Planners bless first part of megachurch housing/entertainment plan

A proposal by one of Wichita’s largest churches to build a major housing and entertainment complex passed its first city government test Thursday when a planning committee approved plans to subdivide the property and establish walk-in access for the neighbors.

Central Community Church is seeking approval to develop about 180 patio homes and apartments, an event center, an outdoor amphitheater, a school, a youth/fitness center and athletic fields. The plan will fill in vacant church property to the west of the existing church building at 6100 W. Maple.

The Subdivision and Utility Committee voted unanimously to split the church’s 33-acre property into four lots, clearing the way for the actual development plan to move on to the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.

The overall proposal will be considered by the MAPC on Jan. 4, said Neil Strahl, senior planner.

The church has already agreed to a long list of recommendations on street and emergency-response access to the property, Strahl said.

The planners are still waiting for a traffic study, paid for by the church, that evaluates the plan’s impact on Maple Street and what street improvements might be needed to prevent traffic backups.

One change that did come out of Thursday’s meeting was a guarantee of pedestrian access from the neighboring Willo-Esque neighborhood to the west of the project.

In the interest of neighbor relations, the church has agreed to make its new development walkable and to allow those who live nearby to use the pedestrian paths that will be built into the subdivision.

The pedestrian access will be at an existing unpaved street stub called Douglas Circle, which now dead-ends into the church property.

Douglas Circle will also have a gated access for fire trucks and emergency vehicles to enter the northwest side of the development, but it won’t be open to private car traffic.

The development will have three access points along Maple. The main entrance will be a private street, built to public street standards, near the corner of Maple Street and Maple Lane.

The committee also approved the name for the new street.

At the church’s request, it will be called Hope Street.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Planners bless first part of megachurch housing/entertainment plan."