Facing ongoing resident opposition, city council may act on potential south KC landfill

When Rick Meyers built his large home in 1994 in the boot-shaped portion of Kansas City south of Longview Lake, he planned to never move again.

“I told myself I was going to die here,” he told The Star.

Now, he’s not so sure.

Controversy is churning throughout this quiet, rural portion of Kansas City that a private waste management company is hoping to build a landfill in the neighborhood. Some of Meyers’ neighbors have received letters from property management companies hoping to buy their land. Others have signed NDA’s with a developer.

The proposed site is bordered by 147th Street to the north, Horridge Road to the east, 155th Street to the south and Peterson Road to the west.

Meyers has organized over 70 of his neighbors — some of them retirees without email addresses — in a community campaign against the proposed project. The group has expressed opposition in letters, phone calls and numerous public meetings.

So far, Kansas City has been reluctant to comment on the proposal, saying that no zoning or permit requests for a new landfill have officially been filed.

Now, Kansas City Council District 6 representatives Andrea Bough and Kevin McManus and Mayor Quinton Lucas have proposed a resolution opposing the landfill and directing the city manager to investigate the metro’s future waste disposal needs. The resolution was referred to the transportation, infrastructure and operations committee earlier in the month. Councilwoman Bough told The Star she expects the committee will discuss the resolution on Wednesday morning.

A state bill that would in effect stop the landfill plan in its tracks is also under consideration and is scheduled for a committee hearing on Monday.

Who is behind the potential new landfill?

Residents believe that a private company called South Kansas City Acquisitions is behind the project, and that local businesswoman Jennifer Monheiser is calling the shots.

Monheiser seemed to confirm these suspicions in a Missouri House committee meeting earlier this month, when she told legislators that a company she owns is investigating the site for a potential landfill project.

“I am the developer we’ve all been talking about today,” she said in her testimony over HB 909, a bill which would change state zoning rules to ban landfills within a mile of municipalities’ borders with other municipalities without their approval. Legislators have not yet voted on the bill.

Monheiser is no stranger to the solid waste business: She also owns the Mark II Transfer Station near the Truman Sports Complex.

“The notion that there is not a need for a landfill in our region is just not true,” she told lawmakers. “In the last year and a half, we have had our engineers look at multiple sites. We are not interested in putting a landfill on a site where it is not appropriate for a landfill to be.”

Three landfills currently serve the Kansas City area, and all of them are within several decades of reaching capacity.

“It’s theoretically possible that we could be looking at having no landfill capacity in the metro by 2050,” MARC Solid Waste District director Lisa McDaniel told The Star.

Monheiser told lawmakers that her company intends to take steps to mitigate the impacts of the landfill on surrounding neighborhoods.

“We have started the process of reaching out to communities now that we have done the initial drilling,” she said. “Something that was really important to us was to protect the people around where this proposed project would be.”

These protections would include man-made barriers like berms and fences, as well as natural barriers like cedar trees and an 1,100-foot hill between the landfill and the nearest residential areas, Monheiser said.

Neighboring communities unite in opposition to landfill plan

The cities of Raymore, Belton, Grandview and Lee’s Summit have all passed resolutions opposing the project. But since the potential project site is located within Kansas City limits, these bordering municipalities have little sway over developers.

Kris Turnbow, mayor of Raymore, was one of the first to publicly oppose the plan. Since his initial press release in October voicing opposition to a landfill at Raymore’s front door, he said he’s worked with experts to determine the environmental impacts of the landfill.

Environmentalists and attorneys argued at a Feb. 16 Raymore City Council meeting that residents living close to the site will experience adverse health effects, including an increased risk of respiratory disease.

With an elementary school nearby, as well as Longview, Creekmore and Rain lakes, Turnbow worries about waste run-off.

“It just doesn’t seem logical to anyone except the initial investors that this is an ideal spot for a landfill,” he said.

He believes the landfill will threaten surrounding cities’ economic growth as well. The site backs up to the Creekmoor neighborhood in Raymore, and Lee’s Summit and Grandview continue to creep closer to Highway 150.

After rumors of the landfill circulated, at least two builders have backed out of projects near the potential waste area, Turnbow said. He said potential buyers have walked away from homes after hearing about the potential plan.

Though a future landfill application with the Missouri Department of National Resources would take years to process, Turnbow argues the damage is already being felt.

“The final answer may be, ‘No,’” he said. “But look what it’s doing to us in the meantime.”

A Missouri bill may stymie the landfill plan

Representative Mike Haffner, a Republican who represents Cass County, said he’ll continue to fight against developers on the issue.

Rep. Haffner is a sponsor of HB 909, the bill on which Monheiser gave testimony earlier this month. If passed, it would establish a one-mile buffer between landfills in cities like Kansas City — that have a population of at least 400,000 and cross into multiple counties — and surrounding smaller communities, requiring approval from those surrounding communities within one mile. The current buffer is half mile. It is scheduled to be heard in committee on Monday.

“We have way too many homeowners, business owners, property owners that have worked too hard, have sweated too long to have these property rights trampled on by an entrepreneur,” he said. “The concept of a landfill is totally inappropriate.”

HB 909 received testimony from 441 people — almost all opposing the landfill project — in its first committee before being referred to the rules committee.

According to testimony documents, 281 commenters supported the measure, which would block the South Kansas City landfill proposal if passed by increasing the buffer zone to include the potential landfill site. Another 156 people opposed the measure, but many of their comments made clear that they intended to express opposition to the landfill project rather than to the state bill.

“No one will want to live near the noise, pollution and odor of a nearby landfill,” one Lee’s Summit homeowner commented.

“The fact that the proposed site is right next to homes and close to schools is very concerning,” a Grandview resident wrote. “The landfill would be better served if it was further in a rural area without homes in close proximity.”

The bill continues to advance in the legislative process, gaining support from U.S. representatives Mark Alford and Emanuel Cleaver, who have constituents in the vicinity of the project.

“This landfill proposal undermines the voice and representation of the residents of Cass & Jackson Counties who stand opposed to this landfill,” said Reps. Alford and Cleaver in a joint statement released on Thursday. “This proposal would have a negative impact on the local economy – impacting development of this community for years to come.”

How is Kansas City responding to the landfill proposal?

After months of silence on the landfill issue, Kansas City Council may take action in the coming weeks. Councilmembers Andrea Bough and Kevin McManus, who represent the 6th District where the landfill site is located, are co-sponsoring a resolution opposing the project along with Mayor Quinton Lucas.

“The purpose of this is for the city to take control of the narrative,” Councilwoman Bough told The Star. “We are going to look at the needs of the city for a landfill, not let a private developer dictate where a landfill will go.”

The resolution also asks the city manager to report back to the city council within six months on “the City’s future needs with respect to solid waste as well as provide potential alternative solutions.”

The resolution is expected to be heard in committee on Wednesday. Then it would move to the full council for a vote a week or two later.

The Star’s Daniel Desrochers contributed reporting to this story.

Do you have more questions about the potential landfill project? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.