New rules for urban design

Remember those tightly knit urban neighborhoods of years ago - houses close to narrow, tree-lined streets, the grocery store and pharmacy within walking distance of home, and a small park to get away from the daily grind?

This setting may be coming to Overland Park in the near future, by design. This would be a major shift in the lifestyle of the largely suburban community.

For most of its history, Overland Park has been an escape from the teeming city and isolated small town. Planners consciously kept residential neighborhoods separated from commercial and retail enterprise, offices, and other ventures that could disrupt the calm of a cul-de-sac.

Now the city is drafting new planning standards, in part to accommodate the mixed-use development as part of Vision Metcalf, the forward-looking effort to revive one of the city's most important thoroughfares. The City Council will take them up on July 13.

The urban initiative provides a new option in Overland Park's development. Flexibility is an operative word.

Though longstanding conventional guidelines will be retained, a lot of requirements, such as those on setbacks from the street and road patterns, are eased in the update. Houses could be located close to one another. Buildings could be located closer to the street and the streets could be more narrow, slow-speed roadways. Trees along the curbs are considered an essential ingredient.

One important objective is to permit developments to be more individualized, a key part of urban character.

This move - a good one - will make Overland Park more competitive in attracting projects that combine basic elements of an urban community. The demand for the urban-style development is being driven by, among other things, an aging baby boom population with different needs, a lifestyle that consumes less energy, and individuals who, for whatever reason, no longer want to live in a large house with a lot of landscaping to attend, miles from shopping and other accommodations.

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