Red filled the Olathe City Council chambers Tuesday night as councilmembers prepared to decide the fate of the Starfish Project Foundation’s proposed new home.
Supporters of the community-assistance nonprofit, wearing its signature color, packed the room.
After months of debate over traffic, safety and Starfish’s clients, the city council would make the final vote — but only after several more hours of questions and testimony.
Ultimately, the city council sided with the nonprofit.
The Olathe City Council voted 6-1 to approve a two-year special use permit allowing Starfish to move into the former Aldi and Quilters HQ at 16175 W. 135th St., near the Briarwood neighborhood.
Starfish needed six votes, a supermajority, to get the permit after nearby property owners submitted a valid protest petition.
Mayor John Bacon cast the lone dissenting vote.
“I’ve had some experiences dealing with people that are needy with my business, and I think it has affected us negatively,” he said, echoing one of the central concerns for Briarwood residents.
Here’s how they voted:
• Kevin Deneault: Yes
• Dean Vakas: Yes
• John Bacon: No
• Robyn Essex: Yes
• LeEtta Felter: Yes
• Matthew Schoonover: Yes
• Jeff Creighton: Yes
The city council’s decision went against the Olathe Planning Commission, which voted 5-3 last month to recommend denial of the permit despite city staff recommending approval.
The permit is critical for Starfish. While the nonprofit has already leased the 14,560-square-foot building, it can’t legally operate its food pantry, clothing closet and personal support services there without a special use permit because of the property’s current zoning as CP-1.
For the past several months, the nonprofit has been looking for a new home.
Originally located on Clairborne Road, the nonprofit was forced to move when the city acquired the property for the I-35 and Santa Fe Street interchange project.
It then moved into a strip mall at Santa Fe and Parker streets, but the landlord later asked the organization to leave after neighboring businesses complained about traffic and parking. Since May, Starfish has operated from a temporary location on West 119th Street, where space constraints have limited its services while it waits for a permanent home.
Starfish’s new requirements
Starfish’s new special use permit comes with a list of conditions.
After two hours of questioning city staff, a Starfish representative and Olathe police, councilmembers decided to require additional safeguards intended to address concerns raised by neighboring homeowners.
Ultimately, Starfish will be able to operate out of its new building with these stipulations:
- The permit is only valid for two years. The organization will have to reapply at that time.
- Operations must follow Starfish’s statement of purpose.
- Nothing can be stored or displayed outside.
- The organization can only use one box truck.
- Starfish must complete the final site development plan, including
- Landscaping
- Parking lot restriping
- Exterior mechanical equipment must be screened from public view
- The nonprofit needs to implement a traffic and parking management plan
- Truck deliveries and pickups can only occur during operating hours (9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. second Saturdays)
- Starfish must designate a local manager who can respond to neighborhood concerns
- The establishment of a “Good Neighbor Committee” consisting of Starfish representatives, nearby residents, the Briarwood HOA, city staff and an Olathe Police Department representative is required
- City staff will review the operation in six months and again after one year.
City officials told councilmembers that they can revoke the permit at any point if Starfish is not making a good-faith effort to comply with the requirements.
How we got here
The months leading up to Tuesday’s vote were contentious and, at times, emotional.
At previous public hearings, supporters described the nonprofit as an essential resource for Olathe families struggling to make ends meet. Opponents often praised the work done by Starfish, but expressed concern for traffic, litter, loitering, crime and an increased homeless presence.
Much of Tuesday’s meeting was focused on fears surrounding Starfish’s homeless clients, to which a few councilmembers took umbrage.
“We should not be vilifying the homeless population,” Councilmember Dean Vakas said. “Portraying them as a boogeyman who will run amok through our neighborhoods is just pure poppycock.”
Councilmember Matthew Schoonover also questioned Olathe Chief of Police Mike Butaud about the issue.
“It’s not illegal to be homeless in Olathe, is it?” Schoonover asked. Butaud confirmed that it is not.
“That was my impression too, but based on some of the feedback we’ve received, I was starting to doubt that,” Schoonover replied.
Butaud told councilmembers that police can remove someone who is trespassing on private property and encouraged residents to contact police if they encounter any illegal activity.
Police data backed Starfish’s account
At the city council’s request, Butaud presented data about crime at previous Starfish locations.
During the one-year period examined at Starfish’s former Clairborne Road location, police recorded 104 calls for service in the surrounding commercial area. Only seven were specifically tied to Starfish’s address with two of those resulting in police reports.
At its later location near Santa Fe and Parker streets, police recorded 52 calls in the surrounding area during that year. Two were tied directly to Starfish’s address, and one of those two resulted in a police report.
Butaud characterized those numbers as average for a commercial area.
Police also investigated one concern Briarwood residents had expressed at previous meetings: reports of homeless encampments near the Indian Creek Trail, which is adjacent to the Starfish building.
“I sent our bike unit out on the trails at different times of the day five to 10 different occasions, and there was no sign of any encampments at all in that area,” he said.
Councilmember Jeff Creighton emphasized that the special use permit is about land use.
“Homelessness is not a land use issue,” Creighton said. “From a land use [perspective], it checks the boxes.”
Problems at previous locations
Before the vote, Starfish got one final opportunity to convince the city council to approve the special use permit.
Laverne Fields, vice president of the nonprofit’s board, used that time to address the concerns that have been brought up during the permit approval process.
Fields said parking was the biggest issue because the nonprofit was in a strip mall and shared a parking lot with several other businesses. Briarwood residents had previously questioned why Starfish’s landlord kicked them out of their old building on Santa Fe.
The new location would give Starfish something it’s never had: a standalone building with roughly 130 dedicated parking spaces and its own loading dock.
“For the very first time, we can be held responsible for our own operational conduct and that of our clients,” Fields said. “Because the property is not shared, we will own the activity on that property.”
Fields reiterated what Starfish Founder Joni Moreland said several times at public hearings this summer — that less than 5% of the nonprofit’s clientele are homeless. He said most of those clients also have cars and are only temporarily without housing.
Starfish has also taken steps to prepare for potential safety concerns, said Fields, including meeting with Olathe police about trespassing enforcement.
Fields became emotional in his final plea to the council.
“Please give us a chance to occupy and operate this location,” Fields said. “It will prove to be a good fit, I guarantee you that.”
Council narrowly approves
When the city council finally voted, six members backed the permit, the exact number required with the valid protest petition.
Councilmember Schoonover said he didn’t believe all the additional stipulations were necessary, but still voted yes.
Mayor Bacon, the lone no vote, remained unconvinced.
“I think that this particular use is going to potentially have a negative impact on people that have invested in their homes for many years,” Bacon said.
Still, the mayor acknowledged the decision had been made.
“Six votes approved it,” Bacon said. “So we are off, and we’ll see how it goes.”
