News: Joyland may fall victim to rezoning

Posted at 1:39 AM EST (0639 GMT)

Feb. 14th, 2007 -- Joyland, a 58 year-old amusement park in Wichita, Kansas, is at risk of being rezoned by it's new owners.

Last April, Joyland was reopened after being closed the previous season. The closure was due to unpaid bills and disputes between the park's owners, Stanley and Margaret Nelson, and their operating partners, Michael Moodenbaugh and Robert Barnard. Eventually the conflict was settled and as a result, Moodenbaugh and Barnard signed a lease-purchase agreement with the Nelsons. Under the terms of the deal, the operating partners made lease payments to the Nelsons and eventually purchase the park.

As of now, Stan and Margaret Nelson still own the property on South Hillside. However, they are hopeful negotiations with Michael Moodenbaugh to finalize the sale will be completed by the end of the month.

Margaret Nelson says she doesn't know about the buyer's plans for the property. But Wichita planning director John Schlegel says Joyland representatives came to the office to find out the process for rezoning the land for multi-family and commercial use. Nothing is final as reporters were unable to contact Moodenbaugh for comment about rezoning plans.

The city tells us the plans will be to rezone land next to hillside as commercial and other parcels for multi family. Multi family is anything from tri-plexes to larger apartment units.

Before anything is rezoned the application would come before the metropolitan area planning commission for a public hearing.

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