Judge: 'Gravesites Must Stay at KCI'
Platte City’s Shirley Kimsey got her wish – Platte County will leave its dead to rest in peace.
Last Thursday, as the Luminary went to press, Platte County Circuit Court Judge Abe Shafer ruled that developers pursuing various projects around Kansas City International Airport could not disinter gravesites on the property that are thought to be the final resting grounds of area pioneers and slaves. The ruling covers both marked and unmarked graves.
Kimsey, a local historian, has been one of the voices opposed to development plans at the airport. The development, largely backed by the Kansas City government, is expected to continue on 7,000 acres of pasture surrounding the airport. Officials told the Kansas City Star that they planned on fencing in several cemeteries that appear on the site and that projects – including a planned motor sports park for high-end car enthusiasts — will be redesigned to go around them.
The developments, which have also led to a lawsuit from a descendent of one of the people buried on site, have been a source of controversy from local school districts as well. At the last meeting of the Park Hill School District, the board decided to table a resolution in opposition to a bill that the Missouri House of Representatives is considering. House Bill 1836 would originally have eliminated property taxes forever for new businesses at the KCI Airport as an incentive to bring in new economic development, but the legislators are negotiating with the schools.
“We support economic development, and we understand that sometimes it takes incentives to stimulate growth, but giving away the school’s funds forever is just too much, for too long,” Superintendent Dennis Fisher said.
Fisher said that if new businesses bring in new families, local schools will need those funds to educate the new children. He said he was hopeful that a compromise could allow the new businesses at the airport to receive some incentive without hurting the schools.