Wyandotte/Kansas City lawsuit settled, setting guidelines for local control on Chiefs project
Gov. Laura Kelly, shown here at the December announcement that the Kansas City Chiefs will build a stadium in Kansas, says Kansas reached agreement to end a lawsuit filed by the Unified Government of Wyandotte/Kansas City. The local governments objected to the way the deal was set up and could limit local power to make decisions. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — A lawsuit filed by local government officials challenging the state of Kansas over its deal with the Kansas City Chiefs to build a stadium was settled Friday.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City sued the state over concerns it was losing local control, specifically asking to stop implementation of House Bill 2466, or the Kansas Sports Facilities Authority Act.
The act gave the state authority to make deals with the Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals to bring their stadiums across the state line. In its initial court filing, the local governments said they would lose “power to tax, to zone and plan, to set and collect local fees, and to provide utility service through the community’s own publicly-owned utility.”
Gov. Laura Kelly and Mayor Christal Watson said in a news release they “satisfactorily resolved concerns related to the Kansas City Chiefs Stadium project.”
The unified government agreed to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, the release said.
The agreement addresses concerns about the deal, including land use and utilities, the release said.
The unified government and Wyandotte County Board of Public Utilities will retain jurisdiction on developments around the Chiefs stadium, including local planning and zoning and paying of the BPU payment in lieu of taxes, the release said.
“The stadium and its parking areas will be State facilities owned by the Kansas Sports Facilities Authority (KSFA), not subject to local zoning or building codes, and leased to the Kansas City Chiefs for $7 million per year,” it said.
The unified government’s local pledge area will apply only within stadium, parking and ancillary development areas.
“The collaboration in recent days has literally been a game changer,” Watson said in the release.
The agreement includes a way for BPU to partner with Evergy regarding electric service for the stadium and outlines the way utilities will work, the news release said.
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