English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Overland Park, KS

The Overland Park City Council approved new standards that will limit the height of new apartment buildings in certain areas.

The council voted Monday to amend development standards for multi-family housing that would streamline construction in some ways, while setting new restrictions in others. The changes are a step in a broader process in Overland Park to update standards and accommodate the city’s plans for future multi-family housing.

City staff recommended the updates for various reasons, including to reflect the current state of construction projects and proposals coming to the city; stay in line with existing city practice; complement existing neighborhoods; and respond to community input, according to information presented at the meeting.

The new rules include a five-story height limit on new apartment buildings in some areas and restrictions on how close apartments can be placed in proximity to lower-density neighborhoods.

The council narrowly approved the new rules in a 7-5 vote, with Mayor Curt Skoog providing the necessary seventh vote.

The move follows intense debate in Johnson County suburban communities in recent years over how much housing to build and how dense it should be — as the cost of housing becomes increasingly prohibitive and residents want to maintain the existing character of their neighborhoods.

“There’s a cost to this incessant drive toward turning us into a city from a suburban community,” council member Jeff Cox. “And density is the only thing — that’s the only line — between the city and a suburban community. And in my view, I’m here to protect what we have and the people who live here now and voted for me, not the people who want to live here someday, maybe, in another apartment.”

But other council members feared the changes could place unnecessary barriers on development in a community that needs new homes, including in areas where they say denser housing would be appropriate.

“We shouldn’t be adding roadblocks to adding housing in our community,” Council President Logan Heley said of the height limit. “We should be doing everything we can to encourage housing. This feels like adding a roadblock to housing.”

Officials noted that as the city continues its work to accommodate more multi-family housing, staff are putting together plans for special standards in the College Boulevard area, where there are large parking lots that could be ripe for redevelopment.

Buildings on properties zoned for R-6 use, or high-rise apartments, will be limited to five stories, plus an attic. The new rules remove a height minimum of four stories, which means developers can build a three-story building on R-6 properties without needing an exception from the city. The old four-story minimum meant developers needed an exception.

Zoning for townhouses, garden apartments and high-rise apartments will not be allowed in parts of the city designated to remain lower-density suburban neighborhoods and rural areas.

The changes also call for apartments near single-family housing to be perpendicular, not parallel, to existing neighborhoods and have a lower 35-foot height.

But the changes also increase the maximum building length from 200 feet to 500 feet, with design standards for longer buildings that would discourage straight and repetitive exteriors, such as walls that are further set back.

And there is more flexibility for heavy materials used for building exteriors and how to design entrances to developments, which previously required connection to a thoroughfare.

The city will also have a set of pre-approved designs for proposed duplexes.

The new rules do not completely shut the door on apartment buildings higher than five stories in Overland Park: There could be taller developments on properties zones for mixed-use, where buildings would likely include more amenities and services alongside the higher density, such as the Carson Street Towers in the Corbin Park area.

The Kansas City Star

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Chris Higgins writes about development for the Kansas City Star. He graduated from the University of Iowa and joins the Star after working at newspapers in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa.

South Indian restaurant Chettinad’s just opened at 8018 W. 151st St. in Overland Park, but Kansas Citians may have tasted its cuisine before.

Vijay Kumar Ponnusamy has been catering paneer, biriyani, tikka masala and other menu items in the area for the past 10 years as a catering business under the same name.

While the Kansas City area has several Indian restaurants — including Bikanervala, which opened this summer at 8669 W. 135th St. in Overland Park — Ponnusamy said the metro is missing cuisine specific to the southern region of the country. The restaurant’s name refers to a community of villages in India’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu.

South India serves like dosai — a savory lentil crepe served with chutney, sambar or curry. Chettinad’s offers the “dosai special,” a giant version of the dish that’s larger than the tray it’s served on.

A few other items on Chettinad’s menu: samosas, mutton entrees and naan. It also serves kulfi, or Indian ice cream, and coffee.

To open the restaurant, Ponnusamy is teaming up with three other partners: Kalpana Vijay Kumar, Anu Senthil Kumar and Senthil Kumar Jayapalan.

Before coming to the United States, Ponnusamy operated a restaurant called “Flavors” in Puducherry, India, for a year. Opening a restaurant again has been a goal of Ponnusamy’s since it closed in 2010.

He’s content, now, to have a full dining room again.

Since Chettinad’s opened last week, a steady stream of customers has been pouring in. Ponnusamy said he even felt a little overwhelmed at times with the crowd of people. He’s said he’s met a lot of neighbors and South Indians missing their cuisine.

“People like the food,” he said. “People are coming (up until) the end of the day.”

Ponnusamy hopes the business’s popularity will only grow.

Chettinad’s is open 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Saturdays, and 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk opened its doors for the first time on Saturday, welcoming hundreds of guests into the 420,000 square foot building for the first time.

“It’s been an incredible turnout,” said general manager Greg Jackson. “It’s an amazing facility, can’t wait to share it with the rest of the town,” he said.

The building includes hardwood courts for volleyball and basketball, turf fields and a 1500-person ice hockey arena, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

“16 lanes of bowling, a road glide, golf simulators, crazy darts and amazing arcade,” said Jackson. There’s facilities geared towards parents as well, with a workout facility, bars, a café, a restaurant and more all in the same space. “This place is for everybody. You don’t have to play sports to come here,” Jackson said.

As a part of their grand opening celebrations, Ken Morrow was on hand with his Olympic gold medal from his time on the United States Men’s hockey team in 1980.

“The first time I walked in here, I thought ‘what a great facility!’ Kansas City can be very proud. Everything’s under one roof,” Morrow said. “When the parents and the grandparents are able to come to a place like this to keep everybody busy? Yeah, nothing better. I could see spending a whole day in this place.”

The space is expected to host a lot of people in its first year.

“We’re anticipating 800,000 people through this door. So, to put that in perspective, that’s more than the Chiefs draw in a home season,” Jackson said. They’re anticipating hosting national and regional sports tournaments at the facility in the future.

One of the questions on a lot of parent’s minds was, ‘where was this when we were kids?’

“I know, right?” said Cynthia Page. “They didn’t have anything like this! We had to go play in the creek! It’s really nice, I like everything that they have here.”