"The arrows are pointing to this can be addressed and that's why we're recommending approvals." Magi Brewster, Gardner's Community Development Deputy Director, told the City Council that on Sept. 21. She was talking about the roadway and stormwater concerns still hanging over the Velocity Arts site near I-35 and 175th Street.
That sentence explains the vote better than the headlines did. Council members approved the project unanimously that night, and FOX4 opened its story by saying an entertainment district "is coming to Gardner." What the council actually passed was a rezoning plus a preliminary plan, with a list of conditions and a deadline attached. Much of what you'd want to know as a neighbor, a commuter, or someone hoping for a concert close to home hasn't been decided yet.
What Ordinance 2893 actually did
Ordinance 2893 moves about 215 acres from agricultural and county rural/single-family zoning to ACP-3, which is the city's planned heavy-commercial activity center district. It also approves the "associated preliminary development plan for a mixed-use development."
The plan itself is big. The Johnson County Post described a $1.5 billion district with a 15,000-seat indoor concert pavilion, a 6,000-seat esports arena, a 2,500-seat performing arts center, a covered outdoor plaza, a 10-acre recreational lagoon, a hotel and vacation villas, and a for-profit college with dormitories. The council agenda packet divided the site into nine districts. It lists a 300-key hotel, a 300-bed dorm, and a District 1 "Main Street" with a 750-vehicle garage and more than 2,500 surface parking spaces.
Keep the acreage straight. When KCTV5 first showed renderings in August, it called the project a 335-acre district. The land the council rezoned is the part inside city limits. Velocity CEO Josh Shibler said a separate preliminary plan is coming "in a few months" for more land east of Clare Road, which is outside Gardner.
The homework stapled to the approval
Section Two of the ordinance makes the approval subject to conditions. Taken together, they're a list of the decisions nobody has made yet.
- Airport review. The Johnson County Airport Commission and the Board of County Commissioners have to review and approve the plan. The site is within a mile of New Century Air Center.
- Deviations deferred. Velocity requested exceptions to city standards. Those weren't granted. They move to the final plan stage, and if there are enough of them, the developer may have to submit a revised preliminary plan.
- Will-serve letters from utility providers such as Evergy, WaterOne and Johnson County Wastewater.
- A detailed parking analysis that models demand by use, shared parking, and staggered peak times.
- A final traffic impact study for the City and KDOT to review. It also covers roundabout design, emergency truck access, and spacing of access points.
- A final stormwater report. This includes a floodplain development permit for any grading in regulated floodplain, a stream corridor maintenance agreement, and a treatment facility maintenance agreement, all finalized before permits are issued.
- An event management plan that covers every proposed venue.
The clock that started Sept. 21
The fourth condition is the one with teeth. A revised preliminary plan or a final development plan has to be submitted within 12 months of the rezoning. "If a revised preliminary development plan or final development plan application is not submitted within such time, then the zoning of these parcels will revert back to the prior respective RUR or A zoning districts."
Counting from Sept. 21, 2026, that window closes in September 2027. The developer can ask for one extension. It has to be requested within two months of the deadline, and the developer has to show what it did over the prior 10 months. So the commercial zoning is real, but it's on loan until a final plan arrives.
That plan may come soon. The Kansas City Star reported on Sept. 24 that the final development plan was expected back before the council "sometime in October." City staff said the airport review could also happen "next month." As of early October, those are the two meetings to watch.
