Topeka, KS Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Chapter 18.200 TMC creates three downtown districts, each with its own purpose: D-1 is the core mixed-use activity center meant to support high-density, pedestrian-oriented development; D-2 integrates mixed use with urban residential neighborhoods at low to moderate intensity; and D-3 links downtown to the industrial and cultural uses along the Kansas River (§ 18.200.020). Rather than printing numeric setback, height and coverage figures for these districts, § 18.200.060 tells every downtown development to comply with 'the density and dimensional standards in TMC 18.60.020,' and that table's own D-1 column carries no numbers at all, just a note directing the reader to the design guidelines (§ 18.60.020, Note [17]). § 18.200.090 supplies the substance: the Downtown Topeka Urban Design Standards, adopted by reference as part of the downtown Topeka master plan under Ordinance No.

20294, govern all new development in D-1, D-2 and D-3. Downtown development gets other breaks tied to that same design-first approach: § 18.200.070 requires no off-street parking at all in D-1 and D-3, and only modest ratios in D-2, one space per dwelling unit, one space per four restaurant seats, one space per 500 square feet of retail or office space. The Planning Director can also cap the maximum number of parking spaces downtown to protect historic buildings and open space. Legal nonconforming uses predating the downtown districts can continue, but expansion is capped: no more than a 10 percent cumulative increase in use intensity and no more than a 5 percent reduction in parking or lot coverage, per § 18.200.080.