photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Judge Mark Simpson listens to opening arguments in the bench trial for a lawsuit between a church and the City of Lawrence Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

The question of just how many duplexes are allowed on one lot under Lawrence’s city code was front and center as the two-day bench trial for a church’s lawsuit against the City of Lawrence began Wednesday morning.

As the Journal-World has reported, First Presbyterian Church is suing the city and Dallas-based Fountain Residential Partners to halt a project that would combine two lots at 2300 Crestline Drive into an approximately 9-acre site and build a more than 300-bedroom apartment complex. Rather than one large building, the project plans filed in 2020 instead call for those units to be spread across 57 duplexes and six detached dwelling structures on the lot.

During opening arguments in the trial on Wednesday, Richard Hird, the church’s attorney, told District Court Judge Mark Simpson that he aimed to prove that wasn’t allowed under city code, using information about uses in the city’s residential zoning districts as evidence.

“I think at the end of the day what we’ll show to the court is duplexes have always been treated under the code very similarly to single-family residences, and the intent of the ordinance is that a duplex is a single structure — and the word single is important,” Hird said. “It has two living units in it, and it’s located on one lot.”

Deputy City Attorney Randy Larkin contended during his opening statement that there is no admissible evidence that would establish legislative history for this case or other relevant factors that wouldn’t allow for more than one duplex per lot. Larkin added that if the city’s code truly didn’t allow for duplex uses like this, it would say so specifically.

The beginning of trial proceedings on Wednesday marked the latest chapter in a lengthy legal battle concerning the project located across the street from First Presbyterian Church. The lawsuit was first introduced in late 2021, dismissed a few months later and eventually revived in mid-2023 by the Kansas Court of Appeals.

In the lawsuit’s initial dismissal, the District Court agreed with the defendants’ interpretation of whether the project complies with city code based on the fact that each building would be a single structure containing two primary dwelling units, all located on one lot. The Court of Appeals about a year later found that the city’s code is ambiguous since it can be fairly interpreted in two or more ways, leading to its mandate that the previous judgment be reversed and remanded.

The trial will continue through Thursday in Douglas County District Court.