By Annie Wolf
Commissioner Dee McKee attended County Government Day in Topeka on Jan. 22 and sat in on discussion concerning the extraterritorial planning authority of cities into counties. A Senate bill would repeal the 3-mile extraterritorial planning authority that now exists for cities.
“There were lots of cities and counties there that had concerns about (extraterritorial expansion) happening with no vote,” McKee said. “Even long-range planning things, the planners coming across from the city and saying, ‘We own 3 miles and here is what you have to do or have to build,’ and there’s no vote. Some people, like in Emporia, couldn’t sell their farms or couldn’t do certain things. And they felt like there was no dialog and no recourse.”
