Despite passing a narrow Shawnee City Council vote last year, a proposal for a U-Haul off Kansas Highway 7 continues to face pushback from neighbors.
At a Dec. 11 city council meeting, neighbors close to the proposed storage building and retail store, located in the Zarda Business Parka at 7020 Silverheel St., showed up to discuss a new bill that they hoped could halt the project.
“I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done at this point,” said Ann Manzardo of Shawnee. “But we’re here. I’ve got several of my neighbors here representing our community in the hopes that we can get something changed.”
The building was approved in Dec. 2022
Then-Mayor Michelle Distler cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the project, which includes an indoor storage facility that would have 1,000 storage units in a roughly 123,600-square-foot space.
It would also include the U-Haul retail portion in a smaller structure.
During previous hearings for the project, neighbors voiced their fear it would ruin their community.
“This is how cities decline. They listen to special interests and power from money. Soon instead of Bedford Falls, they’re living in Pottersville or maybe Zardaville,” said Dennis All, referencing the Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” during a city council meeting last year.
The project wasn’t planned for discussion
At the Dec. 11 council meeting, the project was on the council’s consent agenda.
The particular item was to review the U-Haul project’s special use permit for the storage portion of the site. Because it has yet to be built, the plan was to renew it for another year.
Typically, at city council meetings, all consent agenda items are passed with one overarching vote without discussion because they are considered routine.
Because a group of protesters showed up at the Dec. 11 meeting, however, the city council allowed for it to be removed from the consent agenda so it could be discussed.
Protesters brought up a proposed Kansas House bill
While the dissent from residents centered around their previously-held fears — including their worries that the facility will congest local roads and put children walking to school at risk — they also invoked a piece of legislation proposed earlier this year in Topeka.
House Bill 2402 prohibits new self-service storage facilities built after July 2023 from being built within 1,000 feet of a child care facility or school.
Residents pushing back against the project said the U-Haul property would be located within the vicinity of Maranatha Christian Academy, as well as three daycare centers. It is unclear if the project is located within the 1,000-foot boundary laid out in the proposed bill.
The bill was introduced in February by Rep. Adam Turk, a first-term Republican and Shawnee resident, but it did not advance in the House during the last legislative session.
Neighbors want to pause the project while the bill plays out
Four neighbors spoke to the city council this month, asking them to stop progress on the project in case the bill comes up again next year and is passed.
“We really don’t want these things to violate a potential law that’s going to pass,” said David Orwick of Shawnee.
Community Development Director Doug Allmon pushed back against halting the project because of the bill. He noted the project is already in motion, and the special use permit appeared on the city council agenda for continuance to ensure the project has no negative impacts on the surrounding area.
“There’s no state law in action right now,” he said. “It has been in committee since February of 2023. For us to hold up permits or deter someone from doing something that’s not yet against the law, we legally and ethically could not do that.”
The project can be brought up again
Allmon said a special use permit could be recalled by the city council if it was deemed to be hurting the area.
“Our code does have a provision for special use permits that become a nuisance or problem in the neighborhood,” he said. “That would be the proper procedure if things were to happen in the future.”
Despite accepting that the project has been approved, Councilmember Jacklynn Walters said she stands with the protesting neighbors.
“I stood by the residents of Ward 4 and that community to push back on that,” she said. “We’ll continue to do that.”
The special use permit received approval
Ultimately, the city council unanimously approved the special use permit’s renewal, 8-0.
It will be reviewed again in 2024.
Following that, it will be reviewed every four years, as is standard with special use permits in Shawnee.
Go deeper: Fight over Shawnee U-Haul self-storage facility isn’t over
