Editor’s note: This story has been updated Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. to correct an error about a proposed facility in Spring Hill. The Spring Hill Planning Commission has not yet approved a facility by Lineage Logistics, but has instead tabled the proposal for the time being.
Plans for a cold storage facility on the southern fringe of Olathe faced a major setback Monday night.
The Olathe Planning Commission denied recommendation for a cold storage facility at 175th Street and Lone Elm Road. The commission’s recommendation concluded a meeting that drew a packed house, including 30 residents who spoke against the measure, and ended just before midnight.
A motion to recommend approval of the rezoning and preliminary site development plan failed 5-2, with commissioners citing safety and infrastructure concerns as reasons why they voted against the measure. Commissioners Taylor Breen and Ken Chapman cast the yes votes.
Commissioners Chip Corcoran and Megan Lynn were absent.
“We’re feeling hopeful now,” Nottington Creek resident Katy Hupe said after the vote. “We’ve been through this a few other times on these other warehouse situations, and this one was extremely important to us. We’ve got hope that our neighborhood is not going to be forgotten and that we’re not going to be overlooked.”
The project details
Lineage Logistics, headquartered in Michigan, proposed developing 146 acres of land northeast of 175th Street and Lone Elm Road for industrial and commercial use, including a cold storage facility.
The cold storage facility would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using anhydrous ammonia as the refrigerant.
The facilities would have a tiered look, with the buildings closest to the street (the commercial buildings) restricted to a height of 35 feet. The office buildings would be restricted to 55 feet, and the tallest building, farthest from the street, at 140 feet. The tallest building would have been set back about 1,000 feet from Lone Elm Road.
Development of the site would be completed in two phases, with phase one seeing traffic increase by 500 trucks per day, or 21 per hour. Phase two would increase that by 150 to 650 trucks per day, according to the traffic study. The traffic study, completed on June 17, would also need to be updated for each phase of development, according to city documents.
The trucks would come from a mix of customers, though most of the property would be dedicated to a single customer, publicly unnamed so far, said Rob Sangdahl, vice president of real estate at Lineage Logistics.
“This building is 80% dedicated to a single customer that runs their own fleet,” Sangdahl said. “They have complete control over 80% of traffic that comes into this building.”
Lineage Logistics has two other facilities in the area: one at 16650 S. Erickson St., also in Olathe, and another at 2350 S. 98 St. in Edwardsville across the Wyandotte County line. A third facility was recently proposed in Spring Hill at 17855 US-169 Highway, just southwest of 175th Street and Woodland Road, but the city’s planning commission has tabled the conversation for the time being.
Neighborhood concerns
The property sits catty-corner to the Nottington Creek neighborhood, which has 235 single-family houses, said Janice Rummel, president of the neighborhood’s homeowners association.
Roughly 75 Nottington Creek residents and nearby concerned neighbors met Sunday evening to discuss their concerns about the project. Those concerns, also highlighted at the planning commission meeting, include:
- Increased traffic, affecting drivers, road infrastructure and noise levels.
- The safety risks of ammonia refrigerant and the facility’s proximity to residences, parks, sporting facilities and schools.
- The height of the 140-foot building.
- Police and fire response to traffic violations and emergencies.
- Effect on the health and environment of the neighborhood from truck exhaust fumes and potential ammonia leaks.
“If you also drove down Lone Elm, anyone that does would know that’s a two-lane with no shoulder road,” said Nottington Creek resident Doug Doerfler. “In fact, a lot of that road is actually not there and there’s some gravel there, some not, there’s some holes in it. It needs a lot of work.”
The site of the proposed facility sits just south of Lone Elm Park, which offers trails and softball and soccer fields.
“We want you to take a pause and really look at all aspects of how this is going to impact not only us, but those kids that play at the parks,” Rummel said. “ I went there before I moved into Nottington Creek because I love Lone Elm Park. It’s a great place. It’s really peaceful.”
Rummel said she would’ve liked to see the proposed cold storage facility and the city itself come up with an evacuation plan like that of Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station, near her childhood hometown of Burlington, seeing as the facility would use hazardous materials.
“We’re asking you to look out for us,” Rummel said.
What’s next?
Commissioner Tony Bergida, who ultimately voted against the measure, first made a motion to table the commission’s consideration until he could get more information on the Olathe Fire Department’s specialized equipment, response times and Lineage safety protocols following a fire last year in Washington state. The motion failed to get a second.
Olathe Fire Station 7, the nearest station, is 4.8 miles away from 175th Street and Lone Elm Road.
Commissioners Jeffery Creighton and Keith Brown, who also voted against the measure, echoed concerns about traffic and roadway infrastructure.
“There is one factor that I cannot get around right now, and that is the roadway network,” Creighton said. “It’s Lone Elm and 175th Street and that’s not really the developer’s problem, that’s our problem. It’s also a problem for Gardner, Spring Hill, Kansas Department of Transportation and Johnson County because we all come together right there.
“What I heard tonight was we don’t know when this is going to be improved,” he added. “We’re waiting on a KDOT study and that’s going to be a long time. You all (Lineage Logistics) can’t wait on that. I get that, but I just want to get it on the record that I am really struggling with the roadway network.”
Go deeper: A video recording of the planning commission meeting can be found below. Discussion of the Lineage Logistics project begins at 5:41.
Though the motion to recommend the development failed, the item will still go before the Olathe City Council on Sept. 2 for consideration, unless the applicant asks to have the project pushed to a later date.
The city council will need five votes to overturn the planning commission’s recommendation of denial, rather than the four votes required if the commission had approved a recommendation.
