Lecompton city and planning officials provided a new proposal to Douglas County commissioners Wednesday night that could allow them to have some control over the area just outside the city’s limits.

Lecompton Planning Commissioner Jim Wilkens provided a plan to have a joint Lecompton-Douglas County planning commission. The commissioners didn’t take any action on the proposal because they wanted time to review it.

They did ask that local planning director Linda Finger and Lecompton planning and city officials should meet to work out details on the plan or come up with other suggestions.

“I think it’s a unique situation,” Commissioner Jere McElhaney said of Lecompton wanting to create a joint planning commission with the county.

Wilkens said that previously town officials wanted total control of the three-mile area surrounding the city limits to regulate zoning and growth.

“Things didn’t proceed the way we hoped,” he said while explaining why the Lecompton Planning Commission provided the proposal for a joint commission.

He said the town was supposed to be consulted if planning issues near Lecompton, which has fewer than 250 residences, came up, but that hadn’t always happened.

“And we are very concerned about what’s going on in the area,” Wilkens said.

Commissioner Bob Johnson said he was not opposed to talking about a joint commission.

“I don’t think it’s an issue of the county giving up its authority,” he said. But Johnson had concerns about representation.

Wilkens said that was one of the reasons they came up with the joint planning commission proposal.