different zoning designation that would allow that use. That's what I'm saying. Light something I can see or something else. That's what I'm getting at.

Yeah, and it could create some challenges because we don't have the dimensional standards attached to the commercial in the R3 district. So if you add the land use piece in and then we don't have the dimensional standards that relate to commercial, the landscaping, buffering requirements, it would be, it's maybe not impossible, but it would be very challenging. Okay. Yeah.

All right. Thank you, Kim. Mm-hmm.

Thank you, Kim. I don't see any other questions. At this time, I'm going to let the applicant come up. And Kurt, if you want to give me five minutes to present, and then we might have some questions for you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. My name is Curtis Holland. I'm legal counsel for the landowner, New Bedford Land Development Company, represented here by John Lambert. And we currently, or Mr. Lambert's company, currently owns the property And I appreciate your comments and your questions tonight. I wanted to say I've been at this for a long time. And I haven't really had an occasion very often where we are directed to go visit with the residents. And we actually do that. And we invited – we had a good discussion with them. We invited the entire HOA, and really I think that came through the members that we visited with. At the meeting, we had members of the retreat at Foxfield Village, the immediately adjacent townhome, who have really the most interest in this development because they're right next door to it. But we also had representatives from the larger, the HOA, the big master HOA, were there and present. And we negotiated in good faith with them. We had a really good discussion with those folks. And if you'll recall, we had a room full of people who were opposed to it. And really, I think by the end of that meeting and through the discussion and negotiation, we came up with a plan that they were very happy with. And that's the plan that's presented to you before you denied. It is a concept plan, but we've committed to our neighbors through a letter of understanding that we would commit to these criteria that were presented to you, the reduction in the density, location of an access drive. Buffering and screening was a big, important issue for them, and we've agreed to that with them, as well as the architectural design of the buildings. We've committed to continue to work with them as we move through the next process, which is preliminary development plan and final development plan. And usually in this process, the way it works is those stipulations that you're talking about would be vetted and really come through with a preliminary development plan, which would be the next stage. And it's going to be a meeting, and the residents, we're going to meet with them again. And we are committed to the letter of understanding that we've entered into with our residents, our neighbors. And we really appreciate their time and think that the discussion was very good. So we think we've done everything that we can to please the neighbors. And when we walked away with the direction from the council to do exactly what you said. with respect to the commercial and possibly putting any commercial here. As I detailed in my letter, there really isn't any real opportunity for commercial at this corner because of the size of the property, the access to the property, the trips or traffic that you would need to support retail development on a site like this isn't there, won't be there with the completion of 119th Street, I believe, The staff traffic information at the time said that there would be approximately 9,000, an increase of trips that would be about 9,000 almost immediately. And then in 20 years, maybe we would bump it up to 13,000, I think is what was said. You need way more trips per day traffic to generate any kind of support for retail here. There is, as you pointed out, there are opportunities for other commercial development in the area. And so I think that there's chances for that potentially in the future. There's not any that we've heard of. interest in those developments at this point. I don't know who staff's been talking to, but we know all the commercial people. We are the buyer of the property as a commercial developer. If there was any chance for this to be developed for commercial, we would do it. But it's been zoned for commercial for 20 years. And I think if you're asking the landowner to wait for another 20 years when there might be some increase in traffic that could support retail, I just don't think that's fair to the landowner. Really, it is not. And again, I think we walked out of here in January with instruction to meet with the residents. We did do that. We went through the hard work. We've agreed to... the items that concern them most, and we have their support. So we're really hopeful that you could see your way to supporting this application, even though staff has, you know, recommendation as they have, and Planning Commission does as well. But I really think that with the discussions we've had with the residents, that we've sort of turned this project around and hope that you can support it. And with that, I would close and take any questions. Thanks. All right.

Thanks, Kurt. Council Member Felder.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Holland, for going the extra mile and working with residents. It seems like none have shown up to protest tonight. It's a different room than we had in January, so it seems to be reflective of your work. The trip count, so the projections per day, just as a commercial attorney, When you do commercial developments, what would your target trip count be per day?

