A proposed industrial park west of Lawrence is drawing organized opposition from neighbors concerned the development could harm property values and increase traffic in the area.

About 85 Douglas County residents have banded together to oppose the 155-acre park, which would be built along the Kansas Turnpike near the Lecompton interchange.

“What you’ll do is destroy the beauty of the area if you put an island of industrial out here,” said David Ross, the group’s president. “We know the developer has a right to make money, but what we’re saying is that it can be done more thoughtfully than what they’re proposing.”

Dubbed the Scenic Riverway Community Assn., the opposition group was formed during a meeting Monday evening, Ross said. The association is trying to defeat a request to rezone as light industrial the land immediately north and east of the interchange between Kansas Highway 10 and the Kansas Turnpike. It now is zoned for agricultural uses.

The request, which is to be heard Dec. 17 by the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission, is proposed by Venture Properties Inc., a Lawrence development group led by Duane Schwada.

The possibility of a truck stop, which would be permitted under industrial zoning, is of particular concern to the neighbors, Ross said.

They are worried it would boost light pollution, traffic and crime rates. Because plans also call for the site to be served by a 10-acre sewage lagoon, there also are concerns about odor, Ross said.

Schwada said concerns about the development of a truck stop were unwarranted. He said the only discussions his group had undertaken were to put in a convenience store on part of the site.

“There is not going to be a truck stop,” Schwada said. “People do need fuel and convenience there, but that’s a lot different than a truck stop.”

A detailed plan for how the property would be developed hasn’t been filed. But Schwada has said it would include a number of lots to serve both small- and medium-sized industrial businesses.

Developers have said Lawrence needs more land zoned for industrial uses to attract employers. The site is suited for industrial development because it has quick access to Interstate 70 and Kansas Highway 10, developers said.

“We now recognize the need for additional industrial-zoned ground and could find no better location than this one,” Jane Eldredge, a Lawrence attorney representing the developers, wrote in a letter to the planning staff members.

But Ross said area property owners believed the project was too far from the current city limits and that the community ought to focus on developing new industrial parks in areas like the former Farmland Industries Inc. plant east of Lawrence.

“There are other areas that are less inviting to live that would be a better choice for industrial,” Ross said.

The opposition group has begun work on creating an official protest petition that would require a unanimous vote by the county commission to approve the project rather than a standard simple majority vote required for most projects, he said.