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Council approves rezoning and preliminary plan for Olathe Police training range on nearly 96 acres
Summary
Council approved rezoning and a preliminary development plan for an Olathe Police Department training complex, including an outdoor shooting range, 21,000-square-foot training building (future phase) and a driving course to be added later.
The Olathe City Council on May 6 approved an ordinance rezoning about 95.6 acres from county agricultural zoning to the city’s agricultural district and approved a preliminary development plan for a proposed Olathe Police Department training facility.
Planner Nathan Jurison presented the request and described a three-phase plan. Phase 1 includes an outdoor shooting range with engineered berms and concrete walls and two small training buildings that staff said will be hidden from public view. Phase 2 would add a roughly 21,000-square-foot training facility; Phase 3 would add a driving-course facility. Staff said the plan preserves roughly 98% of existing woodland and protects the Cedar Creek stream corridor. An independent noise study by Avant Acoustics concluded that the outdoor range, with the proposed berming and sound-absorbing measures, would meet the city’s noise ordinance and would be quieter at property boundaries than existing ambient levels that include interstate and railroad noise.
Police Chief Mike B. Todd told the council the site selection team prioritized minimizing impacts on surrounding neighborhoods and noted the site’s existing sound buffers, including a quarry, railroad and Interstate 35. Planning Commission recommended approval 9-0; council members voted to approve Ordinance No. 25-12 on a 6-0 roll call.
Staff recommended no zoning stipulations beyond routine Johnson County coordination because the property is within a mile of New Century Airport; staff recommended a standard stipulation for federal and county coordination. The city purchased the site in 2023 and annexed it; properties annexed from county zoning require rezoning to a city district before development, Jurison said. The council approved the rezoning and preliminary plan after a motion and second, with the clerk recording the roll-call vote as 6-0.
The project will return with any refined building elevations and later-phase site details as those phases advance through review. Staff said the facility is intended primarily for in-house public-safety training and emphasized the preservation measures and noise mitigation detailed in the acoustical study.