Well, it depends on the type of retail development, but I would say at least 20,000 to 25,000 trips per day to get you anywhere near the number of traffic that would be necessary to support retail development. And to sort of try to... slide in a little bit of commercial development here isn't going to work. It's just too small an area. Commercial development won't work like that. You can't have a little small coffee shop mixed in with some townhomes or other residences or a sandwich shop. It has to either, you know, I appreciate the whole mixed use concept, but on a property that's this size, it's never going to work. It's just too small.

I appreciate it. I'll make a couple comments if it's appropriate at this time. I've supported this, even your initial presentation, because solely on the fact that this is set as raw ground, and I believe in landowner rights eventually. I mean, we as a city need to have commercial developments. I've said that over and over again, but I think we also have to look at it through a what will work. And I think the count, the traffic count is not there yet. And I don't think it's doing our city a favor when we need houses of the type that you're offering. It's called the missing middle. And we just heard it from a housing study earlier today that that's exactly what we need. And you're bringing it to us. I can't do anything but vote in support of this. And I thank you for making it more palatable for the neighbors and for coming back and giving a second run at it. And staff, I appreciate you trying to preserve this as commercial, but I think the landowner rights and the need of housing for our community trumped the waiting another decade for what might happen here. So I'm a yes on this.

Mr. Holland, it looks here like the board president or the representative of the board of directors of Foxville Village signed it. Was there some kind of action by the board or the association, or how did they give him the authority to sign this document?

The way this was negotiated, as my understanding is, there was sort of a hand-picked, selected group of people that represented the HOA, and they did, I understand, talk with the HOA members and had authority to work through the process with us. And we relied on that. And like I mentioned, they were involved in the communications with us. So I think the HOA was adequately represented during these discussions. And again, I think it speaks to our efforts and their efforts that we were able to come to this agreement with them. And like I said, we intend to honor it. And, you know, they're going to be involved as we move forward through the preliminary development plan process and the final development plan process. They'll have an opportunity to speak in the future on it. But I think everybody's going to be happy with what we end up with here at this corner.

And it looked like you were still in negotiations or in discussions with the HOA as far as dues, being a dues-paying contributor. We talked about that.

Okay. And, you know, if we're fortunate enough, we'd like to continue those discussions with them and be open really at their direction what they would allow because it's their neighborhood and we want to be part of the community, but really we would defer to them on a lot of that issue.

Okay.

Council Member Dinnall. Thank you, Mayor. I'll be real quick. ONE QUESTION I WANT TO ASK, HAS THIS PIECE OF PROPERTY BEEN MARKETED AS COMMERCIAL SINCE KNOWING ABOUT THE 119th STREET BRIDGE?

IT'S BEEN MARKETED FOR COMMERCIAL SINCE 2005, FOR 20-PLUS YEARS. AND SO, YES, WE HAVE REPRESENTATIVE, I MEAN, I COULD LET MR. BROOK SPEAK TO IT. HE'S OUR BROKER, AND HE KNOWS THE COMMERCIAL MARKET VERY, VERY WELL. I don't know if you need to speak to that or want to speak to that, but there's really zero opportunity for commercial at this corner.

I guess my question is, has it been advertised saying, hey, this property zoned, going to have commercial. There's about to be a bridge that opens up to see if there's anyone interested. That was my question, my curiosity.

I'll let the broker speak to that. Okay.

Just please state your name and address for the record, please.

Robert Brooks, Copacan Brooks. My address is 111 One, Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 64108. Yes, this has been actively marketed for commercial since 2005 and up until now, really, because we don't have a deal as commercial. And anyone in commercial retail today knows about the 119th Street extension.

So, yes, to answer your question. And since January 2017, How far did you go at looking at commercial? Was it looking at the numbers, or did you actually draw plans and come up with any ideas what may be to consider?

