WICHITA — Watercress developer and lawyer LewJene Schneider has filed an appeal of her conviction last month in Maize Municipal Court on theft and criminal damage charges.
The charges stemmed from a long-running dispute that Schneider has with Fiddler’s Cove developer Bob Scott over real estate signs.
“She has requested a jury trial,” says lawyer Jess Hoeme, who is representing Schneider along with Steve Joseph.
A trial is scheduled for Oct. 9.
WICHITA — Watercress developer and lawyer LewJene Schneider was convicted of theft and criminal damage in Maize Municipal Court on Wednesday.
The charges stem from a long-running dispute that Schneider has with Fiddler’s Cove developer Bob Scott over real estate signs.
In February, Scott told Have You Heard? that he placed directional signs on city property by the Watercress development near 37th and Maize Road in order to help people find Fiddler’s Cove, which is accessible only through Watercress.
Scott says he complained to police when the signs began disappearing and eventually started calling daily to complain. Finally, he says, police used a surveillance camera in September to figure out that Schneider took the signs.
Lawyer Jess Hoeme, who is representing Schneider along with Steve Joseph, says his client contacted the city of Maize several times regarding the signs, which he says Scott placed illegally.
“No one from the city of Maize ever removed them,” Hoeme says.
“Bob Scott, the victim, admitted that he did not have permission to put those signs on Watercress property, nor did he have permission to put them on city property,” Hoeme says. “He just did it.”
Scott says it was “common practice” for people to put up signs without permission.
“Doesn’t make it right, but everyone was doing it – primarily LewJene,” he says.
Hoeme says the judge didn’t rule on whether Scott placed the signs legally or not. He only ruled on Schneider removing them.
“The judge doesn’t believe that even if those signs were unlawfully placed on her property that she had the right to remove them,” Hoeme says.
WICHITA — O’Reilly Auto Parts is working on another new Wichita-area site.
“That’s going to put us at … 14 locations,” district manager Cody Zimmerman says of the greater Wichita area.
He can’t yet say exactly where the new location will be, though. Sources say it’ll be in the 37th North and Maize Road area.
“I know we’ve been hunting property up there,” Zimmerman says.
He says the company has eyed several sites along Maize Road between 29th North and K-96. The site may locate just off of Maize Road.
“It’s going to be seen visibly from Maize for sure,” Zimmerman says.
Last year, O’Reilly opened 170 new sites nationwide.
“This year, we’re looking at 180,” Zimmerman says. “We’re very active as a company.”
He says he’ll let us know when there’s a done deal here.
WICHITA — A dispute between two Maize developers has escalated to charges being filed against one of them.
Watercress developer and lawyer LewJene Schneider has an April 4 court date over charges that were filed in September.
Neither Schneider nor her lawyer will comment on the situation because of her pending court date.
Schneider faces misdemeanor theft and damage of property charges in Maize Municipal Court for allegedly taking a competitor’s signs from city property near her development.
“We finally decided we’ve got to put a stop to this,” says Fiddler’s Cove developer Bob Scott. “Our real estate signs have disappeared for three years in a row.”
Scott says he placed directional signs on a city easement to help people find Fiddler’s Cove, which is accessible only through Watercress, near 37th and Maize Road.
Scott says he complained to police when the signs began disappearing and eventually started calling daily to complain. Finally, he says, police used a surveillance camera to figure out what was going on.
“They called and said, ‘We have the problem solved,’ ” Scott says. “I knew who it was all the time. … There was no motivation for anybody else to do it.”
Scott says he and Schneider have had several differences.
“We’ve had many conversations in the last three years, and it’s not a friendly conversation.”
Scott says he’s paid about $250,000 toward road and other improvements near the entrance of Watercress. He says part of that money went toward the Watercress sign, which he says he spent because he thought there was an agreement to eventually have a sign for Fiddler’s Cove.
“I made the agreement,” Scott says. “It was my fault.”
