By Leslie Karr, Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of Overland Park
Talk of housing is all around us. Public and private sector agencies are all working to address housing availability. In 2018, ForwardOP, the City of Overland Park’s community vision, identified housing affordability and choice as priority action items for the city. Since that time, the city has engaged in a number of initiatives to understand the community’s housing needs and how to promote a housing-forward policy.
Overland Park continues to experience steady population growth. Annual permit activity has remained consistent, but it has only produced about half of the housing needed to meet the demand identified in the Johnson County Housing Study. Consistently low vacancy rates highlight the undersupply of housing units. In 2024, the city issued permits for 583 new housing units of all types. Most were single-family homes, with an average size of 4,872 square feet. Given these trends, the city identified a goal to encourage more diverse housing options to support economic development. The Portfolio Homes program represents one strategy to help meet that goal.
When new housing is proposed, Planning and Development Services Department staff frequently hear concerns related to the “fit” of projects into existing neighborhoods. The Portfolio Homes program encourages smaller-scale, quality-designed housing options with a streamlined approval process. Working with the architectural and planning firm MBL Architects, the city developed a catalog of 24 homes, including one-, two- and three-bedroom single-family homes; and one- and two-bedroom duplex homes. Units range in size from 640 to 2,197 square feet. The plans may be used to create a new neighborhood, such as a cottage court, or built individually on excess lot area as part of an infill plan. All plans are pre-reviewed by the City and free to use on any legal lot in Overland Park. You can view and download plans directly from the City’s website at opkansas.org/PortfolioHomes.
There is more work to do. The city is working to update its zoning regulations to provide greater flexibility and streamline the housing approval processes. While no single, solution exists to solve housing availability challenges, Overland Park aims to eliminate regulatory obstacles that may create barriers. We recognize that REALTORS® have valuable insight into housing needs. You can learn more about the update to our zoning regulations, the Unified Development Ordinance, and sign up for updates at http://opkansas.org/UDOUpdate.
