The massive project to build a new Panasonic electric vehicle battery plant at the former Sunflower Army Ammunition plant in De Soto has re-ignited interest in the future of western Johnson County’s rural road system as officials consider a new set of planning guidelines for the area.
The county planning commission unanimously recommended changes in its comprehensive rural plan Tuesday that remove land annexed by De Soto from its planning jurisdiction. Now that it is in De Soto, the city will set its own guidelines.
The remaining unincorporated land will be in a “rural policy area,” meaning it will be planned as agricultural, with a rural character, limited development and a low density of one residence per 10 acres.
The changes were necessary because De Soto annexed such a large part of the Sunflower planning area — about 16 square miles out of the 44-square-mile area.
Rural road issue has drawn big crowds at past hearings
No one spoke at the public hearing Tuesday, but earlier public input sessions attracted large crowds. More than two hundred people showed up at a March open house and about 100 came in April, said Diane Wickham, of the county planning department.
As commissioners this week discussed their recommendation, they noted that many of the questions the county officials have fielded have concerned the future of the roads in the area.
Public Works Director Brian Pietig said that state highway department officials are watching development in the area and are in the very earliest stages of investigating how the road system might change.
Officials with the Kansas Department of Transportation are seeking to meet with representatives of Edgerton, Garder, De Soto, Johnson County and Douglas County, he said.
The idea is to see how the area develops and plan the roads accordingly, he said.
Those discussions could even result in a revival of a highway arterial linking western Johnson County to Missouri.
Past plans to connect rural JoCo to rest of KC metro
The road system in southwest Johnson County has been an issue for three decades.
In the mid-1990s, officials discussed a “21st Century Parkway” that would connect Leavenworth to Kansas Highway 10 and eventually Missouri.
The plan back then was to reserve land for the corridor and build as necessary, but it drew opposition from residents who said it was too expensive.
That plan, and another in 2007 for a South Metro Connection with Cass County, Mo.,was also abandoned due to public opposition.
What happens next
Pietig stressed that it is still very early and no meetings have been scheduled.
A study for a new road plan is likely to be “at least a two-year activity,” he said.
In any case, the commission’s vote on the land use plan Tuesday has no effect on the roads, said Commissioner James Neese.
The comprehensive plan is meant as a guideline for future land use and is not legally binding.
The recommendation goes to the Board of County Commissioners on June 22.
Roxie Hammill is a freelance journalist who reports frequently for the Post and other Kansas City area publications. You can reach her at roxieham@gmail.com.
