City Commission denies Alvadora owners' request to remove emergency gate at 5555 W. 6th St.

On Jan. 7 the Lawrence City Commission voted 5-2 to deny a request from the owners of Alvadora Apartments to remove an emergency-only access gate on the complex's southern access at 5555 West 6th Street.

The vote preserves the gate that had been required by a 2007 final development plan compromise between the original developer and neighborhood homeowners. City staff had brought the amended final development plan to the commission because removing the gate was deemed a significant change to an approved plan.

Terry Leibold, an attorney speaking on behalf of the applicant, said the current owners were not party to the 2007 agreement and that tenants—some of them elderly—had asked the owner to seek removal. “They feel very strongly that there are some really good reasons as to why they are asking for the gate to be removed,” Leibold said, adding that many tenants use the southern access during temporary closures of the main entrance.

Rona Bettencourt, who…