Corbet Collins takes a breather on his land just south of Lawrence Municipal Airport. A proposed commercial development near Collins' property has many neighbors worried that it will interrupt their rural lifestyle. Collins was out working in his field on Friday.

Scotty Thellman, 16, wipes sweat from his brow in the afternoon heat on his family farm north of the Lawrence airport. His mother, Nancy Thellman, is working to organize opposition to a proposed business park near the airport.

It all comes back to the land.

Here in Grant Township – nestled in the Kansas River valley north of Lawrence – there’s plenty to see if you like rural scenes. The corn grows as high as an elephant’s eye, as they say in farm country. The air hums with the sound of prop engine planes taking off and landing from the Lawrence Municipal Airport. And even the intruders are a welcome sight.

“I have trouble with the deer eating the hibiscus in my backyard,” said Chet Fitch, who grew up in the township and is now the township trustee. “That’s the type of place it is. It is a wonderful place for people who enjoy wildlife, natural beauty and good crops.”

At the foundation of it all is the land. It’s flat, it’s fertile, and many people say it’s the future.

Problem is, these days, folks are talking about two different futures.

Ripe for enterprise

On one side is a development group led by Lawrence businessman Jes Santaularia. His group has a development plan before city and county planners to convert 140 acres of farmland owned by the Roger Pine family into a “lifestyle” business park that would include lots for warehouse and office uses. It also would include a small commercial center to serve the workers of the business park and the surrounding neighborhood.

The 140 acre plot – which is near the intersection of U.S. Highways 24/40 and North Seventh Street – could be just the beginning. Santaularia has said his goal is to acquire up to 900 acres in the area for a business park that would be the employment center for Lawrence for the next 25 years.

Developers don’t discount the value of the farm ground. It is good soil, but it also is in a good location. It is right next to an interchange for the Kansas Turnpike, and it is near U.S. Highway 59, a major north-south roadway. To Santaularia and his group, the one thing the ground may produce better than corn and soybeans is jobs.

“The benefits to the city are far greater if you can create a significant number of jobs on it and create a tax base for the community,” said Anthony Santaularia, one of Jes’ sons and a member of the development team. “This is an opportunity to create thousands of jobs for the city that aren’t available right now.”

Growing local

For many residents in the area, though, what the ground is growing today is just fine. Barbara Clark wakes up to a crop of heirloom tomatoes, garlic and a host of other produce that she regularly takes to sell at the Lawrence farmer’s market.

Her 26-acre produce and sheep farm operation is about two miles north of the Lawrence airport, and would be near the proposed business park.

“My concern is that we’ll be losing some of the most fertile ground in Douglas County,” Clark said. “I just hate to see it covered up with concrete.”

Clark has been on her property 11 years but lived in North Lawrence for 10 years before that. She said the area is just made to grow food, not only because of its nutrient-rich soil, but also because of the abundance of groundwater just below the surface.

“When I lived in North Lawrence, the old sages would say that you don’t even hardly have to get a plant in the ground to get it to grow,” Clark said.

Clark and her neighbors said they think the “bottom ground” of the Kansas River valley will be a valuable asset to the city in future years when it may become too expensive to routinely import food from thousands of miles away.

“There will be a need for this good ground as the world changes around us,” said Nancy McKee, whose home just north of the intersection of U.S. 24/40 and North Seventh Street would be immediately adjacent to the business park. “We’ll end up regretting it.”

Brewing battle

The valley may be a less peaceful place in the coming months. Several residents are beginning to organize an official group to oppose the development as it works its way through City Hall.

Nancy Thellman, a Presbyterian minister who lives on about 100 acres of brome and hay ground two miles north of the proposed site, is working to organize the group.

“I think the fact that we’re looking to create permanent signs instead of posterboards is an indication that we’re planning on a long fight,” Thellman said.

Thellman, who is married to Dr. Scott Thellman, said she has about 120 people who have expressed an interest in the opposition group. They’re having an organizational meeting tonight at Grant School.

“We’re not anti-growth, and we’re not anti-development,” Nancy Thellman said. “We just want this project to meet some serious scrutiny before it is passed through.

“It is an ambitious proposal that will completely reshape North Lawrence and pretty much cannibalize Grant Township.”

Broader issues

Thellman also insists this isn’t just a case of “not in my backyard.” She said there are several larger issues that are attracting attention from the broader Lawrence community.

“The issue of saving this prime farm land is probably the rallying cry and what will warm the hearts of people in these parts, but what I think will rally the general public is the pocketbook issue,” Thellman said.

She said area residents should be concerned about how much the city and county may be asked to spend to extend infrastructure to the site. Previously the city had an estimate of about $2 million to extend sewer service to the site, but City Hall leaders are now reviewing that.

The developers have said they will be seeking public assistance on infrastructure issues. Anthony Santaularia said in addition to the sewer issue, there may need to be improvements made to U.S. Highway 24/40. He said the developers won’t be asking for public dollars to build new roads and other internal improvements in the business park. Santaularia said he didn’t have an idea yet on how much the public may be asked to invest in infrastructure improvements.

“But I’m confident it will be minimal compared to what it will bring back to the community,” Santaularia said.

Other issues include concerns that the development will worsen flooding in the area. Santaularia is quick to counter those concerns by saying the current plans do not show any development in the actual 100-year floodplain.

Matt Bond, the city’s stormwater engineer, also said he has given preliminary approval to the development’s stormwater plans. He said most of the stormwater will drain into the floodplain that is east of the site. From there, it will drain into Mud Creek and then into the Kansas River. Bond said he’ll need to give the plans an additional review when the size and locations of buildings are determined.

Residents, though, are wary. Fitch, the township trustee, said the fact that the development isn’t in the floodplain is more of a technicality because all the land there is designed to flood.

“When I try to imagine those big rooftops out there, I’m pretty skeptical that it is going to work,” said Fitch, although he said neither he nor the township has taken an official position on the project yet.

The final broader issue has to do with the Lawrence Municipal Airport, which would be a neighbor to the park. Nelson Krueger, a longtime Lawrence pilot who uses the airport, said problems could arise if the project diverts floodwater toward airport property.

There already is a pooling area near the airport that attracts waterfowl. Krueger said if the area becomes too much of an area for waterfowl, that will be a concern for regulators with the Federal Aviation Administration because the birds can be a problem for safe takeoffs and landings. The FAA provides significant grants for the airport, and Krueger has expressed concern that if the development isn’t handled properly it could put future grants in question.

Trusting a neighbor

Not everyone in the valley, though, is worried. Pat Ross farms about 3,000 acres in the area as part of the Nunemaker-Ross Farms. Ross said he felt better about the whole proposal knowing that the Pine family is a part of it.

“Having been neighbors with Roger for the past 35 years, I know that he has always been concerned about doing the right thing,” Ross said. “If there are issues about drainage or something like that, I’m sure he’ll take care of those problems.”

Pine, a Republican state senator representing Lawrence, has said the decision to sell the ground has been a tough one. His family has been farming in the valley since 1868.

“I’m not sure everybody will be on board with all the changes, and I can certainly understand that,” Pine said when the project was announced in late June. “But we just think change is coming to this area one way or another. We wanted to be part of the decision-making process rather than being concerned about what was coming our way.”

Ross said that’s the way he views it as well. Although he doesn’t like seeing good farm ground lost, he said it was a “pretty small piece of the pie.”

“I think what it comes down to is that change finds us all,” Ross said. “You know, it is very good farm ground, but the airport was built on some of the best farm ground the county has. And I can’t say that hasn’t been good for the community.

“Overall, I think that has been very positive for the community, and I think this proposal probably will be too.”