photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

Eudora city leaders will soon decide whether to create special housing districts for a large home development, and Douglas County commissioners will hear more about the project on Wednesday.

The proposed project, known as Holladay Woods, is anticipated to include approximately 119 single-family residential units and 49 duplex units north of Kansas Highway 10 and east of East 2100 Road in Eudora. Zack Daniel, city manager of Eudora, told the Journal-World via email that the duplexes would be on the southern portion of the project and it is expected to have a senior living component.

photo by: Screenshot

The site for the proposed Holladay Woods development, which is anticipated to include approximately 119 single-family residential units and 49 duplex units.

“This places senior living facilities within close distance to the Eudora Community Center, which has very healthy senior participation,” Daniel said.

The City of Eudora wants to make this development possible with special housing districts. Daniel said the Reinvestment Housing District doesn’t affect existing property taxes. Instead, it uses new property taxes from the development to reimburse the developer for public improvements, like streets, utilities and stormwater systems. He added that it’s meant to lower development costs and keep home prices affordable.

“It does not impact property taxes for any other part of the City and essentially is a mechanism for the new subdivision to pay for its own public utilities and infrastructure,” Daniel said.

Daniel said that the city recently completed a housing needs analysis that emphasized the community’s need for housing of all kinds, including single-family and multi-family homes as well as duplexes.

“The Eudora Comprehensive Plans specifically calls out this area for medium-density development (meaning single-family and duplex lots specifically),” Daniel said in the email. “The project as described incorporates these uses exactly as the (comprehensive) plan anticipates.”

Daniel said if the districts are created, he anticipates building permits will be issued before the end of the year. All of the housing will not go in all at once, he said, but the developer estimates the project will be fully built out within nine to 10 years.

The next step in the process is a public hearing scheduled on Monday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. at Eudora City Hall, 4 E. Seventh St., to consider the establishment of the special housing districts within the city for the project.

If the districts are created, a 30-day period begins where either the Eudora School district or Douglas County Commission can pass a resolution of adverse effects, which would nullify the creation of the district. Additionally, the city will need to enter into a development agreement with the project developers.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, COMMISSIONERS WILL:

• Consider approving licenses for non-emergency medical transportation services with EMS Unlimited and TECHS EMS for a term of five years. According to a memo from John Darling, division chief of EMS at Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, by licensing private ambulance companies to perform non-emergency transfers, it will ensure more ambulances are available for 911 response.

In 2024, LDCFM performed about 800 non-emergency transfers, or almost 5% of its total call volume. A majority of the non-emergency transfers go to hospitals out of town, and the commit time is significantly longer than an EMS incident where the patient goes to LMH Health, Darling said in the memo.

Both city and county code have been updated in 2025 to allow private ambulance services to be licensed, and both entities have to approve licensing the private ambulance companies. If approved, these services will be issued a joint, non-exclusive license to perform non-emergency transfers within Lawrence and Douglas County.

• Consider an updated 2026 service agreement with Mental Health America of the Heartland, a nonprofit offering mental health resources, advocacy and education throughout the Kansas City metro area. The county is working with the nonprofit for its “flexible housing pool program,” which is providing financial assistance for rent, utilities and other expenses to help individuals move toward stable and long-term housing.

Commissioners approved an agreement in November for Mental Health America of the Heartland to provide supportive housing services costing up to $164,274, with the expectation that it would serve up to 22 households in 2026. County staff is now recommending that the organization expand services to as many as 32 households — representing up to 45 individuals, depending on household size — at a total cost of $519,552 for 2026, according to a memo in the agenda.

The “flexible housing pool program” was modeled after a program served by the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center with a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant. The program provided 12 permanent supportive housing units, which were to receive $321,000 in 2026, but the HUD grant was canceled. The 32 households to be served in 2026 include those 12 units, now merged with the county’s program, and the units are expected to be funded by the county’s behavioral health sales tax.

• Consider a final plat to create one approximately 18.5-acre lot in the southeast corner of the intersection of East 900 Road and North 1800 Road in unincorporated Douglas County. According to a memo in the agenda, the property is being platted to accommodate the development of a landscape business on the property. The project also includes the dedication of an existing roadway easement as Douglas County road right-of-way for North 1800 Road.

The landscape business is currently operating in a limited fashion in another part of the unincorporated area with an approved conditional use permit. A site plan for proposed development at this site has not been submitted yet, the memo said.

• Consider approving the Black Jack Battlefield Advisory Board charter and authorize county staff to solicit applications from community members for the advisory board. Douglas County and Baldwin City acquired joint ownership of Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park in December 2025. A key component in developing the short- and long-term vision and goals for the property is to create an advisory board to provide recommendations on its preservation and maintenance.

• Consider approving an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation for a high-friction surface treatment on curved sections of Route 1055 and the north leg of Route 1061. The county will cover 10% of the estimated $550,000 cost, with funding provided through the federal High Risk Rural Roads Program – a federal-aid initiative aimed at improving safety and reducing crash rates on rural roads.

The County Commission’s business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Douglas County Commission meeting room at 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.