photo by: Bremen Keasey

Commissioner Lisa Larsen, vice mayor Brad Finkeldei and commissioner Bart Littlejohn sitting during the Lawrence City Commission meeting Tuesday night, Jan. 7, 2025.

For the second time in under a year, Lawrence city commissioners voted Tuesday night to deny a west Lawrence apartment complex’s request to remove a gate that separates the complex from an adjacent neighborhood.

The commissioners voted unanimously against the request from the owners of the Alvadora apartments at 5555 W. Sixth St. after hearing from public commenters both in support of and against the change. Previously, the commission had denied the request in April 2024, in part because the applicant was not present at that meeting.

When the apartment complex was initially constructed in 2007, neighborhood residents were concerned about cut-through traffic, so the developers added the gate to separate the apartments from the existing neighborhood. Then, in 2022, the current owner, GB Alvadora SPE LLC, purchased the property, and Terry Leibold, an attorney representing the owners, said multiple tenants were asking why the gate on the eastern portion of the property was “always shut” and why they couldn’t use it.

Leibold said Tuesday that the property owners wanted to remove the gate to help ensure the safety of the roughly 150 residents at the complex. One concern he mentioned was access for emergency responders, a concern that some residents of the apartments echoed during public comments.

Resident Cathie Rodkey said her 104-year old mother had a stroke last summer, and there were some issues with emergency services reaching her because of the gate. And Kurtis Copley said that when an elderly neighbor fell and needed an ambulance, he and his fiancee had to help move the neighbor to the western side of the apartment complex to make it easier for emergency responders to reach them.

But several commenters from the neighborhood asked the commission to deny the proposal to remove the gate. They said that removing the gate would cause an increase in traffic in the neighborhood and jeopardize the safety of children playing there. Although the property owners said they were willing to find a compromise that would alleviate the neighbors’ concerns, the commenters from the neighborhood made it clear they were against any change.

“The compromise is keeping the current agreement,” one commenter said.

Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei said he was on the Planning Commission during the approval of the apartment complex. He said the gate was added by the original developers in part to meet the zoning requirements that would allow them to build a complex of that size on tha plot of land. Finkeldei said he felt the applicant did not “provide compelling enough reasons” for the change, especially since the new owner benefits from having more apartments to rent out.

Mayor Mike Dever said that while he respected the safety concerns shared by the residents, he — like Finkeldei — felt there weren’t enough reasons given for the change. He said he was concerned more about the lack of repair on the gate.