Judge won’t reconsider ruling on Mission Chateau project in Prairie Village

A Johnson County District Court judge on Monday denied a motion to reconsider the ruling he made in favor of the city of Prairie Village against neighbors who sought to invalidate a special use permit for the proposed $50 million Mission Chateau retirement community.

Forty-seven plaintiffs, many of whom are members of the Mission Valley Neighbors Association, had filed a motion asking Johnson County District Judge Thomas Sutherland to reconsider his ruling that decided in favor Prairie Village.

Katie Logan, Prairie Village city attorney, said the motion asked Sutherland to alter or amend his original ruling and issue a memorandum of support. That motion was denied.

At the same time the Mission Valley Neighbors Association filed a motion asking Sutherland to reconsider his decision, and they also filed a notice appealing the ruling, said Logan.

Brian Doerr, an attorney and Mission Valley Neighbors Association member, confirmed Monday’s action and said the group plans to continue forward with its appeal.

“We are looking forward to a positive ruling from the court of appeals,” he said.

Last month, Sutherland ruled in favor of the city’s decision to issue a special use permit for the project requested by the Tutera Partnership, MVS, LLC, developers of Mission Chateau. Tutera plans to build a 350,000-square-foot retirement community on the site of the former Mission Valley Middle School at 8500 Mission Road.

In their lawsuit the plaintiffs contended that the city wrongly allowed the developer to prevent homeowners immediately south of the 18.4-acre school property from signing a protest petition against the special use permit required for the project to move forward.

They said Tutera changed its initial plan covering the entire school property to one that would exclude a 200-foot-wide strip of single-family lots along the southern border of the tract. This action kept those residents’ objections from being counted by the city.

That meant the special use permit could pass with a simple council majority, instead of a supermajority. The special use permit passed 7-6 on Jan. 6 with Mayor Ron Shaffer breaking the tie in favor of the project.

If could take several months for the Kansas Court of Appeals to consider an appeal. If the ruling is upheld, the next steps would be that Tutera would submit a final development plan and apply for demolition and building permits.

Joe Tutera, CEO of Tutera Partnership MVS, said the company anticipates starting the initial phase of the project’s construction within the next six months.

Mission Chateau will include independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Nine residential lots will be built at the discretion of the future homeowner. Included will be136 units for independent living and 54 units for assisted living in a 228,340-square-foot building on the site. A second, 97,500-square-foot building to the west would contain 36 units for memory care and 84 skilled-nursing-care units.

“The support in the community remains very strong,” Tutera said. “Our waiting list continues to grow and exceeds the number of independent living residences. We are very grateful for this continued support and are excited about delivering the highest quality senior living lifestyle for the community.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Judge won’t reconsider ruling on Mission Chateau project in Prairie Village."