Title
An Ordinance Approving the Amended and Restated Development Agreement Between Paragon Star, LLC, and the City of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, for the Paragon Star Project.
(Note: First reading by Council on December 15, 2020.)
Body
Issue/Request:
Approve an Amended and Restated Development Agreement to incorporate a phasing plan for construction of the Interchange improvements and the Village private development, so that there is sufficient capacity at the interchange to handle the first phase of the Village development and the sports complex
Key Issues:
Restructuring the Development Agreement to accommodate a phased construction plan to deal with the design impediments caused by changes to View High Drive that were unilaterally made to by the City of Kansas City.
Proposed City Council Motion:
I move for adoption of An Ordinance Approving the Amended and Restated Development Agreement Between Paragon Star, LLC, and the City of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, for the Paragon Star Project
Background:
The original Development Agreement was approved by the City Council on July 7, 2020 through the adoption of Ordinance No. 8909. In October 2020, the City of Kansas City undertook the resurfacing of View High Drive, and also unilaterally redesigned the lane configurations of View High from the Interchange at I-470 to a point south of the interchange near Chipman Road.
These changes by Kansas City have complicated the DDI interchange design process and these changes have had a detrimental impact upon planned construction activities, and consequently the opening date of Paragon Star. The changes in question involve the asphalt overlay and re-striping of the View High Drive corridor by the City of Kansas City that resulted in a reduction of the previous four-lane, median-divided roadway configuration into a two-lane facility with on-road, buffered bicycle lanes to the south of the existing Meers Road intersection. These lanes were reconfigured without consulting with the City of Lee’s Summit or the Paragon Star team, and without regard to the impact that the lane changes would have on the design of the Interchange improvements that are planned in connection with the Paragon Star project.
The new View High lane single-land configuration is incompatible with the scheduled Interchange improvements. The current lane configurations are also incompatible with the existing west-bound off ramp configuration of two turn lanes, which now feed into a single through-lane on south-bound View High. The View High single-lane configuration needs to be changed back to two lanes.
Based on the current Village phasing plan, Developer’s engineers (GBA) have analyzed the anticipated trip generation levels associated with the proposed initial phase of development on the Paragon Star site in 2021 and 2022. In general, GBA indicates that the soccer complex and the two initially proposed buildings in the Village will be expected to generate approximately 50 to 60 percent of the previously analyzed Phase 1 development traffic volumes during an average weekday and for the overall trip generations during the morning and evening peak periods. Similarly, the initial phase of development will be expected to generate between 60 and 70 percent of the prior Phase 1 weekend Page 3 trip generation levels, because so much of the Saturday peak hour traffic is dependent upon the activities at the soccer complex which will be anticipated to open in late 2021.
Impact/Analysis:
In an effort to solve this issue, the Development Agreement can be modified to allow for a phasing of the Interchange improvements. This will allow the first phase of Interchange improvements to correct the existing View High lane incompatibility issue, and also allow the first phase of the Village development to receive certificates of occupancy.
The Amended and Restated Development Agreement will therefore incorporate a phased approach to the Interchange improvements, and also allow a phased occupancy of the Village development. The scope of the initial Village development also coincides with the initial financing package that may be presented to the City Council for a TIF bond issuance in 2021.
Timeline:
The improvements to the Interchange will occur in 2021 as work on the Paragon Star project progresses.
Other Information/Unique Characteristics:
The Amended & Restated Development Agreement will help resolve the traffic conflicts created by Kansas City’s unilateral action to reduce lane capacity on View High Drive.
Presenter
David Bushek, Chief Counsel of Economic Development & Planning
Michael Park, Traffic Engineer
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of this ordinance.
.