K-C Radio: Entercom Agrees To Remove Property Fencing

The fence is coming down. Long a sore point for neighbors around the Entercom radio towers at 50th and Belinder in Westwood, a barbed-wire topped perimeter fence around the property will be removed by the company, according to the Prairie Village Post.

Two AM radio stations, N/T KMBZ 980 AM and  Sports KWOD 1660 AM, broadcast from the site. The property also has a 15,000 square foot broadcasting studio and office building which has been mostly vacant since 2004 when Entercom moved most of its staff to Mission.

The Westwood City Council approved a special use permit for Entercom Communications last week that ends a months-long saga and allows the company to continue its use of the eight-acre site for its broadcast operations. Entercom previously had objected to removal of the eight-foot fence. But Thursday, Entercom’s Dave Alpert told the council “we will take the perimeter fence down to be a good neighbor.”

Alpert said the towers and guy wire anchors will continue to be fenced. The process through planning commission and council, he said, “gave us a chance to listen to the neighbors.” Those neighbors had asked for improvements at the property for several years, complaining about maintenance and the condition of the fence.