To the editor:

When I first moved to Lawrence, I thought it was one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been in. The city limits were Sixth Street, Barker Avenue, 19th Street and the KU campus. Then the land grab began. I was about to purchase land out in the country and moaned to my sainted brother about the cost. He stated, “Bud, it is cheap. You have to remember that God quit making land a long time ago, but we just keep making people.”

Developers have not learned that cows do not graze good on concrete; wheat nor corn will grow very well on asphalt. A new land grab is under way in the county neighborhood where I live. It does not border the city, and yet the city wishes to annex thousands of acres of lush pasture grass. It is part of two rural water districts, and neither has the capacity to support a commercial development out there. The city does not connect to it, so it will not have a sewage disposal facility. The developer was turned down by the county government and the planning commissioner knows it is outside the 20-year plan, so he gets the city to consider annexing it. This is against all principles of city annexation.

I am sorry, but I can’t stop thinking of my great-grandchildren and even further generations needing a place to grow food. They, like cattle, do not fare too well eating cement and drinking oil.

Bud Nation,

Lawrence