Save Century II’s legal efforts to require a binding vote before the city tears down historic buildings has been rejected by the Kansas Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel upheld the district court’s ruling in an opinion published Friday, saying the organizers’ argument “fails to appreciate the specialized knowledge” required to make decisions about the fate of city-owned buildings. The court’s decision hinged on a provision of state law that allows citizen petitions to alter legislative policies but not administrative matters. “The ordinance would invade and permeate the city’s administrative assessments of these structures. And the ordinance would prevent the city from acting on its particular knowledge of these buildings, or creating financial plans to cover the buildings’ future upkeep, without an election,” Judge Sarah Warner wrote in the opinion, filed nearly 10 months after oral arguments. Save Century II’s petition garnered more than 17,000 signatures in 2020, rallying citizens in support of the performing arts center and former Central Library — both of which were targeted for demolition by the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan.
Source: Wichita Eagle
