Gardner approves rezoning and permits for two substations, adopts several road and development measures

The Gardner City Council on April 21 approved rezoning and two conditional‑use permits to allow construction of two electric substations on 11.17 acres at 17955 Clare Road and took a series of infrastructure and financing actions including a five‑year County Assistance Road System plan and a resolution to begin condemnation proceedings for a culvert replacement on 4 Corners Road.

Planning staff told the council the site will host two adjacent facilities: an Evergy regional substation of about 5.25 acres and a smaller City of Gardner substation meant to serve local loads. "Before you this evening are several applications related to the development of two substations," planning staff said, outlining required zoning changes, landscaping buffers and two requested deviations that would allow barbed wire fencing and a gravel access road in the planned‑agriculture district.

Jessica Kacketh, an Evergy representative, said the company will connect the Evergy substation to the new Gardner facility to serve both local and regional loads and that the Evergy site will include a 150‑foot communications pole for internal grid monitoring. "Basically, we're building a substation that ties into the proposed Gardiner substation, to provide power to Gardiner and then we have transmission lines around, so we provide power outside as well," Kacketh said. She added the pole will be a single‑pole communications structure, not a lattice tower, and will not include guy wires.

Staff and Evergy said the project will preserve an existing stream‑corridor buffer along Clare Road and include layered plantings: shorter shrubs and native grasses where transmission line clearances apply and larger trees on the south side where clearances permit. At a neighborhood meeting before the planning commission, about a dozen residents expressed concern primarily about the communications pole’s size and appearance; Evergy representatives said they would use plantings and terrain to screen views where possible.

The Planning Commission reviewed the applications on March 24, asked about interconnection and fencing, and recommended approval of the rezoning, preliminary development plan and both conditional‑use permits. The council then adopted three ordinances: No. 2833 changing the zoning classification to Planned Agriculture and approving a preliminary plan; No. 2834 approving the conditional‑use permit for the Evergy (public utility major) substation; and No. 2835 approving the conditional‑use permit for the City of Gardner (public utility minor) substation. The council approved those ordinances on voice vote.

Earlier in the meeting the council viewed a liability training video and heard a state‑law overview from staff covering the Kansas Open Records Act, the Kansas Open Meetings Act and the Kansas Tort Claims Act. Staff reiterated that personal text messages kept outside official records are generally not subject to open records requests under KSA 40‑5217 but noted such materials may still be subpoenaed in litigation. The presentation also reviewed conflicts of interest and the limits of insurance coverage when officials act beyond the scope of their authority.

Votes at a glance

- Ordinance No. 2833 — Rezoning and preliminary development plan for 17955 Clare Road (rezoning from county Rural Residential to Planned Agriculture): adopted by council vote (motion and second recorded; roll call recorded in the minutes as affirmative).

- Ordinance No. 2834 — Conditional‑use permit (public utility major) for Evergy substation: adopted by council vote (affirmative on roll call).

- Ordinance No. 2835 — Conditional‑use permit (public utility minor) for City of Gardner substation: adopted by council vote (affirmative on roll call).

- Resolution 02/1968 — Five‑year County Assistance Road System (CARS) program, including submittal for the 2026 mill and overlay project (Old 56): adopted.

- Resolution 02/1969 — Declaring necessity and authorizing a survey to acquire land or interests for the Johnson County and City of Gardner culvert replacement on 4 Corners Road: adopted; staff said acquisition of roughly 20 feet of additional space adjacent to existing right‑of‑way is needed to proceed.

- Ordinance No. 2836 — Condemning land and directing the city attorney to institute eminent‑domain proceedings for the Johnson County and City of Gardner culvert replacement on 4 Corners Road: adopted to allow condemnation negotiations to begin while staff continues acquisition efforts.

- Resolution 02/1970 (Tuscan Farm Phase 1B Special Benefit District) — Declaring advisability and authorizing creation of a special benefit district to finance approximately $645,000 in project costs (overall infrastructure estimated at about $1,500,000); the developer will contribute privately and the city will issue general‑obligation bonds repaid via special assessments on properties in the district: adopted.

- Authorization to execute a quitclaim deed transferring surplus city right‑of‑way (former alignment of 190th Street) to adjacent property owner RS Associates: approved.

What the council said about condemnation and special assessments

Staff described the culvert project as a Johnson County‑led project requiring additional city right‑of‑way. The city has negotiated for roughly a year and, because negotiations had not concluded, the council passed a resolution and ordinance to begin condemnation procedures to keep the project on schedule. On the Tuscan Farm Phase 1B special benefit district, council members questioned risks if a developer fails to complete work; staff said the city has recovered assessments in some past cases via tax auction but acknowledged a financial risk if recovery does not occur. Staff noted state law requires disclosure of special assessments to buyers.

Next steps and context

Staff said it will proceed with right‑of‑way descriptions and condemnation filings where needed while continuing negotiations with property owners. Evergy and city electric staff will follow up on final landscaping and construction schedules. The meeting also included a broader discussion of utility capital planning: staff described a $30 million placeholder in the capital improvement plan for additional generation capacity and said that placeholder was not a firm recommendation; council members expressed skepticism about immediately funding large additional generation and asked staff for clearer, data‑driven options before any decision to add generation capacity.

Ending

Council members closed the meeting after several brief department updates and community‑cleanup acknowledgments. The council will take up any required follow‑ups — including final permits, construction timelines for the substations and periodic updates on right‑of‑way negotiations — at future meetings.