Consultants and planners agree that Johnson County needs a homeless shelter. They call the project their “highest priority,” and zoning officials acknowledge the urgency in Lenexa, a city within the target area.
People support action. Yet once conversations turn from abstract to specific, they can get squeamish. They like the idea of a safety net for their neighbors in crisis, as long as development does not occur nearby.
The outcome is predictable: Once everyone agrees a shelter should go somewhere else, it goes nowhere. Zoning officials raise vague concerns — usually without evidence — about density, public safety or “community character.”
Policymakers respond by forming study groups and gathering testimony. But in the end they do nothing. Similar tactics can kill all types of affordable housing. But Lenexa has a chance to break the pattern.
ReStart, a charity that provides housing and related services for individuals in need, has agreed to open a 50-bed shelter — just like Johnson County wanted when it issued a request for proposals in 2023.
The planned facility would not go in anyone’s backyard. Instead, reStart would convert and renovate a run-down hotel, the La Quinta Inn off Interstate 35 and 95th Street. The area, already zoned for a shelter, borders an industrial park, big-box retailers, restaurants and other businesses. An abandoned restaurant building on the lot would provide storage and future office space for the shelter.
Lenexa should celebrate. Yet city planners want to fight the project instead. They recommended denial of a special use permit at a public hearing in August. The matter now goes to City Council on Sept. 17.
Before any vote occurs, council members should consider the case of the Catherine H. Barber Memorial Homeless Shelter in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Zoning officials did everything they could to stop the grand opening of this facility.
The local Board of Adjustment said the shelter satisfied all zoning requirements. But the city denied a conditional use permit anyway, citing hypothetical concerns about traffic and safety.
Rather than go away quietly, the shelter sued for violation of its property rights. Our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, represented the charity and helped it score a legal victory on Dec. 20, 2021, at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
“The Board apparently believes — incorrectly — that it can say the magic words ‘traffic and safety’ and this Court will rubber stamp the classification no matter the facts,” the judge wrote.
Similar issues apply in Lenexa. Cities have authority to regulate development. But they cannot block projects without good reason, and the Lenexa Planning Commission has testimony affirming the legality of the proposed shelter.
“The project is consistent with current zoning regulations and will not create detrimental effects on nearby properties,” shelter proponents have said.
They also assert a public benefit: “The center will address a critical need in our community, improve public safety, and contribute to the overall well-being of our residents.”
These are important points. Yet Lenexa zoning officials want to override them by saying magic words like “neighborhood suitability.” Other cities call it “character,” “stability,” “desirability” or “harmony.”
Connecticut requires local governments to define terms like these, but most cities give themselves a blank check. They use catchall phrases as euphemisms to justify exclusionary zoning laws.
The goal, rarely spoken aloud, is to keep undesirable people out. Opponents of affordable housing called them “riff raff” in Calhoun, Georgia. Yet individuals without homes need somewhere to go.
Johnson County planners say a shelter could function as a “front door” to housing stabilization services. Lenexa should respond with a truly magical word: Yes.
Suranjan Sen is a senior attorney for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia. He co-authored this with Institute for Justice writer Daryl James.