Council starts RHID process for Maplewood Place to support affordable housing

Council heard a staff summary of an initial resolution to create a Rural Housing Incentive District (RHID) for Maplewood Place and voted to send the resolution to the Kansas Department of Commerce for review. Staff said this is the first of several steps — including a second resolution, hearings, a cost‑benefit analysis and an eventual ordinance — and that the overall process typically takes months.

The proposal would encompass the full property, with duplexes proposed at the rear and commercial uses in front; staff noted the developer has already been awarded a state moderate‑income housing grant (described in the meeting as roughly $500,000) and that the RHID process does not by itself commit the city to specific infrastructure expenditures until later development agreements and follow-up steps are completed.

Council members asked questions about what eligible costs the RHID would cover, whether the developer would be required to spend RHID funds on infrastructure, and how school district and county objections would be handled. Staff said eligible costs and the development agreement are defined later in the process and that other jurisdictions would receive hearing notices and could object or request participation.

A council member moved and the council approved the resolution to create the RHID and send it to the Department of Commerce — a procedural step that begins the formal review and public-notice process but does not itself authorize specific expenditures.