College Hill

​College Hill Neighborhood Planning Process

In response to public input and feedback, the City of Wichita is undertaking a civic initiative for College Hill stakeholders to develop a plan for College Hill Neighborhood. The plan would serve as a guide for future policies, programs, and infrastructure.

Committees

Two committees are being formed to help ensure that the College Hill Neighborhood Plan meets the needs of our community. In addition to the committees, a planning team ahs been created to help staff the planning process. Below is a brief description of each committee and the planning team.

Steering Committee

This committee helps to guide the process, develop the plan, and ultimately endorse/approve the final draft for presentation to the Wichita City Council. The majority of Steering Committee members are citizens who have volunteered to assist with this project. There are many ways that the Steering Committee members will be involved in the process, including the following:​

• participate in a minimum of six (6) Steering Committee meetings;
• assist with project oversight to ensure that this civic initiative accomplishes its purpose on time and within the budget;
• assist in the development of plan goals and objectives;
• review and recommend policies, programs, and infrastructure;
• help develop criteria for setting priorities;
• review and provide input on implementation strategies;
• assist with public events; and
• communicating the status of the planning process to community residents and stakeholders.
  

Technical Advisory Committee

This committee consists of City of Wichita staff members. The committee assists with the plan development by providing technical expertise and internal review of materials related to the plan. The Technical Advisory Committee generally consists of representatives from City departments and may include staff from other organizations that provide services or infrastructure in the plan area.

Planning Team

This team consists of staff from the Planning Department, RDG Planning and Design, and Professional Engineering Consultants. The Planning Team is responsible for organizing the meetings and events, data collection, technical analysis; and writing the Plan document.

Schedule

We estimate that the planning process, including review and adoption will take approximately 7 months.  

College Hill

College Hill encompasses one square mile with Central Ave. on the north, Kellogg Ave. on the south, Hillside Ave. on the west and Oliver Ave. on the east and is approximately 2.5 miles from downtown Wichita.

College Hill Parking Plan

On Tuesday, November 9, 2021 the Wichita City Council approved a motion to defer the zoning case PUD2021-00018 until the City Council meeting on December 14, 2021. During that time, the City Council directed staff to prepare a Parking Plan for College Hill. Stay tuned to this webpage for further developments.

College Hill Parking Study Occupancy Counts2021-12-14 - Wichita Parking Study DRAFT

College Hill DRAFT Design Guidelines

In 1998, the City of Wichita worked with the College Hill Neighborhood to develop Draft Design Guidelines for College Hill. The guidelines were never formally reviewed or endorsed/adopted by the City.

Design in the College Hill Neighborhood

College Hill History

From its earliest stages of development, the College Hill Neighborhood perpetuated an image of exclusiveness that was further enhanced by the founding of the city's first golf course, in what is now College Hill Park. As the years followed, middle class housing developed on the eastern part of the neighborhood. Residents of College Hill included prominent families connected with the major industries of the city, including livestock, grain, milling, railroads, lumber, petroleum, aviation and financial institutions.