Hospital, Neighbors Reach Compromise Over Expansion | News

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Overland Park Regional Medical Center expansion is a plan that is no longer in the middle of controversy between neighbors and the hospital.

The Overland Park city council members decided to give the hospital the okay to move forward Monday night.

Neighbors filled city hall asking for a unanimous vote.  They said they’ve got a plan that works for them, and the hospital. The council members, agreed.

The neighbors say they’ve been working on a design with the hospital on for weeks.  It includes a walking trail to a nearby park that would include historic nodes, and an underground parking garage that would expose roughly one-story.

Neighbors say with all the other agreed changes, their home values might actually go up about 30 percent.

But one design feature that hasn’t changed, the group says, the expansion could still come within 50 feet of homes in some cases. But because the height of the garage is lowered since it’s underground, neighbors say they are okay with this plan.

“It’s a great feeling for us to know that we’ve come up with an idea to make our neighborhood better 41 and a way for future construction projects like this to be built in op to maintain that quality of life,” said Jim Walter who lives in the area.

The hospital is expected to meet specified stipulations, like a six-foot wood privacy fence and maintenance of the trails to build the expansion.

The hospital said at the meeting it has already allocated $200,000 for the trail.