Lawrence’s 23rd Street construction project leads to land dispute with homeowner, lawsuits

The ongoing project to widen a portion of 23rd Street has the city at odds with a homeowner along the roadway.

The city is widening 23rd Street between Louisiana and Massachusetts streets to install a center turn lane, requiring the city to acquire easements from several property owners, including the owner of a home at 23rd and Vermont streets who has since filed a lawsuit against the city. The project required easements from 12 properties totaling about 7,500 square feet, and the disputed land is the only unresolved easement, according to a city memo.

City memos state that the property at 23rd and Vermont streets is not platted and therefore required an in-depth review of property records to determine the property’s lot lines. At the center of the dispute is whether the city right-of-way extends 30 or 33 feet from the center of the road, and the homeowner and the city both claim to have documents indicating different locations for the property line.