Archive

I submitted the following piece to the Kansas City Star as an Op-Ed. Since I've not heard back from the Star regarding this piece and the election is close, I'm posting it here. Prairie Village is at a crossroads. The problem before us doesn’t have simple solutions, but it

While out knocking doors I've gotten some questions about the "story" of how the housing discussion started and how it's gotten to where it is now. I've written a few emails about it to Ward 6 residents but decided to consolidate those notes here for everyone to read. I hope

Early August, a local citizen's group submitted three petitions for certification to the election office. One was by the city, but the election office had to validate the signatures and ensure each petition met a valid signature threshold. While copies of the petitions were obtained by various records requests by

The topic of city debt concerning the Meadowbrook redevelopment has come up lately, specifically whether the city owes debt related to bonds issued to finance the purchase and public development of the Meadowbrook land. The short answer is no. The city does not have an outstanding debt to pay back

One of the other claims I've heard lately is that land-use reform is taking away rights from the residents. The claim is that by getting more use rights, homeowners are losing rights. It's not a coherent point, but it's usually backed up with some wording about "due process" to make

Another talking point we've heard about in housing documents, local news stories, comment sections, public comment, and around town is the phrase "by-right" regarding zoning. Some door-to-door canvassers in town have intimated that "By Right" means "somebody can build whatever they want on their property." This is untrue, though it

A council candidate recently stated the following on their Facebook page: I can assure you that Prairie Village is not the most dense Class A city in Kansas. This is because our State has no such thing as a Class A city. Jokes aside, I assume this person meant that

We revisit the thread from the previous post about the rezoning petition being circulated in PV. This time, we review the second section that seeks to stop "rezoning." The trouble with the language is that the petition has become wrapped up in a false talking point. Changing land use allowances

For context, read this post for some helpful definitions. Opinions in this post are my own and do not reflect an official, adopted position of the City of Prairie Village, but only the position of one councilor: myself. The petitions circulating Prairie Village that claim to "stop rezoning" (that is,

Zoning has been in the news again lately. I wanted to post some background and detail on some of the relevant terms and concepts you may hear about in the media or online discussions around town. Zoning codes are a little different than your run-of-the-mill city ordinance. Zoning is built

Hello, my name is Ian Graves and I am running for re-election in Prairie Village for the city council seat in Ward 6. This site will be the portal for information regarding my candidacy and stances on the issues the city has faced and is facing. I'll be issuing periodic