Overland Park Considering Asphalt Ban

The summer of 2022 was consumed by Kansas City, Mo.’s consideration of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This summer, while continuing to press the KCMO City Council for legislative relief to delay the 2021 IECC implementation date, the KCHBA again finds itself trying to convince a city to reconsider a proposed change in policy that will administratively increase the cost of building and development.

The city of Overland Park, Kan., has announced a proposal to eliminate the use of asphalt in new development within that community. This policy, as proposed, would require that all new residential and collector streets utilize concrete and concrete alone.

Currently, both asphalt and concrete are approved for use in Overland Park, but asphalt has overwhelmingly been the material of choice for new street installations not only in Overland Park but across the metro. Asphalt’s ease of installation, repair and maintenance, along with comparatively lower upfront costs and greater availability, are some of the reasons why our region’s residential streets are largely paved in asphalt.

So why would the city of Overland Park, contrary to every other regional community, choose to outlaw asphalt moving forward? The champions of such a ban say it is necessary to reduce the amount of chip seal being used to maintain asphalt roads. What is typically omitted from that rationale is that Overland Park is one of the few cities that continues to utilize chip seal to maintain asphalt residential streets. There are nearly a dozen alternative asphalt street maintenance techniques and technologies available to Overland Park. The use of chip seal is a choice made by the city, not by the building and development industry. This is evidenced by the lack of chip seal in other Johnson County jurisdictions.

If the City Council feels that eliminating the use of chip seal is a priority for their residents, there are a host of options that will help them achieve that goal without banning a widely used, widely available construction material like asphalt.

From the outset of this process, the KCHBA has positioned itself to partner with the city in helping them address their desire to reduce the use of chip seal. Our outreach has not been met with an equally collaborative approach, to date.

This proposed ban on asphalt will result in higher development costs. As we all know, higher development costs lead to higher lot costs which, of course, means higher home prices. This proposal flies in the face of housing costs at a time when Overland Park is lamenting its lack of more modestly priced housing options.

The proposal is not yet final. The city will host a public listening session at City Hall on June 27 at 8:15 a.m. Written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on July 31 and the Public Works Committee is tentatively scheduled to take this proposal up on August 23. It is important that our entire industry speak up about how a ban on asphalt will impact new homes in Overland Park.

Will Ruder, KCHBA Executive Vice President