Questions about development are a big topic in Westwood

The small city of Westwood will begin to answer some big questions about future development following the April 5 general election.

Westwood voters will be considering two races. Mayor John Ye is running for a second term against former City Councilman James Donovan. Four people — Margaret Bowen, Jeff Harris, Jayme Tebow and David Waters — are running for two open positions on the five-member council after incumbents Paul Day and Matt Jones declined to run for re-election.

All the candidates said they were concerned about encouraging development while maintaining the city’s small-neighborhood charm. For example, the council is looking for ways to use the former Westwood Christian Church property on Rainbow Boulevard, which the city now owns, and redevelopment of the former Entercom property at 50th Street and Belinder Avenue, which the Shawnee Mission school board on Monday agreed to buy.

They were all also concerned about protecting the city’s only public school, Westwood View Elementary, which Shawnee Mission has considered closing in the recent past. The district’s agreement to buy the Entercom property appears to ensure the school will stay open for the foreseeable future but candidates still are concerned with development in that area.

Mayor

John Ye said he was reluctant to run again but was persuaded to run by several residents. He also said he thought the city is facing an “evolutionary” stage of its development that he needs to help oversee.

He noted that Westwood is revising its comprehensive and master plans for the first time since 1997 and continues to work with developers on the mixed-use Woodside Village development, additions to the Woodside Health Club and commercial development along 47th Street.

Woodside Village is a two-phase development that received public incentives in 2011. The city incentives, which include tax increment financing, known as TIF, and a Community Improvement District, are capped at $22 million. But the developer is expected to soon ask for that cap to be raised because construction costs have gone through the roof.

Ye said he also is working with new staff — over the last four years, several top officials (city clerk, assistant city clerk, building official, police chief, two police lieutenants) have retired or resigned. They have been replaced with people Ye said have more training and experience.

He emphasizes strengthening the city’s ties with outside entities, such as the Johnson County Council of Mayors, the Mid-America Regional Council and the Shawnee Mission School District.

He said he would continue to be “progressive” and open to business development, diversify the city’s revenues, support city services, maintain peaceful and walkable neighborhoods, and stress teamwork with others.

He said James Donovan, who served 12 years on the council, represented a “polar opposite” approach and a return to a former Westwood that struggled economically, had trouble providing services and was closed to new business.

“Many believe that if I didn’t run, it would leave a void in leadership that could threaten the success of (the city’s) challenges,” Ye said.

Donovan, 53, rejected Ye’s appraisal, saying that Westwood is primarily a community of single-family homes and that elected officials should be most focused on serving them, not necessarily promoting growth for the sake of growth.

He said he would ensure that the city focused on its responsibility to provide basic services, such as police and infrastructure, and that economic development would naturally follow — like it did on 47th Street — without the need for public assistance.

“This traditional approach to public management should not be viewed as polar opposites,” he said. “It should be viewed as good governance.”

Donovan said he hadn’t heard any desire from residents to change the zoning of the church property but instead would make sure they maintain the single-family character of the surrounding neighborhoods. He also said he would tackle what he called deferred maintenance in parts of the city, such as Joe Dennis Park.

He said he would work to strengthen the city’s relationship with Westwood View and the school district and try to get city representation on district advisory councils considering future school locations.

City Council, at-large

Margaret Bowen, a 57-year-old editor, said she was running to retain Westwood’s charm and single-family zoning, as well as to revamp Joe Dennis Park.

She said she wants to make sure the comprehensive plan update reflects the opinions of residents. She said the city should carefully evaluate developments that require public assistance, such as Woodside Village on Rainbow Boulevard, which currently includes up to $22 million in tax incentives and could want more as it moves into its second phase.

“The city changed our zoning law last year to enable dense development, including multifamily, in Westwood,” Bowen said. “Do we want to retain our single-family home atmosphere, or do we want to now ramp up development in not just one but two locations?”

Jeff Harris, a 45-year-old manager at DST Systems, sits on the steering committee that is revamping the city’s master plan. He said he was running for a council seat to help Westwood take advantage of its many opportunities to prepare for the future and continue to be a good partner with Westwood View Elementary.

He also said that his time on the master plan committee has shown him that many residents don’t understand how the city makes decisions or governs, and he wants to change that by increasing how the city communicates with residents both online and otherwise.

“I think citizens should be informed about what their city is doing and understand how it makes decisions, and (the city) should be very transparent about those things,” he said.

Jayme Tebow, a 61-year-old dental office supervisor, said she was concerned about how key issues of development affected the community.

She said she wanted to ensure financial responsibility, which includes the tax incentives at Woodside Village; work on informing residents about upcoming public hearings and other city issues in a timely manner; push reasonable enforcement of city ordinances; support continued maintenance of community property, including Joe Dennis Park; and cast a wary eye on proposed dense development.

She said she felt it important to hold “our city officials accountable for their votes on all issues.”

David Waters is a 39-year-old lawyer who has served on the city’s planning commission and board of zoning appeals since 2008. He said he wants to encourage more young families to choose Westwood because of its “small-city” feel.

“That would really still be my priority, keeping Westwood with that kind of charm but being able to introduce some good modern amenities and expanding the tax base and helping it grow, especially on our arterial commercial corridors,” he said.

To encourage more families to stay in Westwood, Waters said he would like to add flexibility to zoning codes so growing families could add bathrooms, expand kitchens or perform other major renovations to the city’s older homes rather than having to move to larger housing elsewhere. He also said he wants to improve city communication with residents, saying public input often improves projects.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Questions about development are a big topic in Westwood."