Leawood restaurants now have an easier path to adding outdoor seating as they reopen for dine-in service amid loosening restrictions on businesses in Johnson County and the state of Kansas during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Leawood City Council this week unanimously authorized City Administrator Scott Lambers to temporarily issue expedited permits for the city’s restaurants to add outdoor seating, bypassing the normal planning process. At the council’s Monday meeting, Lambers proposed using the permits because “all the reports on the restaurants that are trying to reopen is that the indoor space requirements are basically a killer.” “They have to really judge whether or not they can justify opening the inside dining given the limited spacing capacity,” he said.
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The partnering cities unanimously agreed that it was in the best interest of public health and safety to cancel the 2020 fireworks display. The cities of Roeland Park, Fairway and Westwood on Wednesday morning announced the cancellation of the joint, annual Fourth of July fireworks display due to the coronavirus pandemic. City officials from all three cities and various departments — administration, public safety, public works and public relations — as well as Bishop Miege High School staff met virtually on May 7 to discuss whether or not to host the annual event. Originally scheduled for July 3 at Bishop Miege, 5041 Reinhardt Drive, the cities decided to cancel the display in an effort “to continue to stop and slow the spread of COVID-19,” according to a press release.
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The Roeland Park city council Monday evening approved a resolution setting a 2025 goal to reduce the city’s carbon emissions by 28%, in addition to a solar-ready ordinance. Roeland Park’s 28% reduction goal and date complies with Paris Climate Agreement recommendations, and the city intends to achieve its goal by implementing suggested strategies from Dynamhex — the company tracking the city’s carbon emissions — and the Climate Action KC Playbook. Mayor Mike Kelly, Climate Action KC leader, said he appreciated the council’s unanimous approval of the resolution. “I’m excited for all the great co-benefits that will come with [lowering the city’s emissions], public health, economic prosperity and better quality of life for our residents,” Kelly said.
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