Advocates of a proposed homeless shelter and services center in Lenexa have long worried that denial of a city permit could blow up a project uniquely suited to a county that has no shelter for unhoused adults without children.
The site of the proposed shelter, which includes a hotel with individual rooms, plus the availability of federal COVID relief money to fund it, is an almost perfect blend to address a growing problem, they have said, and time is running out to take advantage of it.
But even if the Lenexa City Council denies that permit at its Tuesday meeting, it may not be the end of the proposed Homeless Services Center. Officials of reStart, Inc., the nonprofit operator of the shelter, warned that denial of the permit could come with legal ramifications.
A letter, signed by reStart Board Chair Susan Schmidt, calls the reasoning for denial “inappropriate and arguably discriminatory” and warns that “the city’s actions could be in violation of the Fair Housing Act and/or reStart’s constitutional rights and could result in a legal dispute. If that is the case, the Fair Housing Act and 42 U.S.C. 1983 permits a number of legal remedies to prohibit discriminatory conduct, including civil damages, injunctions, punitive damages and the recovery of attorneys fees.”
The letter notes that there appeared to be solid support from city officials during the run-up to the city’s planning commission meeting and that the staff recommendation to deny the permit was “inappropriate and unfair.”
It then outlines some examples that could be considered discriminatory to protected classes, including disabled or handicapped clients who would become housed there. Requiring proposed development to add security measures “based on the belief that persons of a particular protected class are more likely to engage in criminal activity,” could be considered illegal under Fair Housing Act rules, the letter says.
ReStart CEO Stephanie Boyer said taking the city to court is “certainly not our plan,” but she also didn’t rule it out. “Our plan is to come to a compromise and have a successful project.”
Yet, “in going through this process, there have definitely been some things that have come up that have raised concerns for us, whether there are potential fair housing violations happening here,” she said. “The majority of people experiencing homelessness are people with disabilities, they are people of color. Those are protected classes of people.”
Boyer said any decision on future lawsuits would require some deeper digging. In the meantime, she said she hopes city councilmembers will recognize the support the project has gotten among Johnson Countians.
If the issue goes to court — which is by no means a given — it would not be the first time for Lenexa. In 2019, the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church sued in federal court and eventually won the right to host the Project 1020 overnight shelter at its building, the former Bonjour Elementary at 9400 Pflumm Road.
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Homelessness has been on the rise in Johnson County and has become a focal point for county commissioners and nonprofit groups. At least 250 people were without a permanent address in January, a 6% increase from 2023 and up 44% from January 2015, according to United Community Service’s Point-in-Time count. That count also showed that while the number of unhoused families with children remained relatively flat, adults without homes increased significantly, from 21 people in 2015 to 162 this year. The county has no shelter program for single adults not involved in the justice system or fleeing domestic violence.
In the meantime, the Johnson County Commission made affordable housing a priority and has been studying the issue. Last year, Olathe Pastor Lee Jost and Lenexa City Councilmember Joe Karlin proposed a 50-unit non-congregate shelter to the commission. The Good Faith Network, an interfaith group of 30 congregations, also brought heavy pressure to bear on commissioners to address homelessness.
In December, commissioners voted to enter a contract to buy 2.6 acres near Interstate 35 and 95th Street occupied by the La Quinta Inn and Suites, 9461 Lenexa Drive, and a vacant Denny’s restaurant, 9471 Lenexa Drive. Both buildings date back to the late 1970s.
The purchase price was $6 million, with a closing date in October. However, costs for due diligence and repairs were estimated to be closer to $10.5 million, all to come from federal COVID relief funds.
The shelter would offer two tiers of service. Fifty units, known as “The Lodge”, would be available for single adults for stays of 30 to 90 days. Another 25 units called “The Residences” would serve as transitional housing for adults who meet income guidelines and apply for a waitlist for federal vouchers. Those residents would be able to stay for up to 24 months. Residents would not have to leave the premises during the day.
In all cases, potential residents would be referred through a standardized referral system, rather than walking up unannounced.
