As a 6 p.m. deadline loomed Thursday for tenants at the Aspen Place Apartments in Gardner to vacate the premises, many residents were still lamenting that they had nowhere to go.
One of those was Vanessa Rodriguez.
“I am staying. Where am I to go?” she told a Post reporter.
Rodriguez had lived at the apartments, which the city of Gardner condemned this week, since 2020. Given 48 hours to move out, Rodriguez said she did not have family or other support networks to turn to.
“I haven’t been able to pack yet, I am so upset,” she said.
But by 6 p.m., volunteers were able to get Rodriguez connected to a temporary shelter run by the Salvation Army in Olathe that can hold up to 120 people.
The Salvation Army was also providing housing vouchers at local hotels in Olathe being used as temporary shelters.
That Rodriguez was able to find shelter, at least for the time being, may count as a small victory, but officials and residents were still taking full stock of an evolving crisis that has left hundreds of people without a permanent roof over their heads.
State officials, Congresswoman take note
Kansas state representative and longtime Gardner resident Bill Sutton said the situation at Aspen Place is unprecedented
“We have never had to deal with this in Gardner before,” he said Thursday.
Sutton said the state’s Residential Landlord & Tenant Act, which lays out requirements for property owners and tenant’s rights, should protect displaced Aspen Place residents as they try to find new housing and seek to get their rent payments and security deposits back.
“This is a case of lower income,” Sutton said. “Most of these people can’t afford an attorney.”
Sutton, a Republican says he is trying to partner with Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, who represents Johnson County, as well as Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, to investigate what type of authority and action the state has in this evolving crisis.
“The city (of Gardner) was put in an untenable position, but the residents are in a more dire one,” Sutton said Thursday.
In an emailed response to questions, Davids said she was committed to ensuring every Kansan, no matter their income or zip code, has access to safe, affordable housing.
Davids was also encouraged by the response from Gardner’s leaders and neighbors and said her team is in touch with local officials.
“I will keep pushing to make sure these families get the help they need now — and the accountability they deserve moving forward,” she said.
Davids added that her office can help in housing matters by referring people to the nonprofit Kansas Legal Services or the Kansas Housing Resources Cooperation.
Attorney General Kris Kobach released a statement Thursday saying his office was monitoring the Aspen Place situation.
“We expect the property owner to follow through on its stated commitment to refund rent and security deposits to the displaced tenants,” the release said.
Kobach also said his office could take action to protect and enforce tenants’ rights consistent with state law.
Up to 700 people could be displaced
It’s unclear exactly how many people have been displaced with Aspen Place’s abrupt condemnation, but city officials say as many as 600 to 700 individuals could have been living in the complex’s 188 units.
Plans to house all those people became a quickly improvised and coordinated effort this week between the city, volunteer organizations like the Salvation Army of Olathe and Mission Southside, Lenexa-based homeless shelter Project 1020, local churches and Gardner residents trying to help their neighbors.
Gardner City Administrator Jim Pruetting said the city currently lacks an emergency shelter, though it had been something the city has been discussing for years.
At various points this week, the city and other officials discussed using high school gyms or the county fairgrounds in Gardner as potential temporary shelters, though none of those alternatives took root.
“There were so many logistical issues,” Pruetting said. “School is in session. The fairgrounds don’t meet safety codes with the lack of sprinklers. We thought about bringing in the National Guard.”
Pruetting said the city continues to work with the Mid-America Regional Council to identify places that could be used for emergency situations in the future.
“Temporary housing really helped us,” Pruetting said, referencing the Salvation Army and Project 1020.
Still, many residents the Post spoke with this week admitted they would sleep in their cars, as they cried and stressed over a place to stay.
Gardner Police Chief Pam Waldeck said her department would not cite residents for living in their car but would urge them to take advantage of shelter opportunities.
“We will not enforce people who don’t have options,” Waldeck said.
She said officers will try to find out why a person is living in their car when they approach them.
“We want to help people,” Waldeck said. “We don’t want people living in their cars.”
“We have been concerned for a long time”
Aspen Place was built as military housing for the former Olathe Naval Air Base, now New Century AirCenter, and the plumbing at the site has not been updated in 70 years, the city says.
On Tuesday, the city of Gardner took Fire District #1’s advice to condemn the property after a fire truck sunk into the ground when the top crust of Beech Street at the complex gave way during an emergency medical call.
“It was a tough decision, but we had been looking at the safety issues for years,” Fire District #1 Fire Chief Trig Morley said. “We identified this as an immediate life issue.”
The fire district said the recommendation to condemn was made using the 2018 International Fire Code the city of Gardner has adopted.
Morley said roads have to support 75,000 pounds, but Beech Street collapsed Sunday under the weight of a 56,300-pound ladder fire truck, causing the truck to sink down to its frame and crushing a water main, cutting water to residents.
A local tow service and Gardner’s Public Works and Police Department helped dig the truck out after five hours.
“It literally fell through,” Morley said. “The road wasted away under our truck.”
The fire truck is still currently being evaluated and out of service as Fire District #1 had to incur the expenses.
“We have been concerned for a long time that property managers have not brought the neighborhood up to fire codes for access and (water) flow,” Morley said.
Fire district officials also noted that the neighborhood’s fire hydrants are “not standard” and said the lack of water pressure at Aspen Place has hindered efforts to respond to emergency calls.
“We have to be able to pump 4,000 gallons of water per minute for four hours,” Morley said. “If we continued to ignore the water situation, we had to be prepared for tragedy.”
City officials said they are not aware of housing within the city limits ever being condemned before.
“Between the logistics of the buildings and the roads, the whole thing is a disaster at once,” Mayor Todd Winters said.
Residents can still return to get things
City officials were on sight Thursday after the 6 p.m. evacuation deadline assisting with residents’ needs.
Residents can still return during daylight hours after Thursday to retrieve belongings but legally are not allowed to stay overnight on the property.
Waldeck said police officers will be stationed at the stie for now to make sure looters and squatters not associated with the neighborhood don’t try to take advantage of a vulnerable situation.
“We will have a pretty big police presence,” Waldeck said.
