Sen Bob Marshall, Republican from Fort Scott, argues against voting rights for property rights in annexation
Since discussion first started about a potential U.S. Highway 69 bypass, Pittsburg city officials have talked about the need to expand the city’s limits out to the proposed four-lane.
Those officials may have to keep an extra close eye on the 2010 Kansas Legislative Session, then, as legislators will likely face a bill that Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, said would make it more difficult for cities to annex land.
“This bill really takes the ability away from cities who want to annex properly,” Marshall said. “It really could tie a municipality’s hands.”
The bill found a way through both chambers in the 11th hour of the final weekend, before it was vetoed by Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson. But local legislators said they expected to see the bill, or even a stricter version of it, in the 2010 session.
Under the current format, any city’s annexation request, if the property contains more than 21 acres, must go through the county commission. The annexation bill would have changed the process to where any request more than 65 acres would be put up to a vote of the property owners.
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Tags: U.S. Highway 69 bypass
