It happens often, and its always painful to watch. A developer sells homes in a housing subdivision, telling residents that the abutting land will just be used for a small scale retail project, some mixed uses perhaps, with an upscale look and feel. The homes get sold, and one day the residents learn that the land next to them is slated to be the future home of a Wal-Mart supercenter. That’s what’s happening now in Shawnee, Kansas. Sprawl-Busters received the following report this week from one of the homeowners in the Grey Oaks subdivision, which could be renamed “Grey Walls” now that the real plans have been revealed. Here is his report: “I am a resident of a master planned community in Shawnee, Kansas called Grey Oaks. The developer of the residential community is Rodrock Development. Rodrock Development has been developing residential communities in the Kansas City area for over 25 years. To say the least, Rodrock Development has considerable influence in the Kansas City area and is very strong financially. The reason I am writing is that Rodrock Development also owns a large tract of land immediately adjacent to the residential community that they are planning a large retail development. Most of the people when they bought their home inquired as to what was going to be developed and they were told it would be high-end retail, multifamily and townhomes. Rodrock has since rezoned the piece of land that was zoned for multifamily and townhomes to commercial. Rodrock is now on the verge of signing a contract with Wal-Mart to anchor the shopping center (which hardly classifies as high-end retail), which has most of the residents of Grey Oaks very upset. It is important to note that Rodrock Development still has 200 lots to sell in the residential development (out of 550), which equates to approximately $15 million in inventory. We began placing signs in our yards 3 weeks ago that say “No Wal-Mart Rodrock Can Do Better” and we have heard (anecdotally) that they haven’t sold a home in 3 weeks. The on-site realtors have also been very hostile towards people that have signs in their yards. The proposed development is estimated to generate 30,000 trips per day, of which 10,000 trips per day are expected to run right through the heart of our community and in front of our in-neighborhood elementary school. The roads that service the commercial area, flow into the roads that service the residential area. Wal-Mart and Rodrock are meeting with the City on March 9th and Wal-Mart is planning a community meeting for March 28th in our neighborhood. I sense that they are very close to finalizing their deal.”
There are already 15 Wal-Mart stores within 15 miles of Shawnee, Kansas, including a Neighborhood Market in Shawnee, and a Wal-Mart supercenter on W. 65th street in Shawnee. So there is no market need for another Wal-Mart, when there is a supercenter just minutes away. If the residents of Grey Oaks were told by Rodrock that the land in question was going to be “high-end retail, multifamily and townhomes,” and they have proof of that statement — homeowners who will testify to that effect — then at a minimum these homeowners have a legal case to make regarding misrepresentation by the developer, or realtor, whomever mislabeled their project. Second, this land was rezoned by city officials. They knew, or should have known, that building a project of this scale will do a number of the residential valuation of surrounding homes that can see, hear or smell that Wal-Mart, or have to live with its traffic. So these residents should be forming a line at the assessor’s office to get a property tax abatement if the Wal-Mart is approved. Third, large scale retail is incompatible with residential property, and the two should never meet. When they do, it creates a “win-lose” situation. These residents need to hire a good land use attorney, and begin to use the city’s zoning rules to stop this incompatible development. They missed the best shot when the land was up for rezoning — but many times residents have no idea that land is being rezoned. But the Shawnee Planning Board knew what was happening, and should have protected the homeowners who were already there. But they approved the rezoning, and sold out the homeowners. A big crowd of neighbors is needed at the March 9th hearing. For local contacts in Shawnee, email [email protected].
