if somebody’s proposing to build something in your neighborhood, you’d probably like to know about it. And if it’s something that will alter the character of your neighborhood or affect your property value, you’d probably want to have a voice in the city’s zoning approval process, right? Those questions are being grappled with at Wichita City Hall and the City Council was briefed on various options this week, but it really comes down to two key questions: ▪ Who should receive a letter from the city notifying them when projects are proposed near their home? ▪ Whose input should trigger discussion of projects at the City Council level. Most cities just notify the property owners within 200 feet of a development plan. Wichita starts there, but expands the notification zone out as far as 1,000 feet for larger projects, based on the acreage of the project, said Scott Wadle, director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Department. At Tuesday’s City Council workshop meeting, Johnson suggested that the mailed-notification area should be at least 500 feet. To return to our football analogy, that would be about 1 2/3 football fields. The rest of the council seemed a bit chilly toward expanding the notification zone. The reason is cost.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday called for no new tax cuts in 2025, setting the Democrat on a collision path with Republicans who have vowed to take action on property taxes after voters bolstered the party’s supermajority in the Legislature. The conflict’s outcome will influence how much Kansas homeowners pay in future property taxes, one of the most hated forms of taxation that helps pay for city and county government and public education. Some Republican lawmakers want to cut the statewide mill levy, which helps fund schools, while others favor a constitutional amendment that would limit annual property valuation increases. Whatever the specific proposal, GOP lawmakers say they must deliver homeowners some form of property tax relief. The Democratic governor wants them to hit pause. “I’ve been pretty consistent on saying we need to just take a breath and wait,” Kelly told reporters at Cedar Crest, the governor’s residence in Topeka, on Monday.
Source: Wichita Eagle