OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Overland Park City Council will consider expansion plans for Overland Park Regional Medical center that most neighbors strongly oppose. Neighbors say the current design puts a new garage and hospital building 50 feet from their backyard and that they say it’s too close for comfort.
Darby Trotter has lived next to Overland Park Regional for 30 years. He fears there won’t be any longtime homeowners in the future if the hospital expansion puts a five story building where the parking lot now meets the grass.
“It’s coming up closer to these homes and everything that these people treasure in terms of their backyard space and their homes will be completely destroyed,” Trotter said.
Trotter says the hospital will literally cast a shadow over dozens of homes and that will send home values into a dark abyss.
“It would be a huge monstrosity sitting in your backyard and nobody would buy that house,” he said. “I mean I wouldn’t.”
Neighbors say they understand the hospital needs to expand, they’re not against expansion they’re against the current design.
“They’re pushing a design that doesn’t have to be done and that’s the sad part,” “We have given them multiple ideas and multiple design options.”
Trotter says neighbors want to keep the building set back at 109 feet not 50 feet. A hospital spokesperson says a new plan with a new setback will be released on Monday night but didn’t offer any specifics.
The hospital did release the following statement:
‘Overland Park Regional Medical Center looks forward to the City Council meeting tonight to share our Vision and plans for improving the health of our community. We are respectful of this due process and are grateful for the input we have received thus far.’
A meeting regarding the hospital expansion was held on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Overland Park City Hall. The hospital needs a super majority of the city council to approve the plan. That means 10 out of 13 council members. That’s because neighbors collected enough signatures for what’s called a Protest Petition which requires a super majority of the council to approve a plan.
As of 10:30 p.m. on Monday, the meeting was still in progress. No decisions had been made.