Well, I mean, by then, we were pretty familiar with what could potentially be here and not potentially be here based on traffic counts and based on what the market reports have said. We submitted a marketing letter that's part of your packet that were submitted by expert commercial brokers. There's just no real opportunity. So to us, we're not going to go try to draw up some plan for commercial and try to fit it in here when we know it won't work. It would be a wasted effort. We focused our efforts on meeting with the residents and getting what they wanted there. And so I think they were all happy with what we did. So that was the way we approached it.

Okay. I think what I was looking forward to was, of course, you talking to the residents, which I'm very pleased that you guys went out and did. They're happy. So well done. Thank you for doing that. The other side of that was I was hoping to see a little bit more what you could come up with on the commercial side. That said, This is housing. It's not really big, expensive homes. So I'm happy that there's something presented that can add some housing that some people can afford that aren't making a ton of money. The other part I was thinking about is the access with the streets. As I've said, I love the neighborhood center idea. I would love to see it work. Personally, I think there's a sliver of a chance. But I understand where you're coming from, the access and stuff like that. So I'm a little bit more sold on this, thinking about it as more people talk here. But I definitely would have liked to have seen a little bit more ideas on the commercial side.

I appreciate that. And if we had any inkling that we could put commercial development here, we would do that. I would also remind you, there's commercial, zoned commercial right across the street. Approximately 40 acres of land just sitting there vacant. We think if there's any opportunity for commercial in this neighborhood, it's probably going to go right there next to us.

Understood. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Holland, for being here. No other questions? Any other discussion or questions of staff?

Yeah. Thank you, Mayor, if I could. Just a few questions for staff. So, Kim, just procedural. Tonight we're only dealing with the request for rezoning. We saw a schematic of a preliminary site development plan, but we're not voting on that tonight. Correct. Will this come back to us?

Yeah, so it depends on the action you take. But let's say you did overturn the Planning Commission's recommendation to approve it. We would need to return with an ordinance. You do not have an ordinance in front of you this evening. Right, right, right. So any direction you provide tonight, we would take on anything that staff would typically recommend on an R3 district. We would bring that before you at a future council meeting. Then the plan comes later. Typically, our typical process is that goes to the Planning Commission, and it's really just looking against UDO requirements. Yeah.

Okay. Got it. But, you know, I'd comment in general I'm very appreciative of staff's due diligence in a desire to preserve this commercial corner. I think I agree it is a bridge too far. It just is not possible to support commercial and the housing that we're talking about. And to that thought, then, the land to the northwest, there is more commercial space available there. Is that correct? talking to a map you're talking just right here yes yes yeah it's i'm going to approximate 12 17 acres something like that that does have commercial zoning in the ground yeah i think you know once 119th street is open all the way east it's going to be a new day and we're going to adjust and once we see how traffic develops you know obviously i think that will take traffic off of college which will be interesting um But it's certainly going to grow more high on traffic count than we realize as Olathe continues to grow. I'm challenged, you know, as we look a mile north to College and Lone Elm, the tremendous amount of development we have there with the new Dillon store. We have two coffee shops there already. There's going to be an embedded coffee shop, a Starbucks and a Dillon store. It's just going to be so much there, just a little bit to the north. The idea that this northeast corner at 119th could support a stand-alone sandwich shop or stand-alone coffee shop just seems too much, you know, unrealistic. But to the immediate west, to the northwest, there's more room there for development to occur. So again, I very much compliment staff for the work on this and the intent. The intent is spot on. I am inclined to support this project, though, and approve the rezoning. Thank you, Kim. Appreciate your work. Council Member Essex.

