All that residents in Stanley, Kansas want is growth that is proportional to residential growth, and appropriate in scale. Their community, which was annexed 15 years ago by Overland Park, is up in arms over a proposed 204,184 s.f. Wal-Mart supercenter. The case will be heard August 14th. by the Overland Park Planning Commission, and ultimately by the City Council. The area already has a Wal-Mart nearby, and the Blue Valley Riding Homes Association says the superstore will compromise the quality of life in and around the area, leading to more spin off commercial development, more road work (“the solution to more traffic is always to make the roads bigger”), more noise, and more light (“the stars will keep getting harder to see as the store and parking lot lights turn on”). The neighbors says this size of a project is an inappropriate use of the land. It is a regional facility, not a local commercial retail center. “Regional centers are not dropped in the middle of neighborhoods with over 20 neighborhoods and with over 2,000 homes within a 1 mile radius says the Blue Valley Association. The group notes that no traffic study has been done, and there is already a commercial corridor only one mile away.
The neighborhood associations are looking for help in stopping Wal-Mart. For further information, contact Jamie Hunter, President of Blue Valley Riding Homes Association at 913-681-9299, or Bob & Shirley Phillips at 913-685-1445.
