Some Olathe residents aren’t thrilled with Garmin’s headquarters expansion

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Garmin announced this week that it planned to add on to its headquarter’s campus in south Olathe, news that will undoubtedly excite that suburb’s leaders.

Some Olathe residents who live near the Garmin headquarters at 151st and Ridgeview are less than thrilled. Garmin’s plans for a 712,000-square-foot building will abut a string of single-family houses north of the navigation company’s existing headquarters.

Garmin has grown incrementally since moving to Olathe in the late 1980s. As it has expanded, it has purchased land to the north of its headquarters to reserve space for future growth. It bought several acres near a residential subdivision, where its newest building is planned, in 2000.

Nearby residents like Travis Snyder understood the possibility that Garmin would inch closer to his property when he bought a house in the Brittany Place subdivision near the company’s headquarters in 2006. 

Snyder didn’t figure that Garmin would expand with a large, singular building, believing instead that Garmin would build a series of smaller, individual structures.

“I’m not against them expanding and using that property,” Snyder tells The Pitch. “Just not on that scale.”

There’s always risk to the homeowner whose property backs up to undeveloped land zoned for commercial uses. Garmin’s property in question has zoning that allows for light industrial uses. Still, Snyder points out that Garmin is seeking exceptions to zoning standards that ordinarily minimize the effect that manufacturing buildings have on nearby residences. 

%{[ data-embed-type=”image” data-embed-id=”” data-embed-element=”aside” ]}%In a briefing written for the Olathe Planning Commission, city staffers say Garmin wants an exemption to the city code that says buildings can’t be any taller than 35 feet when they come within 200 feet of a residential property. Most of Garmin’s expansion building ranges from 44 feet to 48 feet in height.

Also, portions of Garmin’s planned building would come, at its closest, within 107 feet of single-family homes that abut the company’s property.

Ted Gartner, a spokesman for Garmin, acknowledges that the company does need some exceptions from Olathe’s zoning codes to make its project work. But he says the company is listening to neighborhood feedback.

“It is a fact that we are going to need some exceptions to build our warehouse, and we’re working closely with neighborhoods to hear concerns about lighting and issues with their homes,” Gartner tells The Pitch. “And we’re doing everything we can to work with them.”

Gartner adds that Garmin wants to build a structure that’s aesthetically pleasing, which he says is in keeping with the company’s existing presence in south Olathe.

“I think over the past 20 years or so we’ve been on this site, we’ve been a good neighbor,” he says. “I wish my lawn was as green as Garmin’s lawn.”

Snyder isn’t alone in his concerns. Garmin held a neighborhood meeting on August 17 in which they heard from other homeowners about their concerns about landscaping, traffic, lights and noise from the expansion. 

Gartner stresses that Garmin doesn’t have immediate plans to break ground on the expansion project. The Olathe planning document suggests that Garmin’s timing depends on its growth and stock prices.

Garmin is presenting its expansion plan to the Olathe Planning Commission at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Olathe City Hall. Olathe planning staff recommends approval of Garmin’s request.