Shawnee is taking first steps to claim eminent domain over 20 acres of private property in order to build a parks and recreation operations base facility.
The private property in question is located at 18750 Johnson Drive just west of I-435 and includes a 30,000-square-foot warehouse. Wayne Developer LLC bought the property in August 2018 for $3.5 million and has “expressed no interest” in selling the property to the city at a similar price, according to a city memo.
The Shawnee council last night unanimously agreed to acquire the property by claiming eminent domain. There was no council discussion.
Melissa Hoag Sherman, an attorney with Spencer Fane LLP who represents Republic Services and Wayne Development, the owner of the property, had urged the council to vote against claiming eminent domain or at least table the discussion pending further review.“From the start of Wayne Development’s meetings with the city, the message from the city was ‘We don’t want you here,’” Sherman said. “I think there was some concern about Republic being in the trash business and the area being identified as ‘the trash corridor.’”
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