The road work is assigned to the developer
Velocity's traffic impact study, summarized in the council packet, lists the road improvements the study assumed would be in place on opening day for traffic to work acceptably. KCTV5 reported that building all of them "will be the responsibility of the developer."
| Location | Improvement in the traffic study |
|---|---|
| 175th Street, Cedar Niles Road to Clare Road | Widen to three through lanes |
| 175th Street and Clare Road | Add an eastbound left-turn lane |
| 175th Street at I-35 northbound ramp | New traffic signal and channelized right-turn lane |
| 175th Street at I-35 southbound ramp | New signal, channelized right turn, extra southbound right- and left-turn lanes |
| Clare Road | Widening |
| 167th Street, Clare Road to I-35 | Paving |
| Clare Road bridge over I-35 | Improvements |
Two interchange ideas come up in this discussion, and they're easy to mix up. City staff described KDOT's work on a new design for the I-35 and 175th Street interchange, and that design hasn't been settled. Separately, Velocity's study said a new interchange at I-35 and 167th Street would add a lot of access for large events. Without it, emptying the parking areas after a sold-out 15,000-seat pavilion show would take roughly 80 to 100 minutes.
That estimate is why condition five matters. The final traffic study, reviewed by both the city and KDOT, is where that 80-to-100-minute figure either gets addressed with more access or gets accepted.
Gardner can't power and pipe all of it alone
Gardner supplies water, wastewater and electricity to properties inside city limits. City staff told the council the city couldn't serve the development's electric, water, or wastewater needs based on the preliminary information it had.
Shibler described it as a split-jurisdiction problem. "We know the City of Gardner can't do it all, but we will where they can and we've engaged the other parties to make sure we have adequate services for the development," he said, referring to Evergy, WaterOne and Johnson County Wastewater. A staff member quoted by the Star said, "There could be a split with Gardner utilities, but we do have a pathway to meet the needs of the development."
"A pathway" is the current status. The will-serve letters required by the ordinance are what would turn it into commitments.
The money is still a list of requests
On Aug. 17, the council approved a memorandum of understanding with Velocity. The city's resolution calls it non-binding. It sets out the city's intent to consider the incentives Velocity requested, and it isn't an award of those incentives. The Johnson County Post dated that action Aug. 18.
According to the Post, the request includes STAR bonds, a 2% community improvement district sales tax, a 1% transportation development district sales tax, industrial revenue bonds, and otherwise-uncommitted transient guest tax revenue. City Administrator Jim Pruetting said incentives would depend on significant public benefits, and that the city needed more information to build a financing plan and identify public infrastructure needs. As of the Star's Sept. 24 report, details on the public financing tools, including the STAR bond district, hadn't been finalized.
For anyone who shops along 175th Street someday, this part reaches past the site boundary. CID and TDD taxes are charged on purchases inside the district. The size of those taxes, and the size of any STAR bond, are still open questions.
Neighbors' questions go into a plan nobody has written
The people who spoke on Sept. 21 split on the project. One supporter said, "Your residents want things to do." A nearby resident asked, "Will there be a certain time the noise will be taken down?" Another speaker raised concerns about stormwater, saying the site is heavily vegetated now and that pavement and buildings would make rain run off faster.
The resident's question doesn't have an answer yet. Ordinance 2893 doesn't set noise hours or decibel limits. It requires an event management plan covering every venue, and that plan hasn't been made public. Shibler said Velocity will talk with nearby residents and called that end of the site "probably the least active." That speaker's runoff concern goes to the final stormwater report, which has to meet the city's floodplain and stormwater code before any related permits are issued.
Where the 2029 date comes from
FOX4 reported the city's estimate that construction would be done by 2029. Shibler said that if everything gets approved, the project will be built in a single phase on an "aggressive timeline," and he hopes it's open by summer 2029.
Read that as a target set before the airport review, utility letters, final traffic study, stormwater report, event plan and financing package are done. Because it's a single phase, no venue opens early while the rest is being finished. Velocity's own site names Populous, McCownGordon and Kimley-Horn as project partners. If construction starts, those are the firms whose names you'd see on the signs along 175th Street.
As an engineer and project manager, I look for the conditions page before the rendering, and this one runs seven items long. If you own a home near the I-35 and 175th corridor and want to talk through how this project's milestones fit with your own plans over the next year, Heather Brown can walk you through it and start with a free home valuation that reflects what's actually approved today.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