Thank you, Mayor. Kim, if you don't mind, a few more questions. Well, maybe comments, I would say. The The prospect of having commercial across the street, it's a small parcel across the street as well. And I know most of the neighborhood centers that I have seen north in that area is like a strip mall with sandwich shops and various stores or maybe a convenience store, things like that, that it would take both sides. It just breaks my heart that we are pushing out commercial more and more every day. I love the missing middle idea. I love that building townhomes are definitely needed. I feel like you guys went above and beyond to talk to the residents. That means a lot. I will say I've had residents tell me they heard nothing and the HOA didn't tell them anything. So I'm concerned that it's not as, you know, kumbayas we're hearing. But there's worries about traffic, but then there's not enough traffic for commercial. I'm just so conflicted here that I don't think I can support this, but I just hate seeing more and more commercial getting pushed out because ultimately we want to broaden our property tax base too. And people love to just jump in their car and run and go get something at the quick trip or whatever that's going to end up being. It just, the neighborhood center idea is something that's near and dear to me. So That wasn't really a question. I'm just watching your facial expressions. So thank you.

Council Member Felter.

Thank you, Mayor. Kim, just for clarification, could we put a quick trip there?

In the neighborhood center district, no. Okay. No. Yeah. That zoning district is a little particular about the scale of the commercial uses. They are supposed to be, Arbor Creek is an example of that, or a smaller one is 127th and Flom has this zoning. We do have about six of this zoning district currently. So a quick trip, not exactly. I wouldn't say that would fit the existing zoning unless it went to a different commercial district. Yep. Yep.

I don't see any other questions or comments. Motion be in order.

Thank you, Mayor. Take a stab at it. Yeah. I move to approve RZ25-0009. Mr. Second.

We have a motion.

Yes. Yes.

Okay. So if we look at our screen. Oh, yeah. Look at our screen, council members. You don't have a rezoning ordinance before you.

Are you doing number two?

What staff is suggesting is, if you're wanting to do what you're suggesting, I think, Council Member Vacas, is you follow two. And you start with, you're just requesting staff to provide an ordinance for the City Council to review at a future City Council meeting. And then we'll return to you with a rezoning ordinance that has the stipulations that you give some direction for us to include in that rezoning ordinance.

Thanks, Ron. Okay, good.

So with that in mind, so go to page 348. Okay. And there are some recommended motions there, and I think he's referring to motion two. Okay.

Or right here on this slide or right there.

Oh, you got it right there. Okay. There you go.

Okay. Okay.

Yeah. No, no. So we're going with number two. Good. So I move then that we overturn the plan commission recommendation for denial and request staff to provide an ordinance for city council to review at a future city council meeting.

Second.

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

Mr. Dinault?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Vakas?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? No. Mr. Creighton?

No.

Motion passes 5-2. Okay.

All right. Looking forward to the ordinance. Yes, Kim. You have more information for us?

Just to ask one clarifying question of the City Council based on the motion that you just made. Are there certain parameters you would like for staff to consider in the ordinance or provide a recommendation to you that you would react to at a future City Council meeting? Are there any land use, density, height? These are just examples of things we typically see in an ordinance that you would like to see.

At this time, to maybe piggyback on that, I think staff had included some of the items that were in this letter that was negotiated as a guidepost for you.

That's what I would like to see. I think the negotiation has worked so far. The neighborhoods found something that they can live with. I think the developers found something that they can provide and not go bankrupt. So that's what I would like to see. So the 63 units or 64 units that's being presented is something that I would expect to see.

Yeah, we can use this as a guide of the items that align with the letter of understanding regarding density, number of units, things like that. Yes. Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kim. We'll now move to general issues and concerns of citizens. We have one individual that has signed up to speak tonight, so would the city clerk please read the guidelines and then call up our speaker.

