The Waldo Tower Neighborhood Association has been contacted on multiple occasions regarding the news of a possible child detention center, operated by Vision Quest Ltd, locating in or near our neighborhood.
Following is a timeline of events as we saw them and a much information as we have to share. Since this is fluid situation and the organization seems to trying multiple locations, we’ll try to update this page as we get new info.
The owner of the property at 7801 Holmes, Mr. David Ferron, presented to our neighborhood on multiple occasions and never once mentioned his interest in housing a detention center for kids.
Mr. Ferron asked for neighborhood support so he could get the MPD Plan from the city which would give him a way to attract potential tenants and said it would most likely be residential/housing, most likely senior living facilities, which the neighbors gladly accepted.
The original request was in August of 2014- http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/LiveWeb/Documents/Document.aspx?q=pXYCAtAS8YIPwyyTCUGv3NjgL1RFVgg4ESbJDwxEKmHE1kLolxvq2OT5KYbugug55bXxsqDIkzVjlbyK%2FlS1Rw%3D%3D
In November of 2019, Mr. Ferron again contacted the neighborhood because his original plan had expired and he still did not have the tenants he was looking for. He told us at the time that he had no changes from his original request and again, never mentioned any specific tenants during that time.
He requested that we approve an extension on his original plan - http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/LiveWeb/Documents/Document.aspx?q=xFp%2bJ5gmOQtUFs4VXcssNT2jo9yHD7hX2cHkt%2bFXD0w67TJttnpbUt1nN4HGUyrE
In December of 2019, KCTV5 did a story about Vision Quest and that they were the tenants which would occupy the property (should it pass the City Plan Commission).
Our Public Affairs Director, Angie Lile, sent an email to Mr. Ferron on December 20, 2020 to get answers (he never responded).
On February 15, 2020, Ms. Lile sent an email to Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McManus and Councilwoman Andrea Bough. Councilwoman Bough was the only one to respond, although she didn’t know anything and said that her aide would follow up with us, which she hasn’t.
Then in early March in a surprising turn of events, we were being contacted about a similar request being made by Vision Quest, only on a different property, at 8701 Troost, for a similar purpose.
Petition Opposing Proposed Immigrant Detention Center On Troost Tops 4,800 Signatures
The petition is directed toward the City Plan Commission to deny Vision Quest any special zoning permits for this purpose. Click here if you would like to sign it – https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-child-detention-in-kc?source=direct_link&
Since the new property is technically outside of the boundaries of our neighborhood association, official opposition to this from our association is not allowed according to our bylaws but we thought it important enough to share since the original request was within our boundaries.
Of course, anyone is encouraged to reach out to the City Plan Commission directly or contact us if you feel we should take more action.
The City Plan Commission has this on their agenda for the March 17th meeting, 9am on the 26th floor of City Hall. Angie Lile plans to be in attendance. There are three case numbers currently listed for the same address: CASE # CD-SUP-2020-00001, CASE # CD-SUP-2020-00002, CASE # CD-SUP-2020-00003