Lawrence City Commission candidates at a forum Wednesday discussed combatting the city’s housing shortage.
Kristine Polian, Mike Courtney, Bob Schumm and Bart Littlejohn all advanced from the Aug. 5 primary and will face off for two Lawrence City Commission seats in the Nov. 4 general election.
Lawrence Board of Realtors and Lawrence Home Builders Association hosted the public forum. Audience members were allowed to pose questions during the forum, and there was also time allotted for mingling with candidates at the end.
Moderator Danielle Davey, LBOR governmental affairs director, first asked candidates how Lawrence can pick up the pace of housing development. She said low inventory is a problem nationally, but that Lawrence is behind surrounding cities and well below a healthy market’s supply.
Schumm said he would consider switching to free-of-cost building permits until the city reaches a number of new starts that’s satisfying to the community. He also proposed using an AI (artificial intelligence) tool for building permit application submissions.
“It’s in and out,” Schumm said. “It tells you what you need to do, to fix, to bring it up to the standard community, and it’s a quick turn. And why can’t we employ something like that, rather than having a laborious situation where staff person after staff person has to look at the plans and sign off on it?”
At a forum last week hosted by former Lawrence mayors, Courtney shared his idea for modular homes, which can be built offsite and are often cheaper. On Tuesday evening, he attached a related news release to his website proposing 100 new homes on a 17-acre parcel in town.
Littlejohn said the updated Land Development Code, local regulations he voted to approve, accounts for modular homes whereas the previous version did not. He said that’s one example of his track record as a current commissioner.
Polian said the process should be kept simple so that the city is easier to work with and staff have the control.
“I think we’ve also kind of overlegislated the process,” Polian said. “And if you overlegislate something, it’s very difficult for staff to enforce, it’s very difficult for users to understand it and know what to do, and it tends to become more costly.”
A proponent of incentives, Littlejohn said the city is currently working on an affordable housing incentive policy that the commission will discuss in November. He said the policy will be geared toward integral private development.
The city’s 20-year plan, Plan 2040, includes a condition of annexation that the parties not only meet the statutory requirements, but that they also provide a community benefit. A community benefit could be donation of land to the housing trust fund or creation of primary employment opportunities.
Davey said the LBOR and home builders association both opposed that requirement when Plan 2040 was passed because of concern it would make housing development more expensive and result in less affordable housing.
She asked candidates if they support the requirement, given the current housing shortage.
Littlejohn said he’s open to all options so long as they prioritize affordability. Polian said she supports the requirement as it stands but that flexibility is always important.
Courtney also said he’s a proponent of the requirement but that “anchor institutions” must be established in newly developed areas. He said, for example, the elementary school and nature center are anchors in his neighborhood, Prairie Park.
Schumm said he would definitely consider either modifying or changing the requirement.
“Obviously it’s a stranglehold on what we’re trying to get done, and if you got a chokehold and it’s not working, then you’ve got to change it,” Schumm said.
Here’s an audio recording of the forum:
How and when to vote
Read more from the candidates in our introductory questionnaire.
Douglas County voters can register quickly, update their registration and/or request a mail ballot online at KSVotes.org.
Oct. 14 is the deadline to register to vote or update voter registration for the general election. Advance in-person voting runs from Oct. 15 to noon Nov. 3. Folks can apply for an advance ballot to vote by mail through Oct. 28.
Visit the county website, dgcoks.gov, for more voting information.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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