The room was packed and hot, both in temperature and in palpable anger. It was just a regular meeting of the Olathe Planning Commission in late 2024. But on this agenda, a Michigan-based developer called Magnus Capital Partners LLC wanted to rezone a 14-acre property west of 161st Street and Mur-Len Road for mixed-use development featuring what was referred to as “workforce housing.” The developer said the project, called HōM Flats, would be geared toward the young professional making between $50,000 and $85,000 annually, with 200 or so apartments proposed in all. Roughly a dozen neighbors spoke in opposition to the project during the public hearing. The reasons they gave ran the gamut: Fears about traffic, crime, property values, the degradation of the views from their property, etc. There was one common thread, though: HōM Flats wouldn’t be the right fit for the existing character of the neighborhood, one of the eight Golden Criteria based on a 1978 Kansas Supreme Court ruling.
Read more: Johnson County Post
