Thousand Oaks' Property Values To Be Devastated?

As reported by the Platte County Citizen this week, the proposed soccer stadium for the SE corner of 435 & 45 (behind the gas station there) fell through.  Now the City of Parkville is exploring an earlier idea:  build a massive apartment complex at that location.  (N.B.  This area of land was incorporated by Parkville and is a part of City of Parkville, although much of the surrounding area is not and is unincorporated Platte County.)

The idea of building a massive apartment complex at this location was floated this week by Pete DiSalvo (of DiSalvao Development Advisor of Dublin, Ohio), where he said that up to 300 rental units could drive commercial development for the area.   Current zoning codes for Parkville, however, are more restrictive than for Kansas City or Platte County according to the PCC article, whereby "DiSalvo suggested the board look at its zoning codes, with an eye to such development."

N.B.  This idea is in the very early exploratory stages.  Nothing concrete has been proposed.  And if anything is proposed, it more than likely will have to be approved by the Parkville Planning & Zoning Commission & Parkville Board of Aldermen.  Parkville documents putting forward apartment complex idea are here and here.

I'm truly saddened by this.  Is this really Parkville's vision for the future?  Build some short-sighted apartment complexes so the city can make some quick revenue (to pay for Parkvile's imprudent investment of extending sewer line to gas station), completely disregarding the long-term consequence?

And what will these consequences be?

Well, a massive rentals complex would:

(1) Flood surrounding area with traffic, including on Brink Meyer and 45 Hwy. (If you use national traffic engineer standards, a 300-unit apartment complex would add at least 2,700 car trips per day on Brink Meyer and 45.)

(2) Increase crime. Statistically, rentals structures are magnates for higher crime, so this development most certainly would increase crime rates for the surrounding area.  Developers today tend to "trick" residents by telling them that apartments will be "upscale" but national statistics show that even "upscale" apartments quickly depreciate and even the most "upscale" apartments have higher crime rates than privately owned units.

(3)  Decrease property values for the surrounding area.

Thousand Oaks would probably be hardest hit by this.  Unlike Stone Gate (which is a technically a gated community), Thousand Oaks is open to Brink Meyer, so much traffic and crime from this development would find its way to Thousand Oaks, possibly devastating property values there.  But other areas would be hit hard too:  Such as Stone Gate, Smart Estates, Timber Ridge, and Country Wood Estates.

Let's hope the Parkville Planning & Zoning Commission & Parkville Board of Aldermen have some good sense and do not seek to devastate this area with such a short-sighted, foolish plan.  There would be more appropriate uses for that land:  such as (1) single-family homes on large lots; (2) a privately owned nature center; or (3) a country-club style private sports club (which would include the following amenities:  tennis courts, both grass and indoor courts; squash courts; badminton courts; ice rink; ball-room dancing & gymnastics building; and a fine-dining restaurant and bar).

To voice concerns about this idea, send an email to (these addresses include mayor of Parkville, director of planning and zoning, aldermen, and others --- just copy and paste all the addresses below into your "To" field of email):  njohnston@parkvillemo.gov, ddriver@parkvillemo.gov, klamer@parkvillemo.gov, jwerner@parkvillemo.gov,  drittman@parkvillemo.gov, kwelch@parkvillemo.gov,  djones@parkvillemo.gov,  msportsman@parkvillemo.gov, gplumb@parkvillemo.gov,  lpalmer@parkvillemo.gov, sackerson@parkvillemo.gov, inspections@parkvillemo.gov, egault@parkvillemo.gov, aschank@parkvillemo.gov, tbarnard@parkvillemo.gov, ronald.schieber@yahoo.com, jbrown@co.platte.mo.us, beverlee.roper@co.platte.mo.us, duane.soper@co.platte.mo.us, savesouthplatte@gmail.com, save-south-platte-county@googlegroups.com

Please also leave comments below to let us know what you think!

Updates:

Parkville Alderman Marc Sportsman emailed the following (to some critics):

"Many believe that building high quality, upscale apartments will attract a number of people with significant disposable incomes which will increase the need for additional stores, restaurants and amenities that once in place, will actually increase property values because it will reduce the isolation many homeowners, or potential homeowners, in that area feel.  It's unfortunate individuals resort to ill-informed and short sighted scare tactics before they fully explore the benefits and drawbacks of any potential proposal or idea. "

If anyone believes this, please email us at the email address listed to the side.  We have some ocean-front property in Omaha we'd like to sell you.

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We received reports from a few people that Parkville spent $40K of taxpayers' money for study to recommend apartment complex for 45 & 435.  Why is Parkville spending  $40K of taxpayers money to recommend apartment complex, on land it does not own, which will destroy surrounding property values?