The council has extended this privilege to allow people who live and work in Olathe to address their concerns to the city council. Speakers must only address the council, and council members are not required to respond. Please treat others with kindness and respect. The council has allocated up to three minutes per speaker, and tonight we have one speaker, Sharon Rodriguez. Please go to the podium. State your name for the record.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Bacon, and members of the City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to address you this evening. My name is Sharon Rodriguez, and I live at 1440 West Prairie Court, Olathe, Kansas, which has been my home since September 4th, 1998. I am here tonight to ask you to consider changing a current city policy that is making it difficult for me to live in safe, independent, and accessible housing as I age. It is now 2026. It has been, oops, sorry, I missed a page. In September, In 2009, I accepted an Olathe home rehabilitation loan with good faith, used it for the intended purpose, complied with the program requirements, and remained a responsible homeowner and resident of Olathe. At that time, the city's home loans had no forgiveness clause. I have since come to understand that the Johnson County Housing Authority provided the same loan at 100% release after 10 years. I also understand that in subsequent years, Olathe changed its home rehabilitation policies to give 50% loan forgiveness after 10 years. It is now 2026. It is 17 years after my original loan. While the original repairs have lasted past the expected 10 years, it is time for me to make the home accessible and safe to age in place. However, in the years since accepting the repair loan, I have had two cancers, a pacemaker inserted, and a stent in my carotid artery, which has resulted in significant medical bills. Additionally, as a 79-year-old woman on a fixed retirement income, I'm faced with rising mortgage payments, property tax, insurance, Utilities, oh heck, everything is rising. This year I had another cancer. This time the chemo cost. Please continue. The chemo cost $2,480 per treatment. I had six treatments. While the Olathe Housing Program denied my previous hardship request for a lease from this loan, I am here to ask you to please consider changing this policy so that people like me can at least have the opportunity for a 50% loan forgiveness, if not more. I want to remind you that the aim of the program is to help low-income and aging homeowners like me to have an accessible and safe non burden not burden them with debt. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Okay. We will now that's our only speaker tonight. So we will now move we'll convene a planning session of the city council. We have Four reports? Three reports? Is there any need for polling report one? How about report two? Oh, Council Member Creighton.

Yes, I would like to see if I could get a quick summary from Ryan Arter. I spoke to him yesterday and This was a long report, a lot of things to read. Give us five or six bullet points on what the impact is going to be on Olika.

Absolutely. Happy to. Good evening, Mayor, City Council, Ryan Arter, Chief Building Official. We are going to be talking about the International Residential Code and how it relates to the new Senate bill that was just signed into law. Let me see if I can get my guide awake here. Senate Bill 418 mandates the use of the 2018 IRC for housing under 2,500 square feet. We're looking at this and evaluating it and proposing it to use it for housing of all sizes. We're proposing to amend the current municipal code for efficiency and regulatory purposes and establishing compliance with the intent of this new bill that goes into effect quickly here on July 1st. Once again, the International Residential Code applies to single family, two family, and townhome projects. It's a quick recap. We'll jump into some of the bullet points. Essentially, the majority of those 36 pages, 36 some odd pages, is just reestablishing Chapter 1 of the IRC. Right now, we had previously amended that all of the Chapter 1 for all of our code books was pointing to and coming out of the IBC code. which is essentially, for simplistic purposes, the main codebook for commercial properties. Well, now that we're having this split, we think it's appropriate to bring that Chapter 1, which is establishing the rules on how to enforce the code, back to the residential code as it was written. Again, most of the changes that are in there are bringing back the amendments that we have on the IBC for Chapter 1 back to the IRC as they are previously written, maybe with a few little slight adjustments for clarity. Another main change that we are proposing is care facilities in a dwelling. Right now we've got an amendment that is a little more relaxed than what the code requires. And you might have heard of Home Pluses or any other custodial care facilities. Right now our amendment states that it can be any number of patients receiving care. And we're proposing to remove that. And in collaboration with the fire marshal and our legal staff, we just used the IRC as it's written, which allows up to five folks in a single family residence that need care as long as they have sprinklers installed. And that's the 2018? That's the 2018, yes. Storm protection areas. This is another amendment that we adopted, and it is well-received, except we would like to propose that on – we've got one line in there that if it's an existing – home, and if it's remodeled more than 50%, that we need to add in a storm shelter. And I think at the face value, that looks pretty good. But we've learned over the years that when we're talking about historic homes or smaller homes that don't have a garage or a basement, and we're having this requirement put in there, it's difficult at times to get. So we're proposing to remove that language out, which is in line with other jurisdictions. Another change is renewing of permits. It's just a fee change. Right now, when a permit expires, our current language says you'll pay a new fee based on the value of the work that's remaining. So we have to put that back onto the builder to give us the value. It's always not what we think it is. And there's an argument of sorts to be more in line with the surrounding jurisdictions, which I think all of them are doing. we're proposing to just make this 50% of the original permit fee to renew your permit if it expires. Another small item is homeowner identification. Right now, our ordinances state that if you are the primary residence of your home and you feel like you can do the work yourself, you can sign an affidavit that says, I'll do my own deck, for example, or my own remodel or anything on your primary residence. And what we're proposing is to add a line in there that we need to verify that with a state valid identification. Just to verify that those folks are living in that residence to maybe circumvent a loophole of investment properties and others that come in and say that they're living there and we know ultimately we find out that they're not. They should be getting licensed contractors in those scenarios.

