Fore!

Also, some Fairway Hills residents had paid a premium for lots that bordered on what remained of the Kenneth Smith estate, where foxes roamed and owls and hawks perched on mature trees. Fairway Hills resident Paul Wohl tells the Pitch that he was led to believe the property beyond his fence line would not be developed, a promise he failed to get in writing. "I'm old enough, I ought to know better," Wohl says. "That's a mistake on my part."

After the city's planning commission recommended the zoning change, 40 residents signed protest petitions. They also hired a lawyer, Sherwin Epstein, who addressed the council at the November 22 meeting.

Epstein asked the council for a 30-day delay to allow more study of the new development's impact. Epstein was joined by a hastily hired civil engineer, Floyd Cotter, who described "a high-hazard storm-water situation."

Most council members were clearly not in the mood to listen to lawyers and engineers. Before residents who were opposed to the development had a chance to speak, Mayor Jeff Meyers said he felt a continuance wasn't needed. Councilman Frank Goode said Rodrock's proposal was one of the better projects he had seen in a long time.

"We're talking about $400,000, $500,000 houses," Goode said. "Who wants to run people out of town when they're trying to come to your town to build a $400,000 to $500,000 house? I don't."

Rodrock eventually addressed the council. The home builder sounded like a man accustomed to getting his way. Earlier in 2004, the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce had presented him with its Distinguished Corporate Citizen Award. "This isn't the first development I've done ... " he said.

Rodrock said his company had been diligent about protecting the environment. Yet earlier that year, the EPA had inspected Rodrock's Grey Oaks development in Shawnee and found violations of federal storm-water regulations that protect streams and lakes from contaminated runoff. The EPA fined Rodrock Industries $7,500.

But water and trees were not the only concern. At the council meeting, Fairway Hills resident Cindi Johnson encouraged the city to save the buildings. The Smith residence, she noted, dated to the mid-1800s. "We don't have to develop every square foot of Shawnee," she said.

Rodrock said he was willing to donate the buildings, but somebody else had to pay to move them.

The council voted 7-2 to change the zoning.

Fairway Hills residents left feeling frustrated. Their request for a simple delay had met with a stern refusal.

"I was surprised the city was callous," says Fred Northcraft, a lawyer who has lived in Fairway Hills for six years.

On December 22, 2004, Epstein filed a lawsuit that accused the city of being unreasonable. Epstein asked the court to set aside the council's decision to change the zoning until more testimony could be heard. (On August 30, a judge will hear arguments and decide if the zoning stands.)

By their nature, developers like to build, and city officials like to collect new taxes. Also by their nature, homeowners object to more houses being built on the wide-open space in their backyards.

But neighbors of the property and former employees have found it strange that Jones, the trustee, has seemed indifferent to the loss of the Smith house and factory. As Shawnee resident Doug Raden puts it, "It doesn't appear that he gives a single bit of care about that property or any history about it or anything."

While Epstein worked the legal side, Fairway Hills residents took another tack — championing Kenneth Smith's historic significance.

A few weeks before the 2004 City Council meeting, Russell, the president of the Fairway Hills Homes Association, learned that in 1999, working under a grant, the Johnson County Museum had inventoried Smith's buildings as a site potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The discovery was significant. Rodrock was going to need a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because his development would cause the loss of wetlands. The buildings made the process more difficult. The law requires federal agencies to consider how a development might affect historic properties.

Preservation-minded groups began to take interest. On February 23, 2005, Mindi Love, the director of the Johnson County Museum, wrote a letter to Mayor Meyers. Love encouraged the council to consider alternatives to the demolition of the Smith buildings.

Love had tried to salvage items from the Smith workshop in 2004, after a museum board member tipped her that the business would close. Museum officials contacted McMahon, the accountant who had served as president of the company in its final years, to discuss the possible donation of artifacts. "He said, 'I'll call you back,' and we never heard back from him," Love says.

After a few months passed, Love says, "We tried several times to call back and never really got in contact with him. When we finally did, he just pretty much said, 'I'm not interested' and didn't give a reason and didn't seem very open about discussing it, so we, of course, didn't pursue it further."

Russell, meanwhile, began to track down some of Smith's former employees. "The more I found out, the more I thought he was a world-renowned person who should be recognized," Russell says.