February 24, 2023

By Melissa Harmer. Communications Manager, City of Raymore

Earlier this week, Keller Williams Platinum Partners (Lee’s Summit) real estate agents were informed via email that all buyers and sellers within a 5-mile radius of the proposed landfill site in southernmost Jackson County on the Cass County border will be required to sign a landfill disclosure and acknowledgement form.

The disclosure states that the client understands it’s their responsibility to perform their own due diligence with respect to such matters and “further acknowledges that such information is considered a ‘material fact’ and should be disclosed in any real estate transaction that may be affected by such a development.”

The 5-mile radius covers more than 97 square miles and contains 44,446 residential parcels and 32 schools. Nearly the entire city of Raymore is within this radius, as well as significant portions of Grandview, Belton, Lee’s Summit and Greenwood. Lake Winnebago is entirely within the radius.

At Raymore’s City Council Special Meeting on Feb. 16, 2023, attorney Stephen Jeffery presented on the potential health and environmental effects of living near a landfill. Jeffery cited studies that show landfill sites within a 2-mile radius have not only a negative impact on home values, but can also affect home values for more than 20 years after closure of a landfill.

The City of Raymore first shared information about a planned landfill in Kansas City, Missouri city limits along Raymore’s northern border on Oct. 25, 2022. Since January, the cities of Lee’s Summit, Grandview, Belton and Peculiar, as well as Cass County, Lee’s Summit School District, Raymore-Peculiar School District, Belton School District and the South Metro Fire Protection District have all joined Raymore in public opposition of a landfill at that location. 

On Feb. 23,  Rep. Mark Alford (MO-04) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05) released a joint statement in opposition to the proposed landfill:

 “This landfill proposal undermines the voice and representation of the residents of Cass & Jackson Counties who stand opposed to this landfill and we’ve listened to their concerns. This proposal would have a negative impact on the local economy – impacting development of this community for years to come. We join together, listening to the overwhelming majority of these communities and their local officials, and stand in opposition of this landfill proposal.”

Learn more about Raymore’s opposition to the landfill at www.raymore.com/killthefill

Download a hi-res version of the 5-mile impact area here. View the letter the Monheiser’s (landfill developers) real estate agent Shea Painter sent to multiple property owners within and surrounding the proposed landfill site earlier this year here. The letter accompanied a non-disclosure agreement.