Here’s the latest in the saga of Overland Park, Kansas v. Wal-Mart, which
we have been following for over a year (search “Overland Park”). According
to sprawl-buster activist Bob Phillips, the efforts of Wal-Mart to foist
themselves on Overland Park is all wet: “For over a year the citizens of
Overland Park and nearby Stilwell have been fighting Wal-Mart. In Round 1
they blindsided Wal-Mart with a successful, Legal Protest Petition (an
abuttors challenge that forced a supermajority vote by City Council) and
Wal-Mart lost. In Round 2, Wal-Mart came back with a slightly revised
plan, the threat of an on-going lawsuit from Round 1, and vague promises of
riches to some who signed the Protest Petition of Round 1. So the second
Protest Petition with abuttors failed to attract enough landowners, and the
Mayor withdrew his support of the community, and Wal-Mart won Round 2 when
the City Council voted in favor of Wal-Mart on November 19. However, near
the end of Round 2 the citizens blindsided Wal-Mart again by discovering
“Waters of the US”
on the property and getting the U.S. Corp of Engineers involved. On the
day the City Council voted, the Corp ruled that Wal-Mart had to obtain an
“Individual Permit”, the most restrictive kind, to continue with
development. Thus begins Round 3. Meeting the restrictions of such a
Permit has killed other large projects, including one this month also in
Overland Park, which had been approved by the pro-sprawl City Council. The
City Council was so bent on approving Wal-Mart that it had to ignore its
own Water Policy, Commercial Land Use Policy, and significant new traffic
information. One Planning Commission member who voted for Wal-Mart got
herself appointed to the City Council and voted again on her own
recommendation – a clear conflict of interest. The City Planning
Department told the City Council it didn’t matter what new information was
found out, it would not change the Planning Commission’s vote anyway.” So
after than a year of back and forth, Wal-Mart is still not in the ground in
this small Kansas town.
The folks in Overland Park are looking for someone who has experience in
Individual Permits issued by the Corp of Engineers. Email your advice to
Bob Phillips at [email protected].
