We are working on dividing an estate in a small town where we haven't worked before. They have a pretty good Land Use Management code (350+ pages) for such a small town. I contacted city hall to get an application for subdivision approval. Most applications are several pages (some 20+ pages). At first I thought I had only received the cover page... This one is ONE page. Name of town at the top. Then a place for the applicant's info followed by "State your business with the P&Z board". The rest of the page is blank lines and a signature line at the bottom. Blessed simplicity!
Scary. Isn't it?
The term "town" is used quite loosely in my neck of the woods. There may have been a plat recorded in the 1800's and a "once upon a time" record population of 300 people where two occupied households exist today. That's a small town. The incorporated city thing may or may not have ever happened. There was a post office but that went away 70 to 100 years ago.
Meanwhile, others in very different locations think of any city with a population under 300,000 is a small town. By that definition, the largest city in Kansas, Wichita at about 400.000 is the only non-small town in Kansas. Overland Park at about 200,000 must be a hamlet and Kansas City, Kansas at about 160.000 must be a village.
The "City" I grew up in has about the same population now as when I was a kid, about 4,500. The whole county has a population of 22,000 or so. I work 35 miles away where there are many times the people than where I live. I've gotten used to the pages and pages of paperwork and plats that contain more notes than drawing. I don't remember my home town ever being as small as this little town with a one page subdivision application. The P&Z board might be tough, as things that seem too easy rarely are. We shall soon see.