This is not, so it's only for primary residents, not another property that you own and you're responsible for. You can't be responsible for the repairs there yourself?

No, you can't. An investment property, no, needs to be a licensed contractor. Okay. The remainder of the items are several small technical changes to clarify existing amendments. This is for ease of builders, understanding ease of inspections. Many things are just small little corrections. We are also proposing to add an exception to allow three steps from an exterior door without a landing. For example, like a sliding glass door. And this was an HBA recommendation. So I think this is a good time to add that in there because we agree. And really, the overall intentions are to balance the application process, our plan review process, the builder's experience and inspection efficiency, while just remaining in compliance with the new law. That leads me to the remainder of the 24 codes, which is a whole slew of code books that will continue that adoption conversation at a later date. And at this point, I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you, Ryan. That's everything I had.

Any other questions of staff on item eight? Council Member Schoonover.

Council Member Schoonover. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Ryan. I haven't thought this all the way through, but the requirement for a valid state issued photo identification. What do we do if we have folks in our community that don't have a valid state issued photo identification?

That's a good question. And we're not unreasonable. I think that there is some level of, hopefully some, the intention is to require those that we know that are flipping homes to have proof that they live in that house. There are many times that we get this signature and then I just ask them directly, you know, and they say, now you're right, I don't live there.

So is there any other type of documentation that they could use other than a state-issued photo ID to show that they actually live there, that they receive utility bills or whatever the case may be? I just... I worry that we're going to have folks, for whatever one reason or another, don't have a state-issued photo ID and can't meet that requirement.

I appreciate that, and I've thought that through myself. At first, we would look at Johnson County Ames. Hey, do they own the property? Well, they do. They own multiples. And then, hey, do they have the utility bills? Yeah, they're paying them. Is it their primary residence is what we need to validate? And I'd be happy to consider any other method to verify that. Really, we're just trying to have one more level of verification here. Sure. And yeah, I... With this discussion with legal, this is what we've got at this point. Okay.

Ryan, the primary residence, is that a new requirement or is that part of 2018? It is not. Yeah. When was that adopted?

I don't know the answer to that, but it's been in place for six years at minimum. Okay. And I would venture to believe that it was longer than that. All we're doing is adding this level of verification. That's what we're trying to get.

But you're also not allowing somebody that owns multiple properties like myself to work on my own properties. And that's already in place, yes, sir. Yeah. And I didn't know about that, so that's interesting. You have to have another contractor, a licensed contractor, do the work.

Yes.

Okay. I don't know, have we had any problems with that as far as compliance that you know of?

Yes, quite a bit. Yes. It's really the investment property, the house flipper that we get. Yes. Okay.

All right. Would that work have to be permitted in most cases anyway, depending on what they're doing?

Yes. If it's permitted required work, they need a permit regardless. It's whether or not they need a licensed contractor or if they can do it themselves. So what are we talking about, Ryan, a faucet? No, that doesn't require a permit.

