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Council reviews dirt‑street paving policy; staff to solicit petitions and return with formal program
Summary
At a workshop, staff summarized the dirt‑streets paving program and petition process; council members debated lowering the resident-signature threshold (currently 80%) and asked staff to circulate surveys to property owners before a formal vote.
Wichita City Council received staff briefings March 25 on the city’s dirt‑street paving program and the petition process and directed staff to solicit property‑owner responses before returning the matter for formal action.
Paul Gunzelman of Public Works and Utilities said the city has “approximately 60 lane miles of dirt streets” and summarized the program that began after a 2022 council decision to fund paving near schools first and then in disadvantaged neighborhoods. He described the current petition rule: an 80% affirmative response by property owners on a block is required to add a street to the city‑funded program in a given year.
Gunzelman and Gary Janssen described the mechanics for 2026: staff will send a letter to each property owner of record before June 1, with responses due by July 15. Examples discussed at the workshop showed short blocks with four residential owners where 80% would require all four signatures; a 50% threshold would require only two signatures.
Several council members said they were open to lowering the signature threshold; some suggested 75% and others 50% to avoid letting a small number of non‑responding or dissenting property owners block a project that neighbors want. Staff said they can model financial impacts but cannot predict which blocks would respond until surveys are returned.
City Manager Layton told the council the briefing provided sufficient direction to proceed with the outreach and that a formal vote on the program and any revised threshold would return later in the budgeting process. Staff said they will present the petition survey results and a proposed 2026 paving program to council during fourth‑quarter budget deliberations.
Why it matters: the council earlier reallocated most dirt‑street paving funds to other projects but preserved enough money to complete streets near schools by 2026; the outreach and petition threshold will determine whether remaining short sections move forward sooner or remain deferred.
What comes next: staff will mail the survey package, verify returned petitions, and include any resulting changes in the proposed 2026 program presented to council for formal approval.
