SHAWNEE, Kan. — Residents in a few Shawnee neighborhoods are concerned about a possible new private school next door.
A 130,000 square-foot facility that will be a K-12 Maranatha Christian Academy is proposed to go on a 26-acre plot of land at the northeast corner of Silverheel and 71st Street.
Nearby homeowners' associations are concerned about lights and noise from the athletic stadium, traffic, and a decrease in their property values.
Darius Riley, vice president of the Willow Ridge Home Owners Association, said he conducted a survey on the HOA's website about the project, and 70 percent of residents were opposed to it.
"The biggest concern revolved around traffic," Riley said. "There were concerns that a couple of streets that are over here have limited access and ways into and out of the community."
Riley said the area recently had a new apartment complex and several retirement centers move in. He also worries Horizon Elementary nearby will have similar time zones for pick-up and drop-offs.
"I think the big concern is that the way the streets are laid out and the traffic the school will bring will be a hassle and could be dangerous," Riley said.
Head of Schools for Maranatha Christian Academy Janet Fogh said the school will be small, with about 320 students. Fogh wants residents to know the school will be a good neighbor with responsible students who will help enhance the area.
Fogh said she doesn't believe traffic will be an issue because of the layout of the school.
"We showed people who came to our HOA meetings how the traffic patterns on drop-off and pick-ups happens completely within our school and our land so it won't flow out onto the other streets," Fogh said.
Riley and Madison Heights neighborhood resident David Williams also said they are frustrated with the process of the project, and they don't feel the city or the school gave them enough notice or allowed them to give input before the planning process started.
"Maranatha and the City could have done a much better job of letting the area and the residents around the area know what was going to happen there before it was already at the planning stages and it already had a tax abatement done on it," Riley said.
Riley said he believes the school only reached out to residents to set up HOA meetings after hearing they brought up concerns with the City.
Riley said the school first notified residents of the project a few days before a planning commission public meeting.
Fogh said the school worked to be forthcoming, but it never knew when the planning commission meeting would be because of delays from the coronavirus pandemic.
"We honestly thought we did a pretty good job of getting all three meetings in before that planning commission day so I'm sorry they felt that way. We were really trying very much for it to feel the opposite," Fogh said.
Riley and Williams expressed concern over two protest petitions they filed with the City of Shawnee being rejected.
The City Council will vote Monday evening whether or not to approve a rezoning of the land from Commercial Highway to Agricultural and to consider a Special Use Permit for the athletic stadium.
Riley and Williams said they filed two protest petitions to see if they could require a supermajority vote from the council on these issues, but they said both petitions were rejected.
Williams said he requested a list of all of the people that received a letter from the City, notifying them of the project to get them to sign the petition. Williams said the petition needed 20 percent of residents to go into effect, and the petitions had close to 50 percent.
"The City came back and threw out both of them and said we didn't get the correct people to sign it and they were too far away from the property," Williams said. "I think it's misinforming the public on what we needed to do so the City is at fault also and gave us a misleading list. So we were doomed from the start."
41 Action News reached out to the City of Shawnee, but was told no City staff could provide an interview.
