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Developers Fight Hard Against Stream Buffering
South Johnson County Will Be Most Affected

August 24, 2002

The following was submitted by a trusted neighborhood expert, Liz Hendricks, who has worked for the last year on the Watershed Development Task Force in shaping the newly proposed Stream Buffering Ordinance in Overland Park, KS. Developers are fighting this because it would place some restrictions on their ability to destroy streams.

In fact, Liz is one of only three members of that task force to show up and defend the work they spent a year on. One of the Task force members, Jim Hix, OP City Council, has even caved to developers and at the last minute offered an amendment that largely guts the very work he approved initially.

If you believe streams in Johnson County, particularly those south of 159th where development is now hitting should be better protected, if you would like to see some limits on the destruction of waterways when big box stores are being proposed, you should write the Overland Park City Council in favor of this ordinance - AS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN WITHOUT THE AMENDMENT THAT GUTS IT BY JIM HIX, City Council Member.

This email address will go to all current members of the Overland Park City Council. A copy also will be forwarded to me (but will not be published or distributed without the author's explicit permission):

citycouncilop@nbrhd.net

By the way, I ran into two terms with which I was not familiar:

  • riparian: "Of, on, or relating to the banks of a natural course of water."
  • riprap: "A loose assemblage of broken stones erected in water or on soft ground as a foundation."


"By now, you've probably read the bad news that the public hearing for the proposed stream buffer ordinance did not go so well for the ordinance. Thank goodness Council didn't vote on it that night as it probably would have been defeated.

Developers Fight Hard Against Ordinance

As predicted, development interests showed up in force, armed with all kinds of interesting statistics and information, much of it erroneous. You would have thought that civilization as we know it would come to an end with the implementation of a stream buffer ordinance!

A favorite law firm provided threats of future law suits, one councilman saw no need for buffers or stream protection in a city, another felt a building situated on the banks of Indian Creek at 119th and Quivira after its floodplain had been filled, riparian corridor destroyed and banks stabilized with riprap (all Corps approved) actually enhanced the corner.

The HBA (Home Builders Association) predicted huge profit losses from undevelopable land (although only up to 5% of land in a watershed with 100 ft. average buffers is typically taken out of circulation) and suggested that Best Management Practices like detention ponds [see Detention Ponds and West Nile Virus article] were far better for runoff pollution control than buffers on natural streams. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell Council that BMP's only work well when they are used in conjunction with effective stream buffers. This is just a sampling of the interesting observations made that night.

Landowner support south of 151st street will probably be actively pursued by the HBA and development contingent to bolster their case that establishment of stream buffers will constitute a "taking".

Other Cities Have Similar Ordinances Already

The flip side of this is that stream buffer ordinances have been used effectively for years on other communities without serious harm to landowner and developer rights and profits and in fact have proven to be a benefit and attractive amenity for home builders. Flexibility is built in to the ordinance and this document is not nearly as restrictive as Lenexa's or some of the model ordinances suggested by CWP and other groups. In any case, the public's comments to Council and the Mayor right now are crucial - the more the better.

Most Task Force Members Don't Show Up

The only Task Force members who showed up to defend the ordinance proposal were the three citizens with an environmental interest. Others in the community spoke in defense of the ordinance too, but the HBA and development interests very effectively turned the issue into an environmental (politically incorrect in Kansas) versus land-owner rights issue. You can guess where most of Council is weighing in.

Mayor Eilert had the presence of mind to send the item back to the Committee-of-the-Whole for further discussion (Sept. 9) and they may or may not vote on it that evening. This will give staff the opportunity to educate Council on the merits of the ordinance as a flood and erosion control/bank stability measure and refute some of the amazing claims made by the opposition during the Council meeting. Protection of the smaller streams is key to the success of stream buffers in providing any of the benefits listed in the Purpose and Findings section of the ordinance.

South Of 151st Street Will Be Most Affected

As you may have read in the recent Sun and Star articles, the proposed ordinance will really only have an impact on properties south of 151st street as most everything north has a preliminary plan or plat on it. It will also change the way that developers locate big boxes in the city as they will no longer be able to plop them down anywhere, regardless of the existing natural features of the land. That is, if the Hix Corps amendment does not pass! While preservation of headwater streams is key to healthy streams and the stability of the larger channels, staff's 40 acre watershed threshold is a far better option than allowing the Corps to determine which streams should be saved and have buffers. This ordinance was designed to protect the undeveloped, more pristine streams to the south from the same fate as Tomahawk and Indian Creeks, which are now on a list of impaired waters in the state.

Write The OP City Council

Don't inherit the same problems that the Tomahawk and Indian Creek watersheds now face to the north! Please, if you are able, write to Council and the Mayor. Ask to meet with them. Call. Are there other ways to let them know how you feel about your streams and the way your area is developed? Familiarize yourself with the ordinance and its amended forms by going to the Overland Park Website Agenda where it has been made available.

Help your neighbors to understand the importance of this ordinance to the future of south Overland Park and any other future annexed areas and encourage them to write too! "

Thank you!


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