The plan was to have a third party run the shelter, presumably with the use of grants and private donations for ongoing expenses. The operator would also take ownership of the property.
After a search, reStart, a Kansas City, Missouri-based nonprofit specializing in homelessness issues, was named the operator. However, reStart asked for some operating funds from the county and cities (at 76 cents per capita) as the shelter starts up and as a way to encourage donations and grants.
Some cities have voiced support for the idea, but several of the cities with larger populations have delayed making a decision until Lenexa decides on the use permit.
Below is a copy of part of the Mission City Council’s agenda packet from last month, which includes a presentation on the shelter as well as a letter from Mayor Sollie Flora listing questions and concerns on the proposed shelter, and answers from the county.
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All eyes are on Lenexa now
The plan has already passed numerous county hurdles over the past nine months. Now all eyes are on Lenexa, which will decide whether it will allow the center to operate at that location. The hotel and restaurant are in a commercial zone that would potentially allow the shelter with a special use permit.
Lenexa’s planning staff recommended denial and on Aug. 26, the planning commission unanimously voted to recommend denial to the city council on the reasoning that the center would not be a good fit for the community. The commission applied the Golden criteria in its decision.
Among other things, they noted the existence of Project 1020, a cold-weather overnight shelter about a mile away. Having two such facilities so close to each other could negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood by making it a magnet for homeless people, city staff wrote in its recommendation.
Staff also noted that the shelter location is in a tax increment finance district targeted for redevelopment — which means a loss of tax revenues on the site if it becomes tax exempt — and that the additional needs of law enforcement would overly burden the city’s police department.
Ultimately, staff noted, the shelter would “run directly counter to the goals established by the city” to redevelop the area and counter blight because it would be expected to draw “loitering, panhandling and unsanitary conditions.”
Here’s a link to the proposal in the Lenexa City Council meeting agenda packet. See page 51.
Time is running out to spend the federal money
Meanwhile, deadlines are ticking on various aspects of the proposal. The federal funds commissioners proposed to use must be obligated by the end of this year and spent by the end of 2026, and closing on the real estate deal is set for Oct. 31.
The county has already spent $200,000 in earnest money payments but delayed an upcoming $150,000 payment until Lenexa reaches a decision. Another $279,477 has been spent on due diligence over the property.
If the project falls through, county officials would need to find other uses for the COVID relief money or lose it. Commissioners have already discussed options on that.
Those stakes have caused anxiety among supporters of the plan, many of whom see it as a rare and perhaps last chance to get this resource up and running.
Commission Chair Mike Kelly calls the hotel, its central location and availability of federal money a “stars-aligned moment,” and has often said the shelter, with its mental health and job support services, would actually save money for taxpayers who have been paying for law enforcement calls for homeless people who are now on the streets.
“We’re in a unique position in time to address something that we all recognize we need to address,” Kelly said. No solution is perfect, he said, but “we shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
Hear from voices who oppose the plan
As the proposal got legs, opponents began speaking out at public hearings and writing letters against it. There were a variety of concerns — sometimes involving conspiracy theories — that the shelter would attract drug use and violent crime in an area already known to law enforcement authorities for drug trafficking.
Since the referral system does not allow people to be denied shelter based on citizenship status, many were concerned that foreign-born people who have illegally entered the country would get in ahead of those whose home base is Johnson County.
At a Prairie Village meeting, Ben Hobert of Westwood Hills acknowledged the need to help the unhoused. “There is no question we owe the homeless — who are citizens and residents — a responsibility when they fall on hard times. I don’t know that that extends to 11 million illegal immigrants.”
County Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara, who has consistently opposed the shelter, also mentions that as one of her key reasons.
“We are not focused on Johnson County residents,” she said. “In my opinion, this was ill conceived, it was ill planned, it was ill funded, and it was located in the wrong place.”
O’Hara also objects to the fact that reStart has asked for some funding from local government and won’t be totally self-funded, as she said commissioners were led to believe before naming it the operator.
