ShawneeDispatch.com

With general approval Monday from the Shawnee Planning Commission, Shawnee soon may have its first Tax Increment Financing district.

The Commission on Monday reviewed the plan for the Cobblestone Development in the 6100 block of Pflumm Road to see if the plan was consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. The next step in the creation of the Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, district will be a public hearing at the Shawnee City Council's Oct. 13 meeting. So far, only one Council member has expressed a lack of support for the plan.

The Commission reviewed the plan for 116 villa-style homes and an 80-unit assisted living facility, as well as 48,000 to 60,000 square feet of retail and office space along Pflumm.

The plan also would require the removal of four duplexes and two single-family homes on the west side of Pflumm. The developer would swap a portion of the land these homes sit on with the some of city's land in Pflumm-Bichelmeyer Park.

Paul Chaffee, city planning director, explained that Monday's approval was for the basic purpose of the development. He said while the developer had provided plans showing a building and street layout, the commission wouldn't consider items like street or building design until after a TIF district is created.

When seeking approval with the city's comprehensive plan before a district is created, future TIFs may not be so well-planned, he explained.

"What we'll probably see on other TIFs, the developer may not know exactly how buildings lay out on the site, where the streets will lay," Chaffee said.

Creating TIF district on the property would mean the developers would keep taxes generated from improvements to the property to help pay for the development, though the city and other taxing entities would keep the taxes generated from the property's pre-development value. The city established a policy allowing TIF districts to encourage economic development in February 2006.

The TIF district won't include a church and the AT&T switching station on 62nd Street, but it will include the street itself from Pflumm to Widmer, so the developer will be required to improve that street with curbs, gutters and sidewalks. TIF funds also could be used if it was determined that a traffic light is necessary at 61st Street and Pflumm, where an entrance to the development will be created, though current traffic studies don't indicate a light will be necessary.

"My guess is that if the governing body doesn't decide to do a TIF district, we'll see something on this land, but it may not be (the plan that) we see today," Chaffee said.

At its Sept. 8 meeting, the Council approved the park land swap should the TIF district be created, and it also approved the public hearing to create the district. Council member Michelle Distler voted against both items.