The Platte County Planning and Zoning Commission may be facing a long night next week when it considers a controversial potential housing development near Parkville. According to Daniel Erickson, Platte County Director of Planning and Zoning, the proposed Chapel Ridge subdivision would be made up of 379 single-family homes ranging in size from 7,800 to 30,254 square feet on about 145 acres. Chapel Ridge would be located adjacent to UnionChapelElementary School at the northwest corner of Highways 45 and K.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 in Platte City to consider a rezoning application and preliminary plat for the project.
Brian Mertz of PC Homes, on behalf of property owners the Kelly Jo Yulich Trust, Arlene Kagan, Wendy Winer and Kathleen Carpenter, is seeking approval of the preliminary plat for the subdivision. In conjunction with this preliminary plat, the applicant also seeks to rezone the property from agricultural (AG) and rural estate (RE) usage to single-family high density (R-7). The preliminary plat is contingent upon the approval of the proposed rezoning.
At an informational meeting held July 29 by the developer, local residents turned out in droves — with estimated attendance at 100-170 residents according to differing sources — to protest the subdivision, and have also flooded Platte County Planning and Zoning with letters of protest. A petition to the Planning and Zoning Commission is also being drafted.
“Last night, July 29, at a meeting on the topic, around 100 people attended,” said resident Matthew Roberts in a letter to both the P&Z Commission and the Platte County Commissioners. “A show of hands was taken to see who favored and opposed the subdivision. Everyone at the meeting opposed the proposal. Not a single person voted in favor. I think this clearly demonstrates the widespread opposition to this proposal.
“The population density of Johnson County, Kan. is now over 1,000 people per square mile, and, as a result, the county is suffering many quality of life issues. We like southern Platte County as it is – with lower population density, charm and open areas. We do not want a ‘high density’ development in our area.”
Platte County First District Commissioner Beverlee Roper promised due diligence by County officials in reviewing the project.
“This needs to be looked at very carefully and it will be and then a decision will be made,” Roper said. “Obviously, it is a balancing process of various factors that need to be considered.”