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Board of Zoning Adjustment
August 26th, 2026, 9 am
Five members sat for the docket at the outset, and a sixth took part from the third case on. City staff sworn in to present included Sarah Copeland, Donna Baker, Ahnna Nanoski, Liz Collins, Connor Tomlin, Stephanie Saldari, Genevieve Kohn-Smith, Justin Smith, and Olofu Agbaji
The chair opened by thanking the staff who prepared the cases and the board members, who are appointed by the mayor, volunteer their time twice a month, and serve without pay.
Three items were disposed of at the start of the meeting. Docket item 7 was continued off docket, and docket items 8 and 9 were dismissed. No testimony.
Docket Item 1: CD-SUP-2026-00039, 8600 N Boardwalk Avenue
A request to approve a Special Use Permit to site a blood/plasma center within an existing commercial strip mall on about 14.5 acres generally located at 8600 N Boardwalk Ave.
Neighborhoods: Barrybrooke Village
Owner: Genesis Health Clubs Boardwalk LLC
Applicant: Douglas Stone, Lewis Rice
Council District: 1
Result: Ahnna Nanoski presented. The American Red Cross proposes to put a blood center in a vacant tenant space in an existing strip mall east of Zona Rosa. The use falls under the medical office category, which requires a special use permit in a B3 district. No site work or building alterations are proposed, only interior renovation and added signage. Nanoski said the use is compatible with the surrounding office, retail, and restaurant uses and that peak hours would not conflict. Staff recommended approval subject to conditions, and the City Plan Commission recommended the same on August 19, 2026. Claire Burns appeared in place of Douglas Stone and raised no objection to the conditions. No public testimony. Approved in accordance with the site plan, the staff report, and the conditions therein.
Docket Item 2: CD-BZA-2026-00061, 8050 N Brighton Avenue
A request to approve a variance to the maximum size of a monument sign in a B2 zoning district, plus any additional variances, on about 1.5 acres generally located at 8050 North Brighton Avenue.
Neighborhoods: Claybrook
Owner: Hoambrecker Properties LLC
Applicant: Tom Skram, Reaching Solutions LLC
Council District: 1
Result: Connor Tomlin presented. The case was continued from June 10, 2026, when the applicant proposed adding Sinclair signage on top of the existing monument sign. On staff and board advice the applicant instead put that signage on its own monument sign elsewhere on the property, which has since been approved, leaving only the existing sign and a question about its permit status. Tomlin said neither he nor the owners or architects could locate any permit for it. The remaining request permits the sign at its existing height of 8 feet 2.5 inches, a 36 percent change, and Tomlin said no substantial change to neighborhood character is anticipated because the signage itself is not changing. The applicant’s representatives said the sign went up more than 11 years ago when the store was built and the permit was either lost or never filed. Because the case carried over from a hearing she did not sit for, Ms. Wright confirmed she had reviewed the materials before quorum was reestablished. No public testimony. Approved in accordance with the staff report and site plan, on the condition that a permit is obtained for the sign.
Docket Item 3: CD-BZA-2026-00103, 9050 NW Prairie View Road
A request to approve a variance to the maximum allowed floor area (25,000 square feet) of an industrial use in a B4 district on about 6.8 acres generally located at 9050 Northwest Prairie View Road.
Neighborhoods: Tiffany Woods
Owner: Amerco Real Estate Company / U Haul
Applicant: Lance Scott, Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers, P.A.
Council District: 1
Result: Justin Smith presented. The case was continued from August 12 and was also before the board on July 22. The site is a former hotel converted to a U Haul self storage facility with 118,000 square feet of floor area, and the applicant proposes a 17,000 square foot addition for the U Box container product. Smith said the B4 standard was adopted in 2015 and the variance was never obtained when the development plan was approved in 2018, so any expansion now requires it. Counting the existing building, the request is a 440 percent change. A major amendment to the development plan is under review and has been waiting on this variance.
Lance Scott said an AT&T easement above the old hotel prevents demolition, that the addition would employ three to five people and generate one to two semi trucks a week, and that a public meeting drew no attendance. Rick Myers raised a hand online but declined promotion to panelist and gave no testimony. Approved in accordance with the site plan and staff report.
Docket Item 4: CD-BZA-2026-00121, 11237 NW 82nd Street
A request to approve a variance to the front yard impervious surface coverage requirements, plus any other necessary