The city of Westwood has tossed out a citizen petition that sought to hold a public vote on the controversial plan to sell Joe D. Dennis Park in order to make way for a new office and park development.
During a specially called meeting Wednesday night, the Westwood City Council voted unanimously to invalidate the resident-led petition, which was submitted to the city in late December.
Karbank’s plans for the site on the corner of 50th Street and Rainbow Boulevard have been the subject of months-long resident pushback in Westwood.
The developer wants to build four multi-story, mixed-use office buildings along Rainbow on the site of the current Joe D. Dennis Park and give the city 3.86 acres of adjacent land — where the old Westwood View Elementary building currently sits — for a new park.
For the project to move forward, Karbank must first buy the property from the city, and that is what a group of residents opposed to the project aimed to halt with the petition.
The petition, signed by more than 200 people — 169 of whom the county election office determined were registered Westwood voters — calls for a public vote on the sale of the land and Karbank’s project.
At Wednesday’s meeting, City Attorney Ryan Denk said the petitioners failed to comply with requirements for petitions outlined by state law, such as the need to submit a petition to the county counselor.
Denk also said the petition lacked a question to be placed on a prospective ballot, another requirement of state law.
Ultimately, the city council sided with Denk’s recommendation and voted to invalidate the petition.
What petition are we talking about?
Todd Hauser, a Lee’s Summit-based attorney who previously represented a group of residents opposed to the Karbank project, hand-delivered a petition to the Westwood city clerk on Dec. 12.
Several pages of signatures were included with the petition, which invokes Kansas statute 12-1301, a state law that deals with land for park purposes and the sale, trade or exchange of such land.
Residents and the city are at odds about the applicability of the statute when it comes to Joe D. Dennis Park, with residents arguing the law requires public notice and a vote for the sale to be approved.
Westwood published public notices of intent to sell Joe D. Dennis Park, which is part of the Karbank project proposal, on Nov. 7 and Nov. 14.
Still, the city maintains that K.S.A. 12-1301 is inapplicable to Joe D. Dennis Park. (Read more about that here).
In addition to invoking that state law against the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park, the Dec. 12 petition also states the following:
“The undersigned hereby certify that they are a qualified elector within the corporate limits of Westwood, Kansas, and join this petition with the intent to meet the threshold number of qualified electors to require the governing body to place on the ballot the question as to whether the Joe D. Dennis Park shall be sold, traded or exchanged.”
The city council unanimously invalidated the petition
After a lengthy explanation from Denk, the city attorney, on Wednesday, the city council unanimously adopted a resolution finding the petition invalid. This means it will not appear on an upcoming ballot.
The reasons for invalidation, as outlined by Denk during the meeting and in the resolution, include the following:
- There was no specific question placed on the petition, as called for by state statute, which would end up being the question placed on the ballot.
- The petitioners did not submit a copy of the petition to the Johnson County counselor for review of the form of the question.
- After the city submitted the Dec. 12 petition to the county counselor, the county counselor on Jan. 17 found the “petition does not state a question in a form that complies with Kansas law.”
Following Denk’s explanation for why he recommended the city invalidate the protest petition, Denk agreed with Councilmember Jeff Harris that “this body would be putting the city of Westwood into legal jeopardy if we were to overreach, and stretch and even attempt” to put this issue on the ballot.
“It would be profoundly irresponsible, if not illegal, for this council to review and contemplate and move forward with this petition,” Harris said.
Additionally, Councilmember Jason Hannaman said the city is legally unable to create a question in order to put on the ballot for the petitioners.
Residents upset by council’s decision
Westwood residents and neighbors expressed anger and disappointment at the city council’s determination to invalidate the petition.
Resident Bernard Brown told the Post on Thursday that he’s still upset about the city’s prior threat to potentially bring legal against residents who raised concerns about K.S.A. 12-1301 in the first place.
“The city’s threat (of legal action) stands and it has scared a whole bunch of people, and I am just astounded, astounded and outraged that that goes on,” Brown said.
Westwood threatened legal action against residents on Nov. 8, a day after the city published its first public notice, in a letter.
The city’s letter was in response to a group of unnamed residents who, via their own letter, threatened to take legal action against the city if it didn’t comply with K.S.A. 12-1301.
Brown, who is also an attorney, said the protest petition mainly challenged the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park.
Since the petition intended to stop the sale of the park, Brown said, he believes the city is wrong to say a specific question or other special language was needed.
While there are steps the public could take to stop the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park, Brown said, “the biggest question is whether the city has succeeded in scaring off enough people and enough possible contributions for our people to be able to afford pursuing those steps.”
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