She said she would prefer to rely on the faith community to provide the infrastructure to support homeless people. “The government doesn’t give love and support like that, they give services,” she said.
She said she would continue to work with groups like City Union Mission but doesn’t have an answer to the shelter problem. The referral system is a stumbling block, she said, because it’s woven into county services and does not ask about criminal history, drug use, citizenship or other factors.
“I think it’s impossible with our policies in place because that’s what (the county Mental Health department) uses,” she said. “We’re on a journey of trying to find an answer.”
Supporters still hold out hope
Lee Jost, who was involved early on in finding a location, said he and Karlin scouted locations but the La Quinta emerged as the favorite because of its price, the type of structure it is and its location within walking distance of entry-level jobs.
Jost and Boyer said it’s unrealistic to think a shelter of this type could happen without some government investment.
“We do all kinds of things to help vitalize our communities. This is one way that government ought to invest,” Jost said. “Why wouldn’t the government invest in keeping every one of its citizens — regardless of their income level — stable, healthy and engaged in their community?”
Jost pointed out that the federal money is intended for just this type of project. If the county loses this chance to spend it, it could be a long time before another chance this good comes along, he said.
“This is our opportunity and if we don’t take it now, I’m just saying that I think it’s going to be a long time before enough people and enough cities and enough electeds come together to say, ‘We will go ahead and spend our own tax dollars between cities and county and state to get this done,’” Jost said.
Barb McEver, founder of Project 1020, sees the need for a shelter growing every year.
“We need to get ahead of it before it gets any worse, and I think we all know that it’s only going to get worse. There’s no place for people to go,” she said.
McEver added that people experiencing homelessness come from a wide variety of backgrounds and that public fears are often skewed.
“I hope they dig down deep and really think about people in their lives because that’s what’s at stake here,” McEver said, noting that she thinks a year-round shelter would be a positive thing for the county. “Nothing starts out perfect, and if you put all this fear out there, the fear of the unknown is always bigger than the truth.
Lenexa’s no vote was ‘quite shocking’ to reStart
The staff recommendation for denial came as a surprise to reStart members, who had been having productive meetings, agreed to some adjustments to their application and believed they had general support for the shelter, Boyer said.
“It was quite shocking,” she said of the news of the recommendation.
In response, reStart has presented a letter outlining several ways in which they believe their application was reviewed unfairly, including:
- ReStart officials thought they had to notify neighbors within 200 to 500 feet, but their application was reviewed based on 1.2 surrounding miles.
- Factoring in the project’s proximity to Project 1020 also could be a Fair Housing violation, it said. Project 1020 operates only for overnight stays during four cold-weather months and is not the same type of service. Its proximity should not have been a factor, the letter said.
- Saying the shelter will draw blight, panhandling, loitering and unsanitary conditions raises concerns of bias.
- Since the hotel already houses transient guests, its use as a shelter would be similar and would fit the neighborhood.
The letter also suggests reStart could work with the city to start a community improvement district to raise money if additional law enforcement is needed. The letter said the comparisons used to make assumptions about law enforcement needs were not apt.
It’s important to take a close look at the rationale for denial, Boyer said, “because this is exactly why homelessness continues to rise in every community. Projects and housing programs like this do tend to get blocked and then the need goes unmet, and it continues to exacerbate problems in the community,” she continued.
If the application is denied, the timeline will make it difficult to come back with as comprehensive a project, she said. “If there was going to be another option, it would probably look pretty different,” Boyer said, adding that it may be a different type of program that doesn’t include a special use permit.
She said reStart still hopes to work with Lenexa officials. “We definitely have a desire to help and be part of the solution there,” she said.
The housing problems on the East and West coasts are examples of what can happen if homelessness isn’t addressed, she said.
“When you don’t have responses for a number of years, the problem exacerbates beyond what you can easily solve, and the number becomes so high and the funding needed to address it becomes so high the political will tends not to be there for it.
“This is a chance for that not to happen here.”
Leah Wankum, Andrew Gaug, Juliana Garcia, Kaylie McLaughlin and Kyle Palmer contributed to this story.
