A Johnson County judge reversed course once again on the three resident-led Prairie Village petitions.
Judge Rhonda Mason of Division 4 at Johnson County District Court in Olathe issued a final ruling late Friday evening that reinstated her initial oral decision from Sept. 6 regarding the “rezoning,” “abandon” and “adoption” petitions.
She ruled that only the “abandon” petition — which aims to limit what petitioners call a “strong mayor” form of government — is eligible to put before Prairie Village voters.
In line with her oral decision from Sept. 6, Mason’s final ruling from Friday, Sept. 15, finds the “rezoning” and “adoption” petitions are ineligible for a ballot measure.
This latest ruling supersedes a written ruling Mason issued soon after her original oral decision that found the “adoption” petition eligible for a ballot measure and the “rezoning” and “abandon” petitions ineligible. Mason’s final ruling Friday reverts back to that oral decision.
Still, none of this impacts the upcoming Nov. 7 election.
That’s because Mason’s final ruling came a week after Johnson County Election Commissioner Fred Sherman declared his office was past the point of accepting any new questions for the November general election ballot.
Mason’s ruling does open the door for the “abandon” petition to appear on a future ballot, though it’s unclear if and when that could happen.
What the petitions say
A grassroots movement of residents called Stop Rezoning Prairie Village, also known as PV United, formed last year in opposition to the city’s efforts to explore attainable housing options.
This spring and summer, Stop Rezoning PV began circulating three petitions to take matters into their own hands. The group has since pivoted from a focus on opposition to rezoning in Prairie Village’s neighborhoods to trying to reshape the city’s government.
The city questioned the validity of all three petitions and, ultimately, asked the district court for a declaratory judgment to see if the petitions were legally sufficient to appear on a ballot.
Here’s what the petitions said, in summary:
- The “rezoning” petition called for limiting rezoning and, in particular, curtailing the use of accessory dwelling units — such as so-called “granny flats” — and other multi-family projects in single-family neighborhoods in Prairie Village.
- The “abandon” petition aimed to throw out the city’s current mayor-council form of government. The petition’s organizers have called the current form of government a “strong mayor” form and signaled an interest in paring back mayoral power.
- The “adoption” petition sought to replace the mayor-council form of government with a mayor-council-manager form of government. That petition included language that would have slashed the Prairie Village City Council in half from 12 councilmembers down to six and would have effectively ended six councilmembers’ terms two years early.
In her final ruling, Mason decided against putting both the “rezoning” and “adoption” petitions on the ballot.
A closer look at Mason’s findings
In her final order, Mason remained consistent with both of her earlier rulings — the original oral decision and the initial written opinion — that the “rezoning” petition is invalid to place on the ballot.
Relying primarily on a 2009 case from Fairway, McAlister v. City of Fairway, Mason declared that the “rezoning” petition is an administrative ordinance and is connected to existing policies — namely, the city’s comprehensive plan Village Vision 2.0.
The “rezoning” petition, Mason found, would prevent Prairie Village from carrying out Village Vision 2.0’s goal to “diversify and broaden housing types.”
Mason found the “adoption” petition legally insufficient for a ballot measure because it fails to outline mayoral term limits.
Additionally, Mason agreed with the city’s argument that current elected officials who would be kicked off the city council under the “adoption” petition did not have enough time to run for re-election.
Mason finds the “abandon” petition is the only one to pass legal muster. She does acknowledge that this final ruling has no impact on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Below is Mason’s final ruling in its entirety.
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Open in new tab What both sides are saying
Dan Schoepf, the spokesperson for Stop Rezoning PV, shared the following statement in an email on Saturday night:
“With a barrage of costly, taxpayer-funded lawsuits and legal maneuvers, the Prairie Village City Council appears to be succeeding in delaying a vote of the people on the citizen petition issues that mean so much to thousands in our community.
“While it’s often said you can’t fight city hall, at least they can’t deny our right to weigh in on City Council members’ actions in the November election. We remain deeply committed to preserving what makes our community so unique, despite the city’s aggressive attempts to run out the clock and silence us.”
The group plans to appeal Mason’s final ruling, Schoepf continued.
Prairie Village city officials declined to comment.
