Mission Chateau permit put off because of postage problem
The proposed Mission Chateau retirement community in Prairie Village is on hold thanks to insufficient postage.
Prairie Village Planning Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to continue their consideration of a special-use permit sought by Tutera Partnership MVS LLC to build a 270-unit senior living development on the former site of the Mission Valley Middle School at 8500 Mission Road. It will now be considered during a specially called meeting on July 29.
Mike Flanagan, general counsel for Tutera, asked commissioners for the continuance. Flanagan said the developers discovered earlier Tuesday that when they sent required notices of the hearing to nearby residents using certified mail with an included return receipt last month, they didn’t account for postal rates for those types of mailing increasing 25 cents on June 1.
He said residents who received the mailing were asked to pay the extra money and that his office received 20 notices as undelivered, which he said may reflect people who were not home to sign for the certified letter and refused to pick it up and pay the extra postage at the post office. Flanagan asked for the additional time to mail the notices again and make sure everyone had been sufficiently notified.
“While we want to get this done fast, we want to get it done right,” Flanagan said.
Commissioners agreed to reschedule the hearing for July 29 because Flanagan said the developers, assuming the permit is approved, want to go before the Prairie Village City Council for its consideration on Aug. 17.
Tutera’s plan calls for a 286,000-square-foot development with 160 independent living apartments, 88 assisted living apartments and 11 duplex villas. It replaces a previously approved plan that included a 97,550-square-foot facility with 84 skilled nursing beds and 36 memory care beds. That plan was the focus of legal challenges by nearby residents who claimed the skilled nursing center was out of character for the neighborhood and would generate too much employee traffic.
The new plan is based on a compromise negotiated between the developers and the neighbors that eliminates the facility and uses less of the 18.4-acre site.
In other business, the planning commission voted unanimously to approve the Shawnee Mission School District’s site plan for rebuilding Briarwood Elementary at its current location on 5300 W. 86th St.
The original one-story school was built in 1966. The district proposes replacing it with a two-story building that would include additional space for pre-kindergarten classes and allow more parents to drop off their children on site without clogging neighborhood streets. During construction, students will attend classes at Broadmoor Technical Center, 6701 W. 83rd St.
This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Mission Chateau permit put off because of postage problem."