Annexation
moving to forefront, again
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by Kim
Fickett
Landmark reporter
The message is clear. Annexation is a
priority for the Platte City Board of Aldermen.
As a part of that message delivered at
their regular meeting on Tuesday evening, three points
were clarified by board members.
The first is they are interested in annexing
land south of Platte City to 120th Street, land that is
planned to be part of the Seven Bridges residential development
by developers David and John Barth.
Alderman Ron Porter told the board he
felt the annexation of Barth’s latest development
would be in the best interest of the city.
“I think we should look at annexing
all of that before it gets all built up down there,”
said Porter. “I think we should get them before too
many houses get built down there and they get there and
say they want to stay in the county.”
City Administrator Keith Moody had comments
about the potential process in a phone interview with
The Landmark Wednesday morning.
“Ron’s interest was to extend
the boundary to 120th Street which is consistent with
our city comprehensive plan,” said Moody.
“However, you can’t reach that
point with one annexation, it would require more than
one. State statute requires that 15 percent of the boundary
of the proposed annexation must be contiguous to the city’s
current corporate limits.”
Moody said Platte City is in a different
situation than similar communities in the area like Smithville
and Kearney who have had success in annexing large tracts
of land beyond their city limits.
“We are in a different situation
here because the developers do have those services south
of town, like water and sewer,” said Moody.
“Smithville and Kearney on the other
hand had good luck annexing large tracts of land because
the developer needed those services provided by the cities.”
Moody acknowledged that would be a major
stepping stone for the city if they look to annex Barth’s
area, as well as their second point, which is they are
still looking to pursue the area between I-435 and the
Platte River south to 136th Street.
“That’s a hurdle for us to try
and annex those areas. Their big question is what benefit
is it to us to annex our land if we already have water
and sewer services,” stated Moody.
“You’ve seen the tone of that
opposition. It’s very emotional opposition,”
Moody said in reference to the city’s last attempt
more than two years ago to annex the area between I-435
and the Platte River south to 136th Street.
“The warning's the same, be prepared
and don’t embark upon this lightly,” Moody cautioned
the board about pursuing the issue of annexation.
Alderman Billy Knighton said the issue
of annexation will be somewhere in the future of Platte
City.
“According to the last city survey,
they (citizens) thought for the city’s survival we
needed to do it. It boils down to maybe it’s done
today, tomorrow or next year, but it will be done sometime,”
Knighton stated.
“Maybe we went about it the wrong
way two years ago but maybe with good planning the two
sides can come together and come to an agreement.”
Finally, the board signified that the
issue should be a focus after the spring election.
“I think after the election we should
get going on this,” said Alderman Jim Palmer.
However, Mayor Dave Brooks tried to subdue
the notion that annexation was top on the list for the
city.
“We’re not deciding anything
tonight,” Brooks told Palmer. “We’re just
discussing.”
Moody informed the board that it would
likely take a year to complete the annexation process
from the time it was started. If all goes as indicated,
Platte City may look to extend its boundaries by the summer
of 2007.
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