photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., is pictured on Sept. 23, 2021.

The Douglas County Commission is set to discuss redistricting as the county prepares to add two more seats to the current three-member commission.

The commission is on a time crunch to approve a new map, with a deadline of Jan. 1 on the horizon. In the past week, community members have gotten a first chance to look at some map options and offer feedback at a town hall meeting.

The agenda for Wednesday’s meeting notes that there isn’t yet any suggested action for commissioners as they continue to discuss redistricting, but they could suggest action at the meeting if they wish. Douglas County Administrator Sarah Plinsky told folks at last week’s town hall meeting that the commission would continue to meet ahead of the Jan. 1 deadline until a map is approved, even though the group’s Dec. 14 meeting is its last scheduled meeting of the year as it stands.

In other business, the commission will:

• During a work session, hear an update from nonprofit Artists Helping the Homeless. Commissioners will get an update from a second organization — Kansas Holistic Defenders, a Lawrence public defender’s office — during their business meeting.

• Consider support of a Tax Increment Financing district for the Crossing Project to be located on the University of Kansas’ West Campus.

City of Lawrence leaders already took the first step in creating the special taxing districts for mixed-use development in mid-November, and later steps in the process will go through the Lawrence City Commission for approval as well.

The multimillion-dollar project is set to include a variety of construction, from retail businesses to affordable and market-rate housing and a child care center. The project will serve as the gateway to KU’s Innovation Park.

photo by: Douglas County screenshot

A map shows the proposed TIF district on the University of Kansas’ West Campus.

• Receive Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical’s community risk assessment document.

As part of its accreditation, LDCFM is required to regularly review and renew the document, which analyzes both the risk present in the community and the department’s ability to respond to that risk in a timely manner.

• Consider approving a request to rezone approximately 15 acres near the southeast corner of Baldwin Junction — the junction of U.S. Highways 56 and 59 in southern Douglas County — from general business to a light industrial district.

According to a memo included with this week’s agenda, the applicant for the request wants to use the property for shipping container storage.

Wednesday’s work session will begin at 4 p.m., followed by the business meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.