Wichita City Council rejects zoning change for College Hill parking lot, again
The Wichita City Council struck down a zoning change for Happiness Plaza on Tuesday that would have allowed its owners to build a new parking lot in College Hill.
The zoning change, which was challenged by a protest petition filed by 27% of surrounding property owners, received a 5-2 majority vote but fell one vote short of the 6-vote majority needed to pass a contested zoning change. Council members Mike Hoheisel and Maggie Ballard voted in opposition.
“I think my concern is the housing piece, the precedence that it sets for changing the residential zoning in a popular neighborhood for a parking lot,” Ballard said. “My personal opinion is I think it’s heading in the wrong direction to fill the housing deficit. We have to meet the need for all the new jobs coming to Wichita.”
It’s the second time in 16 months the City Council has denied the application, which would have cleared a path for the owners of Happiness Plaza to build a roughly 30-space parking lot south of the businesses at the corner of Clifton and Oakland. The parking lot would replace three houses Happiness Plaza owners bought, two of which have been demolished and one that could be moved.
Happiness Plaza’s largest tenant is The Belmont, a popular restaurant and bar.
The city’s planning department recommended denying the zoning change after a city-funded parking study found the existing parking around Happiness Plaza is not used to its full capacity, even at peak hours.
Scott Wadle, planning director for the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, issued a report saying the parking lot could “have a negative effect on the public welfare” by setting a precedent “that may encourage other business owners in similar situations to purchase nearby housing in order to create additional off-street parking.”
The new parking lot plan also conflicted with the city’s Places for People Plan, which calls for using zoning to promote urban infill, on-street parking and “walkable development that is oriented toward people, balancing the use of automobiles.”
The city’s report on the zoning change raised concerns the new parking lot “promotes auto(mobile) oriented development in place of promoting walkable, mixed-use development” and could “disrupt walkable development patterns” near downtown.
Council member Brandon Johnson, whose district includes College Hill, said the proposed change has “garnered robust community discussion throughout the city.”
The last time the zoning change came to the council, in December 2021, Johnson voted against it after a surge of vocal opposition by College Hill residents. This time, the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and developers had agreed to certain conditions to address neighborhood concerns, such as removing an entrance on Oakland Avenue.
“Unlike in 2021 . . . there’s greater support for this lot than last time — whether it was surveys, emails, phone calls — we’re seeing more support in the area for this project,” Johnson said. “Some of those who were against this were against it due to the homes being there.”
When plans for the parking lot first surfaced in 2021, many opposed demolishing the houses at 123 S. Clifton and 125 S. Clifton, both built in the 1920s, to make room for a parking lot. The Happiness Plaza owners later said a third house, at 3344 E. Oakland, would be relocated.
Johnson said some College Hill residents have changed their position to “now that the homes are gone, I’d rather see something pretty there than fences and an empty lot.
“With that, and seeing more support, I don’t see, honestly, a reason to deny this this time, as I did the initial time when we had overwhelming opposition to this.”
Happiness Plaza owners Ryan and Anthony Francisco of Edge Hill Investments were not immediately available for comment Tuesday. They can refile the zoning change request in one year.
Greg Ferris, a lobbyist for Happiness Plaza, questioned the planning department’s findings that the business had sufficient parking at a Feb. 23 planning commission meeting.
“I can promise you one thing,” Ferris said. “Happiness Plaza is not spending a half a million dollars building a parking lot they don’t need. They are business people. They’ve done the analysis. They know they need it.”
City Council denies zoning change for Happiness Plaza, derailing its parking lot plans
College Hill houses coming down on lot The Belmont’s owners earmarked for parking
