KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two neighboring cities are speaking out against potential plans to build a new landfill on the Jackson-Cass county line.
It’s a landfill that Kansas City has repeatedly said it knows nothing about — even though others say it would be in Kansas City limits.
Raymore leaders have already held one meeting last fall and are now planning a public hearing in February. The city has even created a webpage with updates about what it’s calling a “threat.”
Landfill location
Raymore leaders say private developers are working with Kansas City to add a landfill between State Route 150 and 155th Street to the north and south and Horridge Road and Peterson Road to the east and west.
While the land is in Kansas City limits, it’s also near Raymore, Belton, Grandview and Lee’s Summit.
Raymore leaders said they met with state legislators in Jefferson City last week on the matter. While there, the city alleges that developer Aden Monheiser and a lobbyist also met with the same lawmakers “to humanize themselves … prior to making a formal application to place a landfill at this location.”
The developer allegedly told one lawmaker they had secured over 230 acres in the area, Raymore leaders said in a January news release.
Raymore’s mayor said this is the same amount of land another group of developers own in the northeast portion of the area, and they are planning on applying with Kansas City in the spring.
Unanimous opposition
Raymore’s city council has already unanimously passed a resolution in opposition to a landfill in southeast Kansas City.
Now the Lee’s Summit City Council is taking the same step. The council voted this week to pass its own resolution against a landfill.
“City council acknowledges there will be a need for a landfill to serve the metropolitan area in the future; however, any attempt to do so should be undertaken with the full engagement of the entire metropolitan area, inclusive of impacted counties, cities and residents,” the Lee’s Summit City Council said.
The Grandview Board of Aldermen also unanimously passed a resolution against the landfill at its Jan. 24 meeting.
FOX4 has also reached out to the city of Belton for their comment on the issue.
Kansas City response
On Thursday, a Kansas City spokesperson reiterated that the city isn’t working with anyone on a landfill in that area.
“Our stance is the same as it has been in the past,” KC spokesperson Sherae Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt pointed to two tweets City Manager Brian Platt sent to Raymore Mayor Kristofer Turnbow, one of which read, in part:
“We aren’t doing a landfill anywhere in Kansas City. @MayorTurnbow I heard your sunshine requests confirmed this … I’ve said before this is a great location for housing.”
