Merriam council adopts ordinance to add Project Plan O to I‑35 redevelopment district

The Merriam City Council voted unanimously to approve an ordinance amending the I‑35 Redevelopment District to add Project Plan O, a redevelopment area that covers parcels on both sides of Slater Street, city staff said.

The change designates the new area as a conservation area under state tax‑increment financing (TIF) law, making the parcels eligible for TIF tools the city could use later to support redevelopment or "make ready" work such as environmental remediation and demolition, City Administrator Chris Singles told the council.

The conservation‑area finding is intended to be an alternative to declaring the area blighted; Singles said the city chose the conservation route because many of the properties already were identified in an earlier blight study and the conservation option is faster. "Blighted is blighted. Conservation is you're sliding in the wrong direction and we want to try to keep that property from becoming blighted," Singles said.

City staff showed a map of the I‑35 Redevelopment District and said Project Plan O would add a red‑outlined block bounded roughly by Antioch on the east, Shawnee Mission Parkway on the south, IKEA Way on the west and 60th Terrace on the north. Staff said the expansion area is less than five acres — about 0.18 percent of the city's roughly 2,700 acres — and that roughly 98 percent of the building square footage in the block is older than 35 years. The presentation identified code and physical deficiencies, including water damage, deteriorated siding and foundation issues, and vacant space.

Staff said the city now owns library properties on both sides of Slater and that ownership allows the city to perform "make ready work" — ranging from asbestos remediation and other environmental work to demolition — to prepare the site for future private development. Singles noted that the majority of properties in the proposed area are not currently paying property taxes, and said staff expects minimal short‑term impact on taxing partners such as the school district and county.

During the public hearing, a resident who identified their address as 6633 Wood Street criticized the city for assuming asbestos‑remediation costs and for expanding TIF, saying "TIF is corporate welfare" and warning that TIF reduces tax revenue for local taxing bodies. Christina Wood, an employee at the Caribou Coffee on the corner of the block, asked how the TIF expansion would affect the two existing businesses in the block and Caribou Coffee specifically. Dean Kinsey, a Merriam resident, asked about the difference between designating the area as a conservation area versus declaring it blighted.

Assistant/Ingram (staff) responded that conservation and blight are two statutory routes to the same eligibility outcome and said choosing conservation here avoids the time and expense of a full blight study. "Conservation or blight, they're just two different routes that both get you to the same place," Ingram said. Staff also told the council that changes to state law now preclude use of eminent domain to transfer property to private developers for economic development, and that any future redevelopment would not rely on that tool.

After questions, Councilmember Childress moved and Councilmember Hanson seconded waiving the ordinance's first reading; the motion passed (voice vote recorded as 8‑0). Councilmember Hanson then moved to approve the ordinance adopting the amended district plan for the I‑35 Redevelopment District and authorize the mayor to sign; the council approved that ordinance by a unanimous vote recorded as 9‑0.

Staff noted next steps include a Planning Commission review of Project Plan O for consistency with the city's Comprehensive Plan 2040, continued public notice to affected property owners and taxing entities, and potential future decisions about incentives or redevelopment partnerships if and when the city or private developers pursue projects on the site.

The council meeting adjourned after the vote.