A shift in requirements for restaurants in Overland Park will save small business owners time and money, and provide City staff more time to focus on maintaining safe and healthy neighborhoods.
The City Council approved eliminating the City’s food inspection program, which the Community Services Division administered, in May.
The change will allow staff in the division to focus on their primary goal of property maintenance.
Code enforcement staff who handled restaurant licensing and inspection will now focus on property maintenance enforcement, along with several other code inspectors whose primary duty involves ensuring neighborhoods are maintained and up to Municipal Code.
This does not mean restaurants and other food service providers in the City will go uninspected – the Kansas Department of Agriculture has a robust licensing and inspection program that reviews food storage and serving temperatures, employee health and hygiene, produce cleaning procedures and much more.
The City coordinated with the State, which was supportive of the change.
The move is a win-win, providing the City more opportunities to work with residents to ensure neighborhoods are well-maintained, and reducing the amount of time and money business owners and managers spend on licensing and inspection.