WICHITA — With the economy looking up, there’s going to be a renewed effort to sell the last 12 commercial lots at the Wyn-Wood development at 37th North and Maize Road in Maize.
“We’ve had interest, and we need somebody to harness it, go after it and get something built,” says LewJene Schneider, who started the development with her sister and brother-in-law, Leslye and Gerald Woodard.
That somebody is Thomas Lassley of Keller Williams Hometown Partners.
Lassley recently sold two lots at Wyn-Wood to the Assemblies of God Kansas District Council on behalf of Curt McNay of Caber Associates Architects and Caber Construction.
Lassley says McNay approached Schneider and the Woodards about using Lassley to “see if we can get these lots sold for you.”
“Curt’s a big help,” Lassley says. “He gets a lot of calls from people wanting to build out there.”
WICHITA — The Maize school district this week approved the sale of more than 36 acres of school property to developer Marv Schellenberg.
The property, which is part of 280 acres the district purchased more than a decade ago, fronts Maize Road south of Menards down to about 34th Street by the entrance to Schellenberg’s Fox Ridge residential development.
“When we originally bought the land, it was always our intent to sell the frontage property,” says Karen McDermott, communications director for Maize USD 266.
The district built three schools on the property, which also has ball fields, but McDermott says the district didn’t want to build anything close to Maize Road.
The property has been on the market for about four years.
The sale price had been $1.8 million, but Schellenberg countered with $1.4 million to offset the cost of some dirt work he needs to meet drainage requirements.
About 25 acres of the 36 acres Schellenberg purchased are usable for development. He’ll use the rest for retention.
Schellenberg, who didn’t return calls for comment, has applied for limited commercial zoning for future commercial development.
WICHITA — The Assemblies of God Kansas District Council is building new headquarters in Maize.
“We’re excited to have them,” says LewJene Schneider, whose family is the developer of the Wyn-Wood commercial addition at 37th and Maize Road.
The new headquarters will locate east of the Wichita State University west campus.
“It’s another stepping stone towards the Wyn-Wood addition … filling up,” says Curt McNay of Caber Associates Architects and Caber Construction.
He’s the architect and contractor on the project. Michael Cathcart of Cathcart Architects is the design architect.
McNay says the building will be almost 9,000 square feet and will house the main support office for all Assemblies of God churches in the state.
The headquarters currently is near 21st and Rock Road in leased space.
“I just think they want their own building,” McNay says.
Thomas Lassley of Keller Williams Hometown Partners and Leanne Barney of Golden Realtors handled the transaction.
“I wanted people to come and enjoy themselves, and that’s what happened. The tables didn’t turn over.”
– Jody Briceland, who in August closed her Wild Thyme cafe in Maize due to poor sales but now is back open with an increased focus on catering instead of dine-in sales
“If I had a mother-in-law, it would be the perfect place for her to stay.”
— Watercress residential developer LewJene Schneider on the new Holiday Inn Express in Maize
In early 2007, Barn’rds Restaurant owner Ken Hertel announced plans for a second restaurant, just north of 37th and Maize Road, near Wichita State University’s west campus.
He put plans on hold though, initially due to a family illness.
Then, the economy kept him from opening, and that’s still the holdup.
“We are going to go there, but we don’t know exactly when yet,” Hertel says. “We really are kind of just in a holding pattern.”
That’s even though a new Menards is opening at the intersection today.
“We’re going to watch that for a while,” Hertel says. “There’s a lot of bare land out there yet.
“We just need some more buildings and some more house tops.”
Hertel’s original Barn’rds at 2037 N. Woodlawn has been open for more than 27 years.
He’s still excited to open out west, but Hertel notes that he’s not the only one in a wait-and-see mode.
“If the economy hadn’t come to a standstill like it did, why, I think there would be more buildings right out there where the campus is,” he says.
“Everybody’s been sitting on their hands ever since.”
So could that be about to change thanks to Menards?
“We’re going to find out.”