Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Legal Services Department

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Toni Wheeler, Director of Legal Services
Date:	July 26, 2010
RE:	Farmland Property Use Controls

The City of Lawrence (City) and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) entered into a Consent Order as one of the conditions for the City’s acquisition of the former Farmland Industries site.  Under the Consent Order, the City agreed to assume the remediation obligations of the site in exchange for a covenant from KDHE not sue the City for environmental investigation or remediation for the known environmental contamination on the property existing as of and prior to the effective date of the Consent Order.  The Consent Order sets forth the City’s remediation obligations and activities.  The City’s obligations set forth in the Consent Order remain until the Consent Order is modified or terminated by KDHE.  The Consent Order will terminate after KDHE determines the City has satisfactorily completed all necessary remediation activities at the site.   

Under the Consent Order the City must apply to the Environmental Use Control Program for the purpose of entering into an Environmental Use Control Agreement under K.S.A. 65-1,221 et seq.  In the Environmental Use Control Agreement, KDHE will set forth land use restrictions for the site to protect human health and the environment.  The purpose of the use restrictions is to ensure proper management of the contaminated soil and groundwater as described in the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) and Corrective Action Decision (CAD) for the site.  KDHE has advised the City that residential uses will not be permitted on the former Farmland site.  KDHE officials have further advised the City that all 467 acres of the site, including the property on which the former Farmland administrative office building sits, will be subject to KDHE’s environmental use restrictions.  The Kansas Administrative Regulations (K.A.R. 78-71-1) define residential property as:

(u) “Residential property” means any property currently used or proposed for use as one of the following:

          (1) A residence or dwelling, including a house, apartment, mobile home, nursing home, or condominium; or

          (2) a public use area, including a school, educational center, day care center, playground, unrestricted outdoor recreational area, or park.

A shelter for the homeless is likely a residential use under the above-cited regulation.