In a nearly unanimous vote on Monday night's January 7 public hearing, the Overland Park City Council approved Resolution 3257 to annex 4.7 square miles of Stilwell. This vote came at a packed public hearing with standing room only at Overland Park City Hall to discuss annexation. The annexed area would extend Overland Park boundaries from 159th Street to 167th Street between Quivera and Antioch, then down to 183rd Street between Antioch and Metcalf.

Monday night's hearing before Overland Park City Council was held to fulfill requirements of Kansas State Law which states that a public hearing on annexation must be held. However, most of the residents in attendance from the proposed area to be annexed felt like it was already a foregone conclusion and no matter what was said--the hearing was only a formality.

Speakers Unanimously Oppose Annexation

During the packed public hearing some 17 speakers representing many of the residents in the proposed annexation area spoke strongly against annexation. Most speakers said there would be no benefit to residents, that present Johnson County services were quite good, and that Overland Park represented high density development that favored concrete over trees or green space. Speaker after speaker pointed out that they did not want what they saw happening north of them. (And we all just saw what happened at 159th and Metcalf, when a promised neighborhood strip mall turned into a Wal-Mart SuperCenter--one of 9 big box stores approved by Overland Park, most of them in the last couple of years!) Several speakers said they were refugees who had fled Overland Park to get away from the heavily urbanized environment--and would resent further additional restrictions that would come with Overland Park annexation. Several speakers also voiced concern over quarry expansion that might occur with annexation.

Roxanne Morse, Trustee of Oxford Township, which encompasses much of area to be annexed, presented a list of concerns and issues and asked that the Overland Park annexation committee please incorporate these concerns into any possible annexation agreements. Marsha Lawrence, new to the area from Massachusetts, where she lived south of Boston, said she was appalled by Overland Park's total disregard for trees, green space and eroding quality of life. John Coffelt said that when he had voiced concerns over development at earlier Overland Park Planning Commission hearings, he had been told that if he didn't like it he should move south to Louisburg. He said that annexation may prompt him to move further south.

Throughout the hearing, residents continually voiced concerns that their opinions are disregarded and that they have very little representation in these matters.

Further Annexation Ahead?

One of the speakers asked Major Eilert if this 4.7 square mile area was the end of annexation--or whether there would be further annexation ahead. Major Eilert said he could not rule out further annexation. To loud applause, the speaker said the real intentions of Overland Park were clear: they were putting this bite on their plate and would be eating more at a later date.

At 9 p.m. Mayor Eilert closed the public hearing. In the brief follow up discussion, Council President Neil Sader said change was inevitable and was going to occur regardless. Overland Park could manage growth much better than Johnson County. He moved that Resolution 3257 be approved. Council member Tim Owens objected to any vote done so quickly and suggested that the council should discuss the testimony presented and vote the following week. In the end he was outnumbered. The vote was 9-1 in favor of the Resolution with Tim Owens voting "no."

The Overland Park City Council said there will be an informational meeting about the annexation around Jan. 31--with a meeting perhaps at Blue Valley West High School. However the meeting time and location were not clear. The annexation plan now moves to the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners where it must be approved by a majority vote. This meeting could possible be held in late March.

Johnson County Commissioners can be reached through the County's web site: http://bocc.jocoks.com/Comments can be written, emailed, or left via phone.

Overland Park City Council members can be contacted through Overland Park's web site: www.opkansas.org/html/gb/council_directory.html.

You can send an email that will automatically be directed to both these groups and NeighborhoodNet by sending it to annexation@nbrhd.net. [Letters are not published on NeighborhoodNet without the author's permission].

Reported By Shirley Phillips