Rural Johnson County residents packed a meeting of the Johnson County Commission on Thursday to protest a 15-square-mile annexation proposed by Overland Park.

A few hours later and 60 miles away in Topeka, cities lined up to oppose state legislation designed to stop it.

“I think Overland Park should take care of the area they already have,” said House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican and sponsor of the bill.

The bill would require a favorable vote by residents in affected areas before rural land could be taken into a city. Two days of hearings on the bill ended Thursday.

Merrick said 1,660 people live in 571 homes in the area sought by Overland Park. The city’s boundaries would extend south to 203rd Street between Lackman Road on the west and U.S. 69 on the east.

Cities have complained that if the bill becomes law, it will halt large annexations.

In Olathe, county commissioners held their final hearing on the annexation request. A decision is expected next week.

Norman Pishny, secretary-treasurer of a coalition against the annexation, said rural residents worry that it would compromise public safety and fire protection.

If Overland Park annexes the land, Pishny said, taxes will go up for both the newly annexed resident and taxpayers already in the city.

In Topeka, Overland Park officials defended the annexation.

Erik Sartorius, the city’s lobbyist, said that annexation fosters orderly development and that the proposed area already has begun to develop.

Merrick said the bill would affect any annexation after Feb. 1 of this year. That clause would bring Overland Park’s proposal under its provisions.

Don Moler, executive director of the League of Kansas Municipalities, said the bill would take annexation out of the hands of elected officials and “delegate it to a handful of property owners who may not have the welfare of the general public at heart.”

To reach Jim Sullinger, call 785-354-1388 or send e-mail to jsullinger@kcstar.com.