Welcome back to “This Week at City Hall” where we give you weekly updates on what decisions are being made in City Hall that may potentially affect your community or neighborhood ! Everyday, various committees are making huge decisions that in turn affect our communities. If you have a tip about an upcoming agenda item – please email neighborhoods@umkc.edu with “This Week at City Hall” in the subject.
Kansas City News:
The Crisis of Short Term Rentals:
The rise of short-term rentals in Kansas City has led to concerns that they are displacing long-term residents from the housing market, driving up rent prices, and reducing the supply of available housing. This has been an ongoing issue in major cities since 2016. Short-term rentals do not provide any long term-growth or benefit to neighborhoods at all. In fact, there are no official city taxes that have been put on STRs. So all the money being made on STRs goes straight to the owner which is not always a good thing. The epidemic of STRs has gotten to the point where larger investors and leasing companies will buy houses and apartment buildings for the sole purpose of turning them into Airbnbs. At City Hall this week, the Kansas City Neighborhood Development Committee (KNAC) will be meeting to discuss the revision of ordinances 230267 and 230268. These regulations can include requirements for hosts to obtain permits or licenses, limits on the number of days a property can be rented out each year, and taxes or fees on short-term rentals.The goal of these regulations is to hopefully strike a balance between allowing property owners to earn income through short-term rentals while also protecting the availability and affordability of long-term housing for local residents
Now let’s take a closer look at what’s happening this week in City Hall….
4/18/23
Tuesday @9am:
City Plan Commission:
The city plan commission is mainly in charge of the approval of new and on-going developments in Kansas City. The goal is to approve these developments in conjunction with the Kansas City Comprehensive Plan. Some of the key priorities identified in the KC Spirit Playbook include increasing access to affordable housing, improving public transit, supporting economic development and job growth, enhancing public spaces and community facilities, and promoting sustainable and equitable development.
Here are some of the developments they will be reviewing:
Case No CD-MISC-2022-00001 – The KC Spirit Playbook – Receiving from Long Range Planning & Development staff, a memo and presentation of the final draft of the city’s new comprehensive plan, the KC Spirit Playbook. The final draft of the plan is available at playbook.kcmo.gov
(John Debauche) 1.2 Staff Recommendation: Case No CD-SUP-2022-00013 – Crestview Dairy Event Space – A request to approve a Special Use Permit to allow for an event venue in zoning district R-80 on about 14 acres generally located at 16499 E 83rd street
Charter Review Commission
Tuesday @5:00pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83012213040
The charter is essentially a city or country’s constitution, outlining the organization, powers, and functions of the local government. They will be meeting this week to discuss possible changes in Kansas City’s constitution. Be sure to attend if possible!
Cohort graduates Linda Brown (5th District/Blue Hills) and Karen Slaughter (3rd District /Key Coalition) are serving on the Commission. Wilson Vance of the KC Tenants also serves on the Commission.
4/19/23
Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee
Wednesday @1:30pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84530222968#success
The neighborhood planning and development committee are planning on meeting again this week to discuss upcoming developments as well as new jurisdictions in regards to short term rentals . Here are some highlights on what they will be discussing this week.
230236:
Sponsor: Director of the Health Department Accepting and approving a one-year $269,687.00 contract with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for a comprehensive sexually transmitted disease prevention program; and designating requisitioning authority.
230267: Bunch Sponsor: Councilmember Eric Bunch Amending Chapter 88, Code of Ordinances, by repealing Section 88-321, Short Term Rental Regulations, and enacting in lieu thereof a new section of like number and subject matter; repealing Sections 88-110-03, 88-120-03, 88-130-04 and 88-140-03, Uses, and enacting in lieu thereof new sections of like number and subject matter; and repealing Section 88-810-1582, Short Term Rental Intermediary; in order to effectuate the transfer of the regulation of Short Term Rentals from Chapter 88 to Chapter 56 of the Code of Ordinances.
Finance, Governance, and Public Safety Committee
Wednesday @10:30am
During this week’s meeting with the FGPS committee, They will be reviewing the settlements for various lawsuits and they will also be going over the 2023 fiscal budget as well.
230284: Director of Finance Sponsor: Director of the Finance Department Estimating revenue and adjusting appropriations in various funds in connection with the third quarter analysis; appropriating Fiscal Year 2022-23 unexpended and unencumbered balances in various funds to the same accounts and funds in Fiscal Year 2023-24 as designated; and recognizing this ordinance as having an accelerated effective date.
LQBTQ Commission:
Wednesday @12:00pm
Virtual
Meeting ID: 212 620 641 684
Passcode: 88ceqa
This committee is extremely important for the betterment of Kansas City. We currently live in a political climate where we see a lot of anti-lgbq+ bills being pushed in congress. The LQBTQ commission currently works really hard to make sure that Kansas City is a safe environment for people within the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the initiatives they have worked on so far include:
- KCMO Adopts Anti- Discrimination Ordinance (Ordinance 930612 – adopted 5/27/1993)
- KCMO Bans Juvenile Conversion Therapy (Ordinance 190902– Adopted 11/14/19)
- KCMO Recognizes November 20, as The Transgender Day of Remembrance (Special Action 190966– Adopted 11/14/19)
- KCMO Establishes LGBTQ Commission (Ordinance 200907 – Adopted 10/22/20)
- KCMO Declares February 7, 2021 annually as Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in KCMO (Special Action 210110– Adopted 2/4/21)
- KCMO Flies the Progress Pride Flag atop City Hall – (June 3, 2021)
4/20/23
Human Rights Commission:
Thursday @1:00pm
This will be an in person meeting
Due to the recent tragedies that have occured Kansas City, I know a lot of our communities have questions in regards to the sensitive situation at hand. The human rights commissions will most likely be addressing their next steps of action in this meeting.
4/21/23
Violence Free KC Committee (VFKCC):
Friday @9:30am
Here is the agenda for the (VFKCC):
Again, with the recent events that have taken place in Kansas City, I will be interested to hear what they have to say.
- Review of KCPD Crime Statistics (Daily Homicide Analysis)
- Office of Violence Prevention Updates
- Vision and Mission Statement Updates New Business:
- Violence Prevention Systems Presentation
- Planning for National Youth Violence Prevention Week
This week, City Hall is set to host several important and highly charged discussions on various topics that impact our community.I know that as a young person that lives in Kansas CitytThese conversations provide an excellent opportunity to raise issues that have not been directly acknowledged in the past and seek answers from the responsible authorities.So please make sure to stay involved this week.
Public meetings can be observed online on channel 2: https://www.youtube.com/live/5Uo–MM5TtA?feature=share
Additional details on city agendas can be found at the City Clerk’s website: https://clerk.kcmo.gov/Calendar.aspx
About the Writer:
Hello everyone ! My name is Maryam Oyebamiji and I am a student intern for The Center for Neighborhoods. I am currently in my 3rd year at UMKC studying Urban Planning and Design with an English minor. I have deep passion and interest for urban policy and housing authority. That’s why being able to write “This week at City Hall” is extremely important to me. I believe that everyone should have access and be informed on what is going on in City Hall because the decisions they make ultimately affects all of us.
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