By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
In the summer of 2020, Chris and Deena Smith went before the Great Bend City Council requesting the city vacate a 20-foot strip of White Sands Drive so they could build a privacy fence.
RELATED STORY: City vacates portion of White Sands Drive to property owner
White Sands, a 100'-wide street in the Twin Lakes subdivision, was platted
to allow access to future housing development north of Dry Walnut Creek. With
no interest in housing expansion on the north side of the creek, the gravel
road leads nowhere. There are no house fronts on White Sands north of Quail
Creek Drive, all the houses either face Quail Creek or Oxbow Drive.
On Monday, three more property owners along Quail Creek were approved for 50
feet of vacated land behind their homes along White Sands. Great Bend Interim
City Administrator Logan Burns said the 50 feet vacated will be on the east
side of White Sands.
"There is a 100' right-of-way and this would be vacating 50 feet of it," said Burns. "This would give us the option in the future if there ever needed to be a street there. The proposed development, back in the day, was to have a development across the creek. That has now fallen to the wayside."
The vacation of right-of-way on White Sands was approved for Cameron and Sarah
Smith, Ron and Debbie Koelsch, and Mark and Denise Guthrie. Representing Kansas
Gas Service, Ed Crist noted the company had no problems with the request.
"The only stipulation that Kansas Gas asks is the retention of right-of-way access," said Crist. "Usually in an easement situation, we would ask that there be access from the back of that, a gate or something. That way we don't have to completely go through their property to get to any facilities in the area."
The remaining 50 feet of White Sands leaves enough width to construct a street
in the future if the city desires.