Forty-eight hours.
That is the amount of time the city of Gardner gave residents of the Aspen Place apartments to vacate their homes Tuesday after condemning the property as “unfit for habitation.”
The roughly 200-unit complex at 101 Aspen St. just southwest of New Century Airport has experienced water, sewage and road issues for years, officials say.
Most recently, a fire truck responding to an emergency call on Sunday sank and remained trapped for hours after a roadway in the complex collapsed.
In a statement, Gardner city officials said the complex’s infrastructure, originally built in the 1950s, has “severely deteriorated” and “become increasingly unreliable” with frequent water pipe ruptures, inconsistent water service and crumbling roadways.
“The city understands the hardship this causes and does not make this decision lightly,” said City Administrator Jim Pruetting of the decision to condemn the complex. “However, continuing to allow residents to live in these conditions would be unsafe and irresponsible.”
'Safety pushed our hand'
City officials estimated some 600 to 700 people live in the complex, many of them elderly, disabled, non-English speaking and low-income.
“Safety pushed our hand,” Mayor Todd Winters told the Post in an interview.
Pruetting said emergency services have no reliable way to respond to a fire or emergency event in the neighborhood.
“The streets can’t support a fire apparatus [truck] and have to be reconstructed along with the water system,” he said.
The hole where the fire truck sunk on Sunday still hadn’t been blocked off as of Tuesday.
Pruetting said the neighborhood also has no storm drains and raw sewage filters through the streets.
“The water and sewer lines have been repaired by piecemeal,” he said. “When one line breaks, it is a domino effect and another one breaks.”
Fire District #1, which operates in that part of southern Johnson County, has to get water into the complex for emergencies by running a line from New Century AirCenter.
The city of Gardner doesn’t provide utilities to the complex and the roads are privately owned, while Gardner Police assist with code enforcements at the complex.
Pruetting said four hydrants are not functional and the main water line was crushed when the fire truck sunk into the street up to its frame causing the residents to be without water since Sunday.
Johnson County commission chair Mike Kelly addressed the situation Tuesday night at an event on housing and homelessness at Leawood’s Church of the Resurrection.
He said the county was working with Gardner and local nonprofits to try to connect displaced Aspen Place residents with housing, medical care and transportation, among other needs.
“It’s truly a devastating disaster,” Kelly said. “There is no guarantee that [residents] are going to be able to return, and there’s nowhere specific for them to go. These are affordable housing units, and many of these residents have medical and mobility needs.”
Who owns Aspen Place?
County property records show Aspen Place is owned by an entity called KDR Realty.
Documents with the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office show KDR lists its address in Lenexa and was incorporated in 2014. It has filed annual reports every year since, except 2023, and its status is active and in good standing.
City officials say Aspen Place’s management has ignored multiple citations over the years, and Pruetting said city officials had been out just last week inspecting a sewer line break.
City and residents say KDR took over as the complex’s management company in 2022 from another entity named Axiom Equities, which had managed the property since 2015.
Both Gardner Police Chief Pam Waldeck and city administrator Pruetting said management at the site had locked the leasing office and were no longer answering the door.
The Post was unable to reach KDR officials or any property manager for comment.
According to its website, KDR Realty owns more than a dozen apartment complexes in Kansas and Missouri, most in the Kansas City metro, including Nieman Park Townhomes in Shawnee, Millbrooke Apartments in Olathe and Governors Court Apartments in Olathe.
'I wanted out, but not like this'
One tenant at Aspen Place now looking to find new housing is Jacqueline Zarlengo, who moved into the neighborhood in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic after losing her Olathe home in a fire.
Zarlengo currently lives with her adult son Jay and three cats Ivy Lee, Astro Michael and Juicy Girl. She depends on disability income because of titanium screws in both feet after a motorcycle accident years ago, but she worries more about her neighbors and all the pets at Aspen Place.
“Many don’t have anywhere to go or friends and family to rely on,” Zarlengo said.
On Tuesday, Zarlengo gave a tour of her unit showing various spots of water damage and mold in the kitchen ceiling. She says she began having water issues soon after moving in five years ago.
“When they switched property owners (in 2022), I don’t think the new ones knew what they had gotten into,” she said.
Zarlengo said she hasn’t been able to shower or use the bathtub for the past two years and relies on friends for that. She also uses a five-gallon drum of water for flushing toilets or uses a nearby QuickTrip bathroom when she needs to go.
During a visit Tuesday, Zarlengo had a plastic water bottle with a bit of yellowish-brown water in it she said had come out of her faucets before the water stopped working Sunday.
“I wanted out, but not like this,” she said.
Problems escalated in 2023, when a water main broke in the neighborhood before Christmas leaving residents without water for 11 days and streets covered in ice.
Zarlengo said they didn’t have heat during that time either and despite being told by management that port-a-potties would be provided for residents, she never saw any.
“Water is a human right,” Zarlengo said.
On Tuesday, she was trying to book a U-Haul with money that remained after paying rent at the start of May. She had advice for other renters.
“Look for the signs when moving, ask about the plumbing and mechanical stuff, because I would have not have known this stuff was here,” she said. “Speak with the current tenants to ensure the type of community you are moving into.”
Other residents who did not want to be named on the record also shared their stress and anger with the situation and the lack of time to vacate. Some said they would likely have to live out of their cars for the foreseeable future.
Gardner community trying to help
The Hope Market, a Gardner-based nonprofit food pantry, started Tuesday to gather resources to help Aspen Place residents with temporary housing, meals and grants.
Founder and Director Melissa Prins set up an online fundraiser to help displaced residents pay for moving expenses and first month’s rent and security deposits at new lodgings.
Grace Baptist Church, 650 E. Madison St., held a community meeting Tuesday evening for people wanting to help. City officials, community leaders and law enforcement were also in attendance.
“People band together in a time of need,” Zarlengo said.
The city shared a range of resources with residents and the county is setting up shop at the New Century Fieldhouse Wednesday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. all three days.
Gardner Police Chief Waldeck said needs would be assessed for residents impacted.
“We will support them, triage needs and have a hotline set-up,” she said. “We are trying to funnel resources.”
Questions can be sent to the city’s hotline at (913)884-2700.
The Gardner Price Chopper donated paper and plastic bags and one anonymous family donated pizzas for residents Tuesday night.
What happens next?
The city and other officials on Tuesday were not ready say what will happen to the Aspen Place complex itself once residents are moved out.
Mayor Winters added he didn’t know yet how the city would move forward with the buildings and land.
Pruetting, the city administrator, said the city has to go through the condemnation and abatement process with the property, adding the complex’s management has never gotten the permits to complete restoration work for some roads.
“But we won’t let it just sit there,” Pruetting said.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
