Prairie Village couple raises concerns about proposed Village Shops drive thru

A Prairie Village couple is raising concerns about the environmental impact of a proposed drive thru at a new Village Shops’ building.

Chuck Dehner and Susan Woodbury, who live just a block an a half away from the location of the proposed building on the site of the abandoned Waid’s building, have circulating a letter to members of the Prairie Village Planning Commission and city administration questioning the impact the line of idling cars a drive thru might bring. They’ve also distributed a flier to area residents encouraging them to voice opposition to the drive thru.

“We don’t want or need a drive through,” the flier reads. “We are a place where people get out of their car and say hi to each other. A drive through will make our central walking lane unsafe and create a line of idling cars right next to a proposed patio where that gridlock of strollers will be breathing their exhaust.”

They also raise concerns about the environmental impact of a string of idling cars.

“[T]he drive through with idling cars will adversely affect the safety and welfare of walkers and children in strollers who commonly use Mission Lane, and a line of idling cars will adversely affect the air quality in the area of a proposed patio and surrounding area, as parents and grandparents with young children and infants and toddler in strollers commonly frequent patios in the area,” the letter to the Planning Commission reads.

Dehner and Woodbury refer the Planning Commission members to a flier put out by the Mid-America Regional Council’s Air Quality Control Program on “Idling and Your Health.” The flier recommends that parents “parks several blocks away and walk to meet the person instead of waiting in line” when picking kids up from school. It also suggests “When using a drive-through window, turn your engine off while you’re waiting. Or simply go inside.”

At its meeting Tuesday, the Planning Commission continued discussion of the Special Use Permit request for the proposed drive thru until its November meeting.