Testimony to BOCC on January 17, 2008 by college junior Mary Pishny

January 17, 2008

Johnson County Board of County Commissioners:

Having grown up in rural Johnson County, I was lucky enough to be raised on gravel roads, Stilwell Smokehouse BBQ, backyard bonfires, and the annual skeet shoot every Thanksgiving. However, if Overland Park has its way, the gravel roads and the rural environment will be paved over, local businesses will give way to big box stores. The bonfires that my friends and I always enjoyed will be outlawed along with our favorite family skeet shooting tradition. While Overland Park may do a fine job of meeting the needs of its current residents, it is in no way equipped to govern the rural and agricultural area that is proposed to be annexed.

This past year in college, I took a planning class entitled Solving Urban Problems that discussed many of the issues that are at hand here today. One of the problems we discussed was sprawl, and a solution of approaching regional planning differently. So it’s very frustrating for me to see what could lie ahead for not only the area Overland Park would like to annex, but for Overland Park residents as well. The massive subdivisions that are completely void of unique characteristics. Ironically many are often named after the very natural habitat that they destroyed. The space consuming strip malls are the very definition of sprawl, and the effects of sprawl such as spending more time in the car and less time with neighbors are growing more apparent each year.

While I understand that the population in the area is continually growing and that housing needs to meet that demand, I don’t understand why the area is continuing to allow development that creates more traffic jams, less natural habitat, more pavement, fewer local businesses, and more corporate chains. While this type of development might be something Overland Park is OK with, the residents of this rural area of Johnson County are not.

The very thing that Overland Park wants to do by involuntarily annexing 15 square miles is what city planners and educators are trying to stop. So my request would be to think differently when looking for solutions to the problems that Overland Park is facing and don’t use this involuntary annexation as a quick fix. We are a unique and proud group of residents who value our freedoms. We are not a path for Overland Park to expand its reach and gain more tax revenue.

Mary Pishny