Council OKs RHID eligibility for Riverbed Heights; project advances to state review

The Lansing City Council voted to approve Resolution B 2 20 25, declaring eligibility for a 20‑year Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID) for Riverbed Heights, a proposed single‑family subdivision on about 124 acres at the southwest corner of 130 First Street and McIntyre Road. The motion passed by roll call with all members voting yes.

The resolution is a first step that makes the project eligible to be considered by the Kansas Department of Commerce; it does not itself create the district or obligate the city to fund infrastructure. City staff and the developer repeatedly told the council that subsequent steps — Department of Commerce approval, rezoning, plats and any development agreement — must follow before construction. "This is step 1 of many," developer counsel Joe Oakes said, adding the city would still need to approve plats and right‑of‑way dedications.

Developer representatives told the council they plan 412 single‑family lots and estimated roughly $27,000,000 in infrastructure acquisition and related costs, a figure they said makes the project infeasible without incentives. Joe Oakes, attorney with Polsinelli, said developers plan to work with a national homebuilder to reduce construction costs and provide "attainable" prices for buyers. The developer's presentation said about 25 percent of the site is proposed as green space and that the parcel has been conditionally annexed into the city.

Several nearby residents spoke at the meeting with questions about access and screening. Patrick Melvin, who lives on McIntyre Road, said he was concerned that an entrance would be placed directly across from his house. "I don't see any green space on the north side of that," Melvin said. Staff and the developer responded that the conceptual plan had been revised to add screening and buffers, and that a final landscape plan will be required during the platting process.

Resident Katie Burton, who also lives on McIntyre Road, said the area is currently rural and that the scale of the proposed development would be a major change. "This is bringing the middle of the city, very high density, to the area," she said. City staff said the parcel has been designated a priority annexation and growth site in the comprehensive plan and that existing public investments — including sewer extensions to McIntyre — were made to enable development in this corridor.

Engineer Ben Gasper (SMH Consultants) described the site’s topography and noted a ravine and pond on the west side, which the team proposed to preserve within the larger green‑space buffer. He said the design includes perimeter screening and that the team is studying a future crossing to improve west‑side access.

Council members and staff emphasized that approval tonight authorizes the mayor to send the eligibility resolution to the Department of Commerce for review and that later approvals (rezoning, final plat, development agreement) would return to the council. The council then called the roll for Resolution B 2 20 25; all members present voted yes and the motion passed.

Votes at a glance: the council also approved two advisory board appointments (Board of Zoning Appeals) and appointed Councilman Dan Clemens as the city's representative to the Leavenworth County Port Authority earlier in the meeting; those motions passed by roll call with unanimous or near‑unanimous support.

The next steps for Riverbed Heights are state review for RHID creation, public hearings required by statute, and separate local approvals of rezoning, plats and any development agreement should the Department of Commerce deem the project eligible. The developer and staff said timelines vary; if state review and local entitlements run quickly, the process could take roughly three to six months, but staff warned this is only an estimate.