The Shawnee Dispatch / State court sides with city

Archive for Monday, October 20, 2008

Softball complex was not built illegally, court rules

October 20, 2008

The Kansas Supreme Court last week ruled that the Shawnee Mission School District’s softball complex, located in the 6000 block of Maurer Road, was not built illegally.

Robert and Jane Manly, who own property north of the complex, sued the city of Shawnee in early 2006 for approving a special-use permit for the complex and sued the school district, as well. But the Kansas Supreme Court Friday ruled in the defendants’ favor.

The situation arose after the Shawnee Planning Commission voted 4-3 to deny a special-use permit for the complex in November 2005. But the Shawnee City Council then voted to send the item back to the commission to consider some modifications to the plan.

The commission again voted to deny the permit in January 2006, but the Council overturned the commission’s recommendation a week later with a 5-4 vote, with the mayor voting to break a tie.

The Manlys, who opposed the complex because they said it would hurt their property value, had argued that the city could not legally overturn the commission’s recommendation with a simple majority vote and filed suit. In December 2006, the Council voted 6-2 to ratify its earlier decision.

The case reached the Kansas Supreme Court on appeal after a district court ruled the city had unlawfully approved the permit. The high court found that the district court had erred in its ruling.