I recently received a letter from Vickie Holland, a resident of Steck Plantation, a beautiful neighborhood of 13 homes with 1+ acre yards on 159th street west of Metcalf. Steck Plantation is about to be designated Commercial by Overland Park, KS so it can be destroyed to let in more retail shopping.

I thank Vickie for her kind and gracious words, and I sympathize greatly with her. I agree with her that this has become inevitable because of the people who have been elected to this City Council. This City Government is about to sacrifice a neighborhood so developers can make a lot of money.

Heads Up To Those Fighting Commercialization Near Their Homes

The transformation by Overland Park of Steck Plantation from a beautiful, vibrant neighborhood to one slated for destruction should particularly concern the folks fighting against Target at 99th (the first step in Steck's destruction was dropping a Wal-Mart next to it) and fighting for the eventual residential development of SE corner, 159th/Metcalf. Once Steck on the SW corner goes, the push to commercialize the SE corner will no doubt resume.

The final steps to destroy Steck began when the City Planner met with the neighbors in Steck Plantation last week. Clay Blair, a well known developer in Overland Park, who owns or is purchasing 4 homes in Steck also attended. As a new homeowner in the subdivision, he undoubtably will have a chance to participate in the study and hearing process.

OP Prefers You Not Attend The Steck Destruction Meetings

If you want to attend the new "Task Force" meetings that will spell the end for Steck Plantation, send a letter like the attached to the City Government. Under Kansas State law you will then be notified of the public meetings concerning the destruction of Steck. I urge every citizen to send in such a letter. The more light of day, the better.

The City hoped to notify only Steck Plantation residents of these meetings. The City would like to do this as quietly as possible. It is, after all, an embarrassment to them. And they would just as soon exclude all the thousands of homeowners within 1 mile of Steck who are going to have their land values lowered when this huge commercial development occurs.

Nor would they really like the rest of Overland Park to know that when a big box store moves next to a neighborhood, the City is willing to sacrifice that neighborhood on the altar of commercialization.

Not notifying residents is how Council Member Terry Goodman effectively excluded these same residents from last year's Task Force that first recommended destruction of Steck.

Residents Never Wanted Their Homes Destroyed

A few years ago Vickie and almost all of the people in her neighborhood signed a legal protest petition to stop Wal-Mart SuperCenter from coming in across the street from them. They were afraid of what it would do to their neighborhood. They stopped Wal-Mart because of that petition, but lost on a second petition a year later. Now they all feel destruction of their neighborhood is inevitable, so they are trying to get the best deal they can to sell their land.

Who can blame them?

OP City Council And Developers Wanted Steck's Destruction

Steck Plantation's destruction is now inevitable not because it is the right thing to do. It is inevitable because the Overland Park City Government worked closely with developers to make destruction inevitable.

That first Wal-Mart protest petition was successful and 3 of the then 10 City Council members stood up for Steck, so Wal-Mart was defeated. Wal-Mart came back a second time, applied enormous pressure on residents to stop the second protest petition, including promises that they could get up to $500,000 for their homes, if they just would not sign the petition. At least 2 homeowners, probably more, were told that.

One of them did not sign and ended up selling his property for around $140,000 - well below his asking price - after Wal-Mart moved in. None of the neighbors now think they will get $500,000 for their 1+ acre lots, even if it goes commercial.

When the second Wal-Mart petition came up, another investor/attorney, Jack Epps, helped buy up a huge chunk of land from the Catholic Diocese, which had signed the first petition. This business deal mysteriously occured 1 week before the second protest petition was circulated. So of course that land did not join the protest petition. So the second petition failed and the 3 City Council members who voted with neighborhoods could not stop Wal-Mart.

The developer, Jack Epps, has since been hired by the law firm of Polsinelli, Shalton, & Welte (the law firm that represented Wal-Mart then and is now representing Target at 99th & Quivira). Neighbors did, however, use a protest petition successfully to prevent him from re-zoning his land from residential to commercial.

County Commissioner Surbaugh Tried To Save Steck

For years, County Commissioner Annabeth Surbaugh fought to preserve Steck by limiting development around Steck. She did a fabulous job. She was successful. We are all very grateful to her for her help over the years.

OP Council Member Goodman Preferred Its Destruction

Then 2 years ago Overland Park annexed Steck. Within a year a "Task Force" chaired by City Councilmember Terry Goodman recommended Steck's destruction.

Councilmember Goodman hid the work of his Task Force for a year, while it arranged for Steck's destruction. Those people right across the street who would be most heavily affected by the recommendations were excluded from his notification lists while the Task Force worked quietly away from the public eye.

Rather than accepting the recommendation for Steck's destruction immediately, the City Council put it off to this year. Now the final process has begun.

Most OP City Council Members Funded By And Represent Developers

I note that the majority of City Council members receive the majority of their campaign funding from developers. Several have the above law firm of Polsinelli, et al. and its attorneys as their single largest contributor.

These contributions are not bribes or payoffs, it is simply that the developers have funded City Council members they thought would serve them best. Developers chose wisely.

Councilmember Neal Sader, whose Ward includes the proposed new Target, is one such Councilmember. He voted for the Wal-Mart.

Council Member Terry Goodman is another. Besides chairing the Task Force, Mr. Goodman voted for the Wal-Mart. [I erroneously stated Mr. Sader and Mr. Goodman had voted for Target in the previous version of this article. The City Council was never faced with the choice of voting for Target. Instead, it simply went forward without such a vote because the City said it met the existing zoning. The result was a lawsuit by the nearby neighborhood. The neighborhood lost in court.]

Mr. Goodman and Mr. Sader will get a chance to vote on putting a Target next to neighborhoods on 99th. Mr. Sader has already made it abundantly clear he intends to vote for it when speaking with neighbors.

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