White Smith Cousino led a team that included Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) and Vireo to create a Unified Development Code for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS. Although the governments of Wyandotte County and Kansas City had officially merged, the land development ordinances had yet to become unified until this project. Thus, the heart of this project was to combine multiple varying ordinances from two different local governments into one unified code, all while updating and modernizing the standards to ensure future quality growth.
KKC played a key role in consolidating and recalibrating the zoning districts. Through this analysis, KKC was able to significantly reduce the number of zoning districts. Between the two jurisdictions, prior to unifying the codes, there were 36 different base zoning districts. After KKC’s analysis, the consulting team was able to reduce the number of base districts to 16. Additionally, KKC was able to interweave a large number of by-right development options into the code. These options included provisions for standard development and cluster development so that a land owner may vary development types as the need arises, without seeking a change in zoning. Another key recommendation was the creation of established neighborhood regulations in specific locations within the jurisdiction to accommodate the varying lot sizes and housing types, thus reducing the need for routine variances and assuring residents that future development will be within the context of the existing neighborhood.
