Apartment, duplex and industrial projects will move forward in the development process after Planning Commission approval Wednesday.
GW Weld, the developer of the property at the northeast corner of 1400 Road and 2300 Road, said current concepts for the site include small-scale industrial development, but no final usage of the land has been determined.
The property is currently zoned as agricultural, but Weld said the current thoughts are to complement larger-scale industrial development in De Soto.
“What we feel like there is a need for is smaller businesses that might be a 100,000-square-foot warehouse, maybe someone who has an HVAC office and a shop in the back,” Weld said. “A lot of that economic activity in De Soto can spur economic activity there.”
The commission approved the rezoning as the first step in developing the property. The developer will have to present preliminary and final plats to the Planning and City Commissions before development can begin.
Resident Aaron Neighbors said he was concerned about approving a blanket industrial zone that could invite heavy industry, such as chemical plants or heavy manufacturing, since there’s only a general industrial zoning option under city code.
“The likelihood probably is not big, but it’s there, and I wonder if there’s a way to put some restriction to where we don’t have a heavy industrial opportunity that could be an eyesore as you pull into Eudora,” Neighbors said.
Dave Warmker, a property owner across from the property, said increased industrial traffic would make the city pave the current gravel street.
“Currently, Seventh Street is very busy,” Warmker said. “You add an industrial park out there, that road will be extremely busy. You’re going to have to improve a mile worth of road. People fly down there and don’t stop at the stop sign. You add a big development, you better plan on adding a road.”
Chairman Grant Martin said he supports the rezoning because he believes it is in a good area that has access to K-10, allowing industrial traffic to avoid the streets of Eudora.
Vice Chair Josh Harger said he didn’t like having only one option for industrial and wanted to have multiple options for light or heavy industrial zoning.
“We can’t hold you to a plan. What you want to do meets growth of the community. I just don’t like that we can’t limit it, especially with a commercial property right next door,” Harger said.
The commission approved the rezoning in a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Tim Pringle abstaining due to the property financially impacting him. Commissioners Johnny Stewart and Aaron Thakker were absent.
In other business, the commission approved a 72-unit apartment complex plat at the northeast corner of K-10 and Church Street, near Dairy Queen and Family Dollar.
Lance Onstott, the city’s on-call planner, said the development will have street access through the Family Dollar and Dairy Queen onto 15th Street, and the preliminarily plat follows the commission’s requirement of a replat following its rezoning approval of the property in October.
“We are anticipating a subsequent application for some variance requests with the amount of off-street parking required, but those applications and process will be handled separately from the plat process,” Onstott said.
Since there aren’t parking regulations for apartment complexes in city code, Joy Rhea with McClure, the developers of the property, said the plan is to have roughly 100 parking spaces. If the total units were held to duplex parking standards, 173 parking spots would need to be available.
City Manager Zack Daniel said the Planning Commission has relaxed parking minimum codes in the past, but final parking requirements will be decided during the final plat approval process.
The commission also approved rezoning changes for duplex development at 700 Pine, Spruce, Walnut and Cherry streets.
Anthony Brown, partner of Core Development, said the plan is to build seven duplex lots facing Eighth Street. The current property is zoned as single-family residential, and the commission approved the change to a duplex district.
“We’ve been working with staff to get a better plan. I’m hoping you can see the benefit of using that ground and making it productive for the city of Eudora,” Brown said.
Brown said the duplexes will be around 1,600 square feet, with the possibility of a basement adding up to 800 square feet. However, design plans for the property have not been finalized.
Robin Starling, a property owner near the development, said she is concerned with adding more homes in the area due to poor maintenance by the city.
“The maintenance we have in that area for snow removal, just anything, is not good, plain and simple,” Starling said. “We had a street there that’s basically a dead end road they’ve patched with this, that and the other, but it’s not good. It should see the same respect as the other streets do.”
Brown said the new duplexes could bring more revenue to the city and allow it to upgrade the infrastructure in the area.
The commission approved another single family to duplex district at 1000 Maple St. Brown is the same developer, and he said the duplex would have a back alley garage entrance due to the downward hill on the property. The front door would face Maple Street.
Martin said he supported the rezoning.
“We have a lot of lots around town that aren’t developed,” Martin said. “This provides an opportunity to get those lots filled with what appears to be pretty nice housing.”
Harger said he would like to see the duplexes on Pine, Spruce, Walnut and Cherry streets to be geared toward senior living. The Times has a message in to Brown for further clarification of his plans.
In commissioner comments, Martin congratulated Commissioners Pat Jankowski and Lewis Cox, who were sworn in at the beginning of the meeting.
Codes enforcement officer Gordon Snyder said 15 building permits were filed in 2024, leading to 244 total permits for 2025. He said winter will likely slow the number of building permits requested into December.
Daniel said the city has conducted interviews for a city planner and has found three candidates, with the goal of starting the chosen candidate in January.
“We think we’ve got it narrowed down,” Daniel said. “We’re hoping to make outreach to those candidates before the end of the week.”
Reach reporter Michael Glenn at [email protected].