Mission Hills Design Guidelines - Mission Hills, Kansas

Character Area descriptions and map
Character Area descriptions and map
Neighborhood Estates site design and massing guidelines
Neighborhood Estates site design and massing guidelines
Neighborhood Estates greenspace character
Neighborhood Estates greenspace character
Central Vertical massing type
Central Vertical massing type
Good neighbor massing guidelines
Good neighbor massing guidelines
Corner lot guidelines and aberations
Corner lot guidelines and aberations
Massing Aberations to be avoided
Massing Aberations to be avoided
Characteristic architectural styles of Mission Hills
Characteristic architectural styles of Mission Hills

Through a nationwide selection process, Sargent Town Planning was selected to prepare design guidelines for the City of Mission Hills, Kansas.  Mission Hills is a the final and most elaborate neighborhood of the famed Country Club District of Kansas City, Missouri, lying just across State Line Road in Kansas.  It was planned in the second decade of the 20th Century by a distinguished team of town planners including George Kessler and John Nolen, and positioned as the ideal in country living by developer J.C. Nichols.  The town planning principles and techniques employed by Nichols and his team - largely forgotten through the mid decades of the century - reemerged in the past 30 years as the foundation of American New Urbanism.

Over the course of a year and a half the firm conducted a detailed urban design analysis of the community, interviewed dozens of stakeholders, and conducted a series of community workshops to clarify and present the essential character defining qualities of the community design.  Based on the consensus developed around those ideas, the firm prepared design guidelines in draft form and conducted workshops with the City’s Architectural Review Board to craft and hone the guidelines.  In the spring of 2012 the Guidelines were adopted by the City Council and are now in use.  For the first year following adoption STP provided consulting town architect services for selected design review projects, and developed checklists and worksheets to assist applicants, City staff and the ARB in conducting design review. The STP team included Ann Benson McGlone, who collaborated throughout the public outreach process, and in guideline preparation, and prepared guidelines for historic architectural styles.  

Project Information

Location:
Mission Hills, Kansas
Status:
Adopted 2012
Client:
  • City of Mission Hills

Similar Projects