So many people have so many objections to having Overland Park, Kansas, annex them or the land near them, I thought I'd publish a "Top Ten Objections" list. Anyone who would like to add more objections or like to re-word the objections in this list, please feel to send in your suggestions to me at phillips@kncet.com and I will edit the list appropriately. The ideal is to get each of your objections into a single, short, pithy sentence. I see no reason to limit it to any set number of objections.

And remember, don't miss these two meetings:

• Johnson County Planning Commission Meeting, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 6:30 p.m., County Administration Building (Next to County Courthouse, Olathe) 111. S. Cherry St., Suite 1054, Olathe, KS.
• Final Hearing By The Johnson County Board of Commissioners is March 26, at 7 PM, Blue Valley High School

TOP 10 OBJECTIONS TO OP ANNEXATION
(OK, THERE'S MORE THAN 10)

1. The City hides from the public information about new development applications, the County publishes them on the Internet within a week of submission and has been doing so for 5 years.

2. The City gives legal notification to fewer nearby residents than the County, so it is harder to mount a legal protest petition against bad development proposals.

3. The County ordinances and plans favor residents more than the City ones do. The Blue Valley Business Park at 162nd and Metcalf would come under the City's worse ordinances, so we might get a Harley Davidson dealership next to neighborhoods after all.

4. If you live in the County, you cannot vote for the City Councilmembers who decide on nearby development.

5. If you live in the City, you can't find out how Councilmembers voted on development projects - they hide their votes by not recording them.

6. The Johnson County Planning Department is more open to resident input and takes its citizens more seriously than the Overland Park Planning Department.

7. At least one City Council member, appointed by her fellow members, not elected, appears unclear on the concept of conflict of interest.

8. The City violated its own promises to the last landowners it annexed and threw in jail a guy who fought them. He won. See 2001 Kansas State Supreme Court decision.

9. The County thought a small, neighborhood shopping center was good for 159th & Metcalf. The City proudly dropped a huge Wal-Mart Supercenter right into the middle of the neighborhoods instead. In fact, the majority of the Council and the Mayor have made it clear they see south Johnson County as a dumping ground for lots of big box stores and other intense development.

10. The City has let its developments increase downstream flooding, erosion, and silting in both Overland Park and Leawood. It just doesn't seem to care. It implemented a new water policy at neighbors' insistence, then promptly ignored it.

11. Transition zoning jointly agreed to by the County and the City will go by the wayside.

12. What's the rush? The County's Rural Comprehensive Plan is not out until July. We need to see what this plan entails. Overland Park had always indicated it would wait until summer of 2002.