Smaller lot sizes and smaller setbacks will now be allowed in Eudora residential districts, following approval by the City Commission Monday night.
After about two and half hours of discussion, the commission voted 4-1 on the new housing regulations that developers argue will allow for smaller homes and, therefore, more affordable housing.
The commission’s decision came after the Planning Commission did not recommend the requests in August. Planning commissioners cited concerns about a blanket text amendment that would allow anyone to take advantage of the smaller lot sizes and build houses in existing neighborhoods. Some agreed they should approve these requests on a case-by-case basis instead.
About a dozen members of the public attended the initial discussion and voiced their opinions both for and against the requests during the planning meeting. No one spoke during public comment Monday night.
The request came from Dustin Baker of Alcove Development as he continues with site plans for the development of multiple types of housing in the new Shadow Ridge North subdivision.
Baker asked for lot size minimums to decrease from 7,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet, for lot width minimums to go from 60 feet to 40 feet and side yard setbacks to go from 10 feet to five feet.
These changes would make the area more competitive and the cost of the project more sustainable, Baker said.
During a presentation by staff and planning consultant Kyle Kobe, city commissioners saw similar cities in the area are also getting new requests allowing for smaller lot sizes and setbacks, thus providing more housing options in the area.
The city recommended the City Commission approve the following requests, some of which are altered from the original developer request to make the staff feel more comfortable.
For the residential single-family housing district:
Minimum lot area
Existing: 7,000 square feet
Applicant request: 5,000 square feet
Staff recommendation: 5,000 square feet
Minimum lot width
Existing: 60 feet
Applicant request: 40 feet
Staff recommendation: 50 feet
Minimum interior side yard setback
Existing: 10 feet
Applicant request: 5 feet
Staff recommendation: 7.5 feet or 10% of lot width, whichever is greater
Residential two-family district:
Minimum lot area
Existing: 7,500 square feet, 3,750 square feet per dwelling unit
Applicant request: 5,000 square feet, 2,500 square feet per dwelling unit
Staff recommendation: 6,000 square feet, 3,000 square feet per dwelling unit
Minimum lot width:
Existing: 60 feet
Applicant request: 40 feet
Staff recommendation: 60 feet, 30 feet per dwelling unit
Minimum interior side yard setback:
Existing:10 feet
Applicant request: 5 feet
Staff recommendation: 7.5 feet or 10% of lot width, whichever is greater. Zero where developed as a duplex along the common wall
City Manager Kevyn Gero said that just because developers have the option to go down to the smaller setbacks and lot sizes does not mean every home in the subdivision will be that size.
Commissioner Roberta Lehmann asked Kobe what his recommendation was for these requests.
“In my professional opinion, just based on having seen these types of things play out in a lot of different communities around the state, this is pretty well in line with what we’ve seen in a lot of other places,” Kobe said. ”It is a change for Eudora, but it is also something that places that have Eudora-like standards are considering right now. In my opinion, I think the most likely outcome is it will reduce process time and money for developers.”
Commissioner Alex Curnes said he has seen other neighboring cities either doing these new types of regulations or starting to look into it.
“We’re in a bit of competition here with our neighboring communities too, Baldwin, De Soto,Tonganoxie, or any of them who have already adjusted some of these figures, lot sizes,” Curnes said.
Mayor Tim Reazin said he wondered if it would be an option to asterisk the amendment to not allow the new setbacks and lot widths in some existing neighborhoods, but Gero said it would be unlikely that homeowners would try to alter their existing homes to these new zone guidelines.
Commissioner Tim Bruce said after looking at existing vacant lots, there are not a lot of buildable lots and said he would prefer to handle those on a case-by-case basis knowing that they would be dealing with a homeowner rather than a developer.
Reazin said he would be inclined to look at a zoning breakdown of options when developers can use these new requirements, rather than blanket change the entire zoning policy.
Curnes said since the experts on the Planning Commision suggested this request may not be the best one, maybe the city staff needs more direction on other options to try.
Gero said if the commission did want to change direction, it would be a whole different process requiring significantly more time.
Commissioners received a full verbatim transcript from the Planning Commission meeting to get a better sense of how they came to their decision, but Reazin said he wished he could get a better idea of why they ultimately did not recommend the requests for approval.
“So the challenge that I have as we’re going through this whole thing is we have a board of volunteers that are up here for the Planning Commission.They have an extensive history in town that are opposed to this,” Reazin said. “So I’m torn with making a decision.”
Lehmann said it is also important to take the staff and Kobe’s recommendations into consideration, too, as they are professionals as well.
Commissioner Jolene Cullen said she trusts the Planning Commission and said they turned it down for a reason. She also said she does not see developers making lots bigger if they have the choice to do smaller.
“At this point, I don’t want houses on top of each other, and I don’t want tiny lots, and I don’t want them building tiny houses all the time. I want people to have a choice, and if the lots are platted small, they’re not gonna have a choice,” she said.
Lehmann said since the city keeps saying they want affordable housing options, it is time to make changes to make those things possible.
“Well, I think if we’re not crazy about any of this, then we have a real hard time saying that we want new houses to come in,” she said. “We want affordable housing, but we don’t want to give anybody smaller lot sizes to build the affordable housing.”
Cullen said she doesn’t think $300,000 houses are affordable housing.
Lehmann and Curnes agreed that is the standard now due to the market.
Prices of lots have also increased, Baker said.
Gero said this was something prioritized in the city’s strategic plan, to provide all types of housing. This plan allows for those options with flexibility.
Some commissioners were more in favor of approving or denying a planned overlay district for each specific situation a developer is looking for zoning requests that are different than those existing already. Lehmann said she is not in favor of that option because it opens the city up to favoritism by allowing them to approve some requests but not all.
Gero also said these districts are not conducive for city staff, the commission or the developer. That way would also likely slow down the process.
The commission had the option to defer the item to a later vote, send it back to the Planning Commission with some direction or vote on it.
Ultimately, Curnes made the motion to approve the new text amendment for lot regulations and was seconded by Lehmann. Bruce and Reazin also voted yes, with Cullen voting against.
In other business, the commission received an update from Kwikom, which is in the midst of installing fiber in town. At a previous meeting, Reazin brought up resident concerns about the fiber pedestals being in people’s yards and that many were upset with these changes. He asked that they look into the cost of getting rid of those already installed and doing underground ones moving forward.
Kwikom has moved forward with only underground installation and said it would be about $100,000 to redo those already placed above ground.
During staff updates, Police Chief Wes Lovett said Cones with a Cop will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. this Wednesday at the station.
Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said the first farmers market will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
