December 16, 2024

Keeping Media and Government Accountable.

City of Westwood backs down, residents to vote on fate of park

Share Now:

After losing a legal battle over a petition to hold a referendum, the City of Westwood has finally capitulated to the demands of its residents and will hold a special election to determine the fate of the only park in the small, land-locked town in the Kansas City Metro.

For more than a year, city officials have tried to block any criticism—or democratic process—surrounding the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park to Karbank Real Estate, which will then be rezoned for commercial development.

According to the plan, Karbank would have to pay off the remaining roughly $275,000 debt the city owns on a former church the city purchased in 2013 and demolished in 2020. Additionally, Karbank would “donate” $2.65 million to the city to purchase a closed school building from the Shawnee Mission School District, demolish it, and grade the land for a new 3.8-acre park.

Residents, including Rebecca R. Brown, objected, circulating a petition to force a vote on the sale — which was initially denied — but which the Kansas Court of Appeals reinstated last month, ruling that the petition is likely valid and remanding the matter back to the district court.

In an email sent to residents Friday, December 13, 2024, Westwood Mayor David E. Waters cried “uncle,” stating the fate of the park would be left to residents rather than city officials.

“The City has several options it could take, including appealing the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Kansas Supreme Court or relitigating the matter at the District Court level,” Waters wrote. “However, both of those options would likely take a year or more and keep the new feature park in a state of ‘limbo,’ a situation that would be unfair to Karbank and to the School District. Based on the guidance of the Kansas Court of Appeals and a desire to resolve the issue, the City Council has accepted the petitions and will seek to put the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park on an upcoming ballot.

“The election will be by mail ballot, with the final results to be completed and tallied on April 1, 2025. Simply put, this spring, the residents of Westwood will have the opportunity to vote on this question, as has been requested by many in petitions, legal briefings, websites, yard signs, and social media posts.”

In an email to the Sentinel, Brown was glad for the victory.

“We won. Democracy won,” Brown said. “The city is finally doing what we’ve been asking them to do for over a year: hold an election.”

Ryan Kreigshauser — of Kriegshauser-Ney, a law firm that represented Brown in the case — agreed.

“Over the past year, Westwood citizens have been bullied, threatened, and shut out of conversations regarding the sale of the Joe D. Dennis Park to developers,” Kriegshauser said. “When the City filed suit, it intentionally tried to cut its own citizens out of the process by purposefully suing the State of Kansas, who took no position on this issue. One woman’s tenacity all the way through a Court of Appeals victory finally broke the dam. Because of one ‘mere’ citizen, voters will have the final say on what happens to their park.”

Josh Ney, also of Kriegshauser-Ney, concurred.

“I’m not sure why Westwood is so afraid of its own citizens,” Neys said. “Free speech and democracy are not new concepts, but they seem to be this particular city government’s kryptonite.”

Westwood cannot provide financials on the project, attempts to silence critics

The city of Westwood, Kansas—in northeast Johnson County—apparently did not conduct a long-term cash flow analysis on the development project with Karbank Real Estate, which includes millions in new debt for city taxpayers.

According to the Kansas City Star, Westwood residents in January of 2023 spent nearly four hours pleading with city leaders not to rezone a greenspace — including the city’s only park — for an office and retail development.

“In a 7 to 2 vote at 11:06 p.m., the commission voted to recommend to the Westwood City Council that 7.6 acres of land near 50th Street and Rainbow Boulevard be rezoned from residential to commercial and that a preliminary plan for a four-building project by Karbank Real Estate Co. also be approved,” the Star reported.

City documents claim they expect to realize $6.7 million in revenue over the district’s 20-year life—considerably more than the $2 million they estimate the cost of the new park.

However, it is difficult to determine if any of the projections are accurate because the city has declined to provide — or does not have — standard financial forecast data to support its contention.

On Oct. 23, 2023, the Sentinel sent the City of Westwood an Open Records request for “all documents pertaining to the financial analysis of the Karbank project, including a cash flow forecast for any debt to be issued.”

Rather than providing the requested records, the city directed the Sentinel to its website and said any detailed analysis was exempt.

Then, in late 2023, the Kansas Justice Institute demanded the City of Westwood retract a letter threatening opponents of a development project with a lawsuit. Like the Sentinel, KJI is owned by Kansas Policy Institute.

A “cease-and-desist” letter, dated Nov. 8, 2023, from Westwood City Attorney Ryan B. Denk to Todd Hauser threatened legal action if Hauser refused to withdraw his objections, accusing him and other opponents of “tortious interference” and “slander of title.”

“This correspondence responds to your correspondence dated October 12 and 19, 2023 asserting an objection to the sale of City property located at 5000 Rainbow due to alleged non-compliance with K.S.A. 12-1301,” the letter reads. “Simply stated, your objection is without merit, and the City is prepared to take such legal action against you and/or your clients as may be necessary to protect its title and its contractual relationships.”

And further demanding Hauser and his clients “immediately and formally withdraw any claims or demands related to K.S.A. §12-1301, and furthermore cease in publishing your and their continued slandering of the City’s title (whether through web sites, Facebook posts, door-to-door, or electioneering, as occurred in front of City Hall yesterday, during voting hours), and cease in further tortiously interfering with the City’s contractual relationships. The City expects to receive such a response from you by no later than Wednesday, November 15, 2023.”

Kansas Justice Institute Director of Litigation Sam MacRoberts sent a letter in response on Dec. 7, 2023, demanding that the city withdraw its letter.

“In our view, the City of Westwood’s letter is heavy-handed, unacceptable, and antithetical to the First Amendment. Accordingly, as to those portions of the letter that implicate the First Amendment, they should be immediately — and publicly — withdrawn,” MacRoberts wrote. “Further, to the extent this approach is Westwood’s policy and practice, it should likewise end immediately.”

MacRoberts said Denk’s threats were a violation of the First Amendment.

“Under well-established First Amendment principles, the City of Westwood cannot credibly argue it has a valid claim for tortious interference or slander of title against those who object to the proposed development of the park,” he wrote. “To begin with, those individuals who object to the sale of the park are speaking on matters of public concern. After all, the speech involves a matter of ‘political, social, or other concern to the community,’ and it is a subject of legitimate news interest.’”

 

Share Now:

Related Articles