So it's only things that require a permit? Correct. Okay.

Yeah, painting, carpet, finishes, those things are not part of this. All right. Yeah, this is if you're going to build a deck or structure. All right. Mayor, I think you're okay. Well, hey.

You know, okay. You're doing your own electrical work.

That's right. You can change an outlet. We'll let you do that, but don't rewire the house.

Or a switch, a bad switch, you're good. But if it has to have a city permit to do the work, understood. I got you now. I'm with you.

Thanks.

I'm glad we clarified that. I would encourage us to keep thinking about this issue because I... I think it's a little too restrictive as it's working. Very good. I think that's going to be hard for some folks to meet.

Okay. Yep. Will do. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Any other questions on first? That was a good conversation, Jeff. Glad you pulled that. How about on the IRB for 175 Commerce Center Land LLC? Report two. How about report three? Another IRB request. Then the next item on our agenda is a need for an executive session. Council members, I would ask that we switch these and do B first, if that's okay with everyone? Sure. Are we thinking 10 minutes? 15? Okay.

Let's do. So on item B. I move that the Olathe City Council recess into executive session to discuss personal matters of non-elected personnel concerning municipal court judge candidates and the current municipal court judge pursuant to the non-elected personnel exemption provided in KSA 75-4319B1 for

20 minutes?

15. 15 minutes, okay. And the open meeting will resume in the chambers at 8.45 p.m. Second. We have a motion and a second.

Will the city clerk please call the roll?

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Donal?

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

We are reconvening from executive session a motion to recess back into executive session under item B for 10 minutes would be in order.

I move that we recess back into executive session for 10 minutes. Second. We have a motion. Second. All in favor say aye.

Aye. Any opposed? We are reconvening from executive session of motion being ordered on item B.

So on item B, I move the City of Olathe City Council. Bear with me. On item B, I move to authorize the mayor to execute a contract with Matt Frentzenberg for municipal court judge and the human resource director in consultation with the city attorney, proceed with the other strategies discussed and directed by the governing body.

Second.

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

Mr. Skinover?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Vakas?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. DeNault?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

Motion on item A would be in order. Thank you, Mayor. On item A, I move the City of Olathe Council recess into an executive session for consultation with the city attorney to discuss matters deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship pursuant to the exception provided in KSA 75-4319 B2 regarding various pending legal matters for a period not to exceed 60 minutes.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. So that means that we can come out in 20 minutes if we're completed and make so. Okay. We have a motion and a second with the city clerk. Please call the roll. Just checking because I don't want to be here twiddling our thumbs if we're done at 15. Okay. We got the motion and a second with the city clerk. Call the roll.

Dr. Felder. Yes. Mr. Vakas.

Yes.

Ms. Essex. Yes. Mr. Creighton.

Yes.

Mr. Dinault.

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Mr. Schoonover? Yes. Motion passes 7-0.

We're good to go ahead and proceed with the motion, even though we're here before the 60 minutes was up. All right. We are reconvening from executive session. A motion be in order.

I move to authorize staff to proceed with the strategies discussed and directed by the governing body.

Second.

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

Mr. Dinnall.

Yes.

Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Dr. Felter? Yes. Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon?

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

We'll now move to additional items. I'll start on my right. Council Member Knoll.

Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to take a moment and recognize that it's June, which means it's Pride Month. I've always believed in accepting people as they are, and I think that's important. Reflect on the importance of being a welcoming community to all. The other thing I wanted to bring up, Susan, I know we had somebody speak up here, Sharon Rodriguez, and I'm not sure what... to look at, but I'll say that I'm a little concerned and I'd like to look. So if there's anything you can look at in terms of policy, anything you can kind of guide us on, I would love to hear.

We'll do.

Thank you. Council Member Essex.

