Westside Wrongdoing?
The proposed western Parkville business development, Vertical Ventures III, got off to an auspicious start Thursday after Parkville officials issued a stop work order for the property.
Citing the developer for illegal dumping and fill work, the city shut down what nearby residents called an “army of trucks” from dumping tons of asphalt on the property at around 3 p.m. City officials said Vertical Ventures did not have a permit to do such a thing.
“I saw about 100 trucks – one every minute and 20 seconds,” longtime area farmer Gary Gruerman told The Luminary. Gruerman, a decorated Vietnam War hero who has lived at the property abutting Hwy. 45 for the past 59 years, said that although he sold the 34-acre plat to the business park developers, they did not have legal access to the property. Currently, the only way onto the property is to use Gruerman’s private drive.
While Gruerman, who told The Luminary he originally agreed to sell the property to developers on a handshake, has allowed contractors access to the property for minor activities, he never consented to allow heavy trucks through his 6.6 acre plat.
“Nobody called me about this. I walked down there and talked to a young woman and she said her company had a contract with KCI airport taking off parking lot asphalt and they were allowed to dump out here,” Gruerman said. “They’ve asked me for permission to service equipment, which I didn’t care about. Hundreds of trucks? That’s different. They ruined my road.”
Gruerman said that the developer behind Vertical Ventures, Richard Kopp visited the site and was very upset by the stop work order and claimed that the road was owned by the state, something Gruerman says is not so.
“MoDOT built that road so we could have access. We own the drive,” Gruerman insisted.
Gruerman said Kopp offered him $200, presumably for the damages to the drive, but he was not interested. Gruerman, who is 60 and lives with his 100-year-old mother, said he is tired of the aggravation.
Gruerman said he originally agreed to sell the property to Kopp on a handshake, but negotiations quickly went to lawyers. He says he has repeatedly asked Kopp to enter into an agreement for use of his drive but has been rebuffed. Now he wonders who will pay for the road.
Kopp did not return phone calls for this article before The Luminary went to press.
City officials expressed concern over Kopp’s actions as well.
“We just met with him last week,” said Sean Ackerson, Parkville’s community development director. “It’s like, ‘What’s going on?’”
Ackerson said the site did not have a grading permit, nor has the preliminary site plan been approved by Parkville. The matter is an agenda item at the next meeting of the Parkville Board of Aldermen in early August.
“Vertical Ventures can fill without a permit; there is an exemption that says they can put up to 100 cubic yards of fill, no more than two feet high. This was visibly over that amount. Way over.”
Ackerson said Kopp claims to have a permit from two years ago, issued by former Public Works Director Jeff Rupp but the city does not have any record of such a permit. The city planned on meeting with Kopp on Friday to compare records.
In the meantime, Gruerman says he plans on erecting a steel barrier on his property to restrict access through his property.
“He thinks he can just do anything,” Gruerman said. “He said he’d have his lawyers take care of me. I said, ‘you know what? I don’t care. You’re not allowed back there anymore.’
“The farmer’s agreement is over.”