It was good to see the Kansas Court of Appeals second a Sedgwick County District Court judge’s ruling that the Sedgwick County Commission had mishandled its 2010 vote to close part of 71st Street South. In this case, the commission was far too quick to vote to close the unpaved stretch of 71st Street South between 127th and 143rd Streets East at the request of a private airfield. Commissioners did so over the strenuous objections of Derby’s leaders and without fully considering how the closure would affect drivers and emergency response. Elected officials should be as reluctant to turn public land over to private developers as they are to seize private property for government use.
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