The Heart of the Falls Neighborhood Overlay District (HFNO) is centrally located in the city and has a unique mix of residential and commercial uses as well as a diverse cultural mix of residents. The area is an approximately 911-arce core bounded by Seymour Highway to the north, Kemp Boulevard to the west, Kell Freeway to the south, and Brook Avenue to the east, as included in the ordinance, refer to Exhibit A attached to Ordinance 53-2025.
The Heart of the Falls Overlay District is to provide regulations to address the unique physical development of the lots and buildings in terms of setbacks (front, sides and rear), parking, and accessory uses, special conditions outside of the standards as adopted in the zoning ordinance. To further promote neighborhood character the following developmental guidelines will apply in addition to or instead of their base zoning guidelines counterparts.
(Ordinance 53-2025 adopted 9/16/2025)
1. 
The following uses are permitted in the Heart of the Falls Overlay District (HFOD): Grocery Stores in a Limited Commercial (LC) zoning district.
(Ordinance 53-2025 adopted 9/16/2025)
The Heart of the Falls Neighborhood Overlay District (HFNO) will allow for the following deviations from the base zoning and shall be subject to the following development regulations. For regulations not listed, the base zoning regulations will apply:
A. 
Setbacks:
1. 
Primary Structure:
a. 
Front setback: No greater than 25-foot maximum and no less than 15-foot minimum. Setback will be determined by the predominant front setback of 51% of the developed block as determined by the Director of Development Services.
b. 
Side setback, interior: Five-foot minimum.
c. 
Side setback, exterior: Five-foot minimum.
d. 
Rear setback:
(1) 
Single-family and duplex dwelling: Five feet minimum from common lot line or one foot minimum from alley. (Covered parking structures must comply with setback requirements in section 6210.)
(2) 
All other uses: Five-foot minimum. However, in no case shall the roof overhang extend over the property line.
2. 
Accessory structures: Accessory structures setbacks will no longer be subject to the accessory setback ordinance section 6515, and will follow the following setback guidelines, excluding those structures exempt in section 4220:
a. 
Front setback: 25-foot minimum.
b. 
Side setback, interior: Five-foot minimum.
c. 
Side setback, exterior: Five-foot minimum.
d. 
Rear setback:
(1) 
Single-family and duplex dwelling: Five feet minimum from common lot line or one foot minimum from alley. (Covered parking structures must comply with setback requirements in section 6210.)
(2) 
All other uses: Five-foot minimum. However, in no case shall the roof overhang extend over the property line.
(Ordinance 53-2025 adopted 9/16/2025)
Each site in the Heart of the Falls Neighborhood Overlay District (HFNO) shall allow the following:
1. 
One Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) allowed by right for all single-family, detached uses.
(Ordinance 53-2025 adopted 9/16/2025)
Each site in the Heart of the Falls Neighborhood Overlay District (HFNO) shall be subject to the following parking regulations:
1. 
Single-Family, detached and duplex uses will provide two parking stalls per dwelling unit.
2. 
New accessory dwelling units will be required to provide one parking stall.
3. 
Non-residential uses will have no parking minimums. However, if parking is provided all requirements of section 6225, Design Standards for Parking Facilities will apply.
(Ordinance 53-2025 adopted 9/16/2025)
The following special conditions are applicable to the Heart of the Falls Neighborhood Overlay District:
1. 
Alternative paving material shall be allowed, e.g., gravel for accessory dwelling units.
2. 
Each site participating in the Heart of the Falls Neighborhood Empowerment Zone (NEZ) program shall be subject to the requirements of the Development Regulations listed in the Heart of the Falls Design Guidelines.
(Ordinance 53-2025 adopted 9/16/2025)
Additional setback shall be provided by non-single-family, non-single-family detached or non-duplex residential uses in the manner prescribed in this section where any one of the following conditions occur:
1. 
When these uses are located adjacent to single-family, single-family detached or duplex residential use, or abut an alley which is adjacent to a single-family, single-family detached or duplex use, no portion of the structure shall be closer to single-family, single-family detached or duplex property line than the height of that portion, except that the minimum setbacks stated in subsection 3 shall apply.
2. 
When these uses are:
A. 
Adjacent to single-family, single-family detached or duplex residential use, no portion of the structure shall be closer to a single-family, single-family detached or duplex residential property line than the height of that portion, except that the minimum setback stated in subsection 3 shall apply. However, when the residential use property line abuts an alley or street right-of-way, the city aqueduct, or a body of water such as Sikes Lake or Wichita River, the additional setback shall be computed by including their width.
3. 
Minimum Setbacks:
A. 
Multifamily dwelling units, townhouses, condominiums, mobile home parks and subdivisions, civic uses, and commercial uses shall have an increased setback of;
a. 
A minimum of five feet if the structure is a single story and less than fifteen feet in height or;
b. 
If structure is two-stories or more than fifteen feet in height the setback shall be equal to the height of the structure.