Shawnee County Commission denies request for bed and breakfast with event center

Shortly after the Shawnee County Commission on Monday morning voted 2-1 to reject his conditional use permit request for a bed and breakfast and event center on land at 3521 S.E. Paulen Road, all Rod McCollum could do was shrug his shoulders and begin considering what to do with land east of Topeka that had been in his family for years.

“Broken-hearted,” McCollum said a few minutes after his plan had been rejected. “I wanted to stay home.”

McCollum, 62, petitioned the county for the conditional use permit to use his home as a bed and breakfast and a refurbished barn on his property as an event center, which would be used for weddings. The Shawnee County Planning Commission voted 2-2 in November on the request, which was made through the McCollum Family Trust. Three members of the seven-person planning commission were absent the day of the vote, and a tie by state statute is considered a rejection of the proposal.

The planning commission’s recommendation then was considered by the three-member Shawnee County Commission.