Thank you. Just wanted to give a shout out to our wastewater treatment facility, Cedar Creek. They earned their second Platinum 5 Peak Performance Award, which is pretty amazing, from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. So congratulations to them. It's the second year in a row, from what I understand. So super proud to have clean water awards. That's always awesome. U.S. News and World Report, anybody going to talk about that tonight? they named Olathe the second best place to live in Kansas, which we see them every year to make those top lists from all different types of organizations. Wanted to mention something pretty exciting. Our property tax rebate program we talked about a little bit tonight, $279,000 was given away in rebates and 470 total recipients, 207 veterans. That's pretty amazing. So I'm so thankful that we are helping people in that capacity in this day and age. I wanted to also give a shout out to one of our best judges, Judge McElhaney, in her retirement. And I wish her the best. And boy, she set the standard. So whoever comes behind her will have quite the shoes to fill. And Bob Courtney, beloved Bob Courtney, so glad we got to recognize him tonight. And I'm sure he will stick around and continue to be our historian. So that's it. Thank you.

Council Member Bacchus.

Thank you, Mayor. I just say I'm glad to see the Fire Chief in the back of the room. Thank you. Council Member Felter.

I'll just say ditto.

Council Member Schoonover.

Thank you, Mayor. I just also wanted to take a moment to recognize Pride Month and say that no matter how you identify or who you love, you're welcome here in Olathe. So thank you for being part of our community. I also wanted to give a shout out to our compost facility. I was there earlier this week to drop off some food waste and they literally had like every, I think it's Bev that works. Is it Bev or Barb? Barb. forgive me for forgetting her name but they were they were wonderful the only thing i would ask is could we get like one of those big blue dumpsters for plastic bags that we could just have like out there that people could drop their plastic bags in that's the only thing would they do a wonderful job there's two at walmart want to walmart on each side of town you can take your plastic bags and

Put it right inside the door.

Yeah, but I like that. This way I don't have to. They're open until 11 o'clock. I take my other recycling there anyway. How late do we stay open for the city?

One hour and a half.

I know, but just one of the big blue, you know, like in the recycling where we have all over the city, the big blue.

I have a lot of bags.

Yeah. Anything further?

No, that's, I mean, you guys want to talk about anything else?

The green box?

Yeah, exactly.

Okay.

It's never fun to follow Schoonover. Just one thing. Earlier this evening, we spent an hour talking about a housing study. It continues to be a concern to the council. It's part of our top priorities to attainable housing. It's important to our citizens and just kind of wanted to get it out there on the public record that We are still continuing to work on it, and there are some ideas that are being formulated. So keep an eye out, keep our feet to the fire, citizens, that attainable housing is important, and we recognize that. So thank you to staff for what you did on that report. City Manager Susan Sherman.

Friday is Wickets Day, and I know we have a very competitive city council, and we have spots to fill. So I'm looking at all of you.

Do we know who's going? I know I can't be there.

I think we are looking to fill spots. So if you're available or have a friend that you want to play, maybe a son or daughter or something, could be a really fun experience.

Does it start before lunch? No.

1.30 is where the kickoff is. So 1 o'clock registration, 1.30, kind of wicket off. I don't really know what the word is.

I might make it for the awards, but I'll be coming back for McPherson.

I told the awards would be actual. Now that's true.

Yeah, that's true. I know we got them. Yeah, I've got a couple of those. Thank you. I have one item. So we had a great crowd at our Fourth Fridays last month in downtown Olathe. We hope that if you weren't able to join us for that one, you can join us the Fourth Friday for the month of June for a special Go Olathe edition. It's June 26th from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. It's a little longer. Instead of starting at 6 p.m., it starts at 11 a.m. At the County Square, we will have the World Cup matches on big screen, as well as family-friendly activities throughout the day. So thank you to our partners at the Olathe Chamber of Commerce for helping put this event together, and it should be a wonderful time. And I would like to echo the comments about Chief DeGraffenried being here. I forgot that anything happened. You look great, so welcome back. That's all for tonight, folks. Thanks for being here and for joining with us. We are adjourned.