AG Kris Kobach sues Johnson County city over ‘illegal annexation’ for industrial park
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is suing the city of Edgerton, arguing it illegally annexed land for an expansion of its booming industrial park.
It’s the latest in a years-long saga in southwestern Johnson County, where neighbors continue to fight industrial growth as they watch farmland get eaten up by warehouses.
In 2020, the Edgerton City Council annexed and rezoned nearly 700 acres of unincorporated rural land to make way for an expansion south of Interstate 35 at the sprawling Logistics Park Kansas City intermodal facility.
A group of homeowners unsuccessfully sued the city in 2021, arguing the annexations were illegal. They accused the city of annexing a narrow piece of land for the sole purpose of connecting the rest of the acreage to the industrial park. They are now appealing, challenging a judge’s ruling that they do not have the legal standing to bring the case.
Kansas law prohibits cities from annexing a narrow corridor to gain access to other land it doesn’t border. Annexed land must have a tangible value other than facilitating future annexations.
Now, Kobach is challenging the city’s annexations. He filed the lawsuit in Johnson County District Court on Tuesday.
“Annexation is one of those issues that is extremely contentious, sometimes involves a lot of money and often involves a lot of emotion,” Kobach told The Star on Thursday.
“The Kansas Legislature wisely established a series of rules that cities must obey when they go into the annexation arena. And it’s the job of the attorney general to be the referee and ensure that the cities follow the rules. And that’s simply what we’re doing here. The city of Edgerton clearly violated the statute, and that’s why we brought this action.”
Nearby homeowner Jennifer Williams said it is cause for celebration for neighbors who have been fighting the expansion for years. She said she is more excited than “if I had won the billion dollar lottery last week, because without protection of our freedom and constitutional rights, nothing else matters.”
“The city’s illegal actions were stealing the homeowners’ property rights with rezonings that would destroy the fabric of our community.”
The first piece of land annexed by the city in 2020 was 47 acres southwest of 199th Street and South Gardner Road. The attorney general’s lawsuit says that property was the only piece of land out of the 700 acres that adjoined the city.
The lawsuit claims by annexing that property, the city created a narrow corridor connecting it to a second five-acre parcel, and then to the rest of the land.
Kobach argues the first property had no value to the city other than enabling the other annexations.
He told The Star the city annexed the land “without notice” and “very quickly with the narrow corridor being annexed, and then a week later the significant number of acres” being approved.
“It also appears to be coordinated and pre-planned,” he said. “You can tell from circumstantial evidence that this was all well-orchestrated in advance.”
The city of Edgerton has defended the annexations over the past few years.
In a statement on Wednesday, officials said the city, “believes the facts of this case will show the annexation to be legal and look forward to presenting the case to the court. The property owner voluntarily requested annexation into Edgerton in late 2020, which was granted. We strongly deny accusations that any illegal or inappropriate actions were taken in this case.”
The attorney general is asking the court to order the annexations invalid and restore the land to unincorporated status.
Williams helped lead an effort a couple of years ago, along with about 300 other Miami County homeowners, to form their own town outside of Edgerton’s industrial park. They argued that their city borders would have protected their agricultural and residential land from the proliferation of warehouses. But the Miami County Board of Commissioners rejected their petition.
Edgerton leaders tout the growth at the industrial park, which has brought corporate giants like Amazon and Hostess, as well as thousands of jobs and additional tax revenue, to the tiny town of 1,700. But for several years, the development has come with opposition from neighbors, who worry about the environmental impacts, noise and traffic, as well as city tax incentives offered to the developer, NorthPoint.
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 6:25 PM.
