University Daily Kansan/Wednesday, Aug. 19, 1987
9
Move aims to protect downtown
By DEBRA A. PETERSON Staff writer
City and county officials are nearing approval of a resolution that would preserve downtown Lawrence as the primary commercial center of the county and govern the construction of a proposed southwest Lawrence trafficway.
The city and county commissions will meet Monday to discuss land-use policies in the resolution, which says farm land will be preserved as much as possible and residential growth will be encouraged.
Some opponents of the southwest trafficway argue that its proposed route cuts through the Baker Wetlands, a habitat for the endangered northern crawfish frog, but the frog hasn't been seen in the area since 1978.
City Roundup
The cost of the southwest trafficway project is an estimated $53.6 million
The resolution, if passed, could discourage development of a suburban mall.
The Downtown Improvement Committee decided Aug. 8 at a retreat that some form of retail development involving at least two large department stores is needed if Lawrence's downtown is to remain the commercial heart of Douglas County.
The committee will sponsor a town meeting at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Lawrence Arts Center to hear public comment on downtown development ideas and another public hearing Oct. 7 to discuss three suburban mall rezoning requests.
In other city news this summer:
■ Actor Matt Dillon arrived at the Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence on July 14. He and actor Mccarthy began filming the movie "Kansas" on July 29 and were expected to stay in the area until the middle of September, shooting scenes in Lawrence, Topeka, Valley Falls and Gardner and using local residents as extras.
Judy Billings, director of the
Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, said her office estimated that the film would bring about $2 million into the Lawrence area.
Two Lawrence women became members of the formerly all-male Rotary Club International on Aug. 11, and two more will be inducted later this year. The women are Sandra Praeger, Lawrence city commissioner; Nancy Longhurst, manager of the Eldridge Hotel; Sandra Shaw, executive director of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center; and state Rep. Jessie Branson, D-Lawrence.
Rotary International, a service organization, was prohibited in May by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from removing local Rotary chapters that had women members.
Kansas Attorney General Bob Stephan said in an opinion about the court's ruling that Kansas chapters of Rotary International could not exclude women.
Michael Fargo, a disabled Lawrence resident, gained national attention this summer when he faced eviction from his federal Housing and Urban Development-subsidized apartment at Clinton Place.
Fargo, whose seizures prevent him from working regular hours, had been doing free-lance computer work out of his apartment in violation of his lease, which stipulated that the apartment was to be used for residential purposes only.
On July 7, Douglas County District Court Judge James W. Paddock ordered Fargo to move, despite community protests. Fargo will have a hearing Friday on his request to overturn the eviction. Regardless, Fargo won't have to leave until his appeals run out, which could take about a year, said his lawyer Don Strole.
U. S. Rep. Jim Slattery, D-Kan., headed position on the U.S. House of Representatives this summer that successfully blocked a Reagan administration plan to force all Haskell Indian Junior College students to pay $850 tuition a semester. Haskell students now do not pay tuition.
In a prepared statement, Slattery said, "The President's proposal represents a back-door attempt to close Haskell Indian Junior College."
Charles Gebo, Haskell's dean of instruction, had a tuition fee would have disastrous side effects, because many Haskell students are from economically depressed reservations and have no way to earn money at home.
- Some Oread neighborhood residents want the 900 and 1000 blocks of Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Tennessee streets rezoned to cut down on the number of student-targeted apartment complexes allowed in the neighborhood.
The area is now oned residential dormitory, the densest zoning allowed in Lawrence. Residential dormitory zoning permits one housing unit per 800 feet of lot, with up to six units allowed on a typical Oread lot of 5,800 square feet. The Oread neighborhood residents want the area rezoned to multi-family residential, which would permit fewer units per lot.
The residents aren't opposed to students, said Harlanne Papenk, 1003 Tennessee St. She said the problem was absentee landlords who didn't keep up their properties, allowing buildings to deteriorate until the land was worth more than the buildings, and then selling the land to developers.
Fred Sack, 936 Ohio St., Oread Neighborhood Association board member, said. "We want to keep the neighborhood for mixed use, not just for students. If the developers keep up at the rate they're going, in 20 years this will be exclusively a student neighborhood."
The neighborhood has been most student housing since World War I—a trend that accelerated in the 1960s.
Renters who abandon their dwellings with outstanding debts of $150 or more could be charged with a class E felony as of July 1.
State Rep. John Solbach, D-Lawrence, said the law was not antitient.
tenant's organization, said he was concerned that landlords might use the law as an excuse to harass tenants who were late paying their rent.
City crews began work Aug. 7 on a model project to add 32 parking spaces to an alley between the 1100 block of Ohio and Tennessee streets.
But Greg Stauffer, Lawrence sophomore and head of a Lawrence
Seventeen new spaces will be provided on the east side of a retaining wall under construction, and 15 more spaces will be provided on the west side of the wall.
The early morning demolition on June 27 of eight houses in the 800 block of Tennessee and Kentucky streets sparked protest, media attention and local legislation.
Stephan said in an opinion issued to the Kansas State Historical Society that cities were required to notify the society of proposed zoning changes or demolitions not only within historical sites but also in areas that border historical sites.
The city commission voted July 21 to require public notice of applications for demolition permits and to require a 30-day waiting period before demolition begins.
The demolished houses were across the street from the historic Old West Lawrence neighborhood.
Richard Stanwix, Lawrence police chief for 17 years and a member of the force for 34 years, retired this summer.
Jim Denney, director of KU police, said Stanwix was the moving force behind cooperative law enforcement in Douglas County.
"The relationship between the campus police force and the Lawrence police force has been outstanding, again largely due to Dick Stanwix." Denney said.
Although Stanwix officially retired June 20, he will remain at his job until a new police chief is hired. The application deadline for the job is Friday.
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