Residents who can’t vote speak out on potential sale of Westwood park
WESTWOOD, Kan. (KCTV) - Residents in Westwood will decide on the potential sale of a park that’s been dividing the community.
All eyes are on Joe D. Dennis Park located at the corner of 50th and Rainbow Blvd.
A ‘yes’ vote will allow the city to sell to local developer, Karbank Real Estate Company.
The developer came to Westwood back in 2023 with plans to build office and retail space.
It would take over the park, Westwood Christian Church, as well as a now vacant school to build multiple office buildings with retail spaces and a parking lot.
Not everyone is on board. In early March there was a small protest arguing that the sale would harm Westwood’s character and cause safety concerns.
Signs and banners that read “Save the Park” and “Build Our Park” can be seen in front yards as tensions build over the future of the park.
“This project would be in my front yard, side yard and backyard so for me it’s a major impact,” said Mike Coffman.
Coffman has lived in his home for 43 years and although his property is right across the street from the park, he’s technically a Westwood Hills resident. That means he can’t vote on the future of the park but hopes his concerns are taken into consideration.
“Safety is one of them because of the increased traffic along Rainbow,” said Coffman.
Coffman told KCTV5 that drivers are constantly running the red light on Rainbow Boulevard and said he is concerned more traffic means the potential for more accidents.
He also said the area is residential and does not want his view of green and trees he gets to see from his backyard turn into buildings and cars.
“It’s going to be two to four stories high and its very square in architecture, so the size of the project and the architecture of the project does not fit this area,” he explained.
“It’s super unfortunate that most of the community that would be affected doesn’t have a vote,” said Brittni Walton, a Mission Woods resident.
Walton just bought her home in Mission Woods and has two young kids. She said the park was a big selling point. Now, it could be the future site of a development. With that potential, she has her own worries.
“Regardless of the data and the studies that have gone to it, I think the congestion on the street is really harmful for my kids,” she said.
On the other side, Brandon er said he sympathizes with these arguments, but a yes vote is the only option that’s good for the city and residents.
“I’ve seen their proposal. They’ve revised it several times, I think they’ve done a really nice job with working with our community and our leaders and actually residents here giving input on what they want to see,” said er.
er said it’s better to go with a developer that is local and well-known, instead of the unknown.
“We can use that and we can shape this as much as we can to what we want, if we don’t take advantage of that we’re going to get a developer whose going to go I don’t care what you guys want, I want to build what I want and we’re going to have to live with it,” er warned.
Westwood residents have until April 1 to mail in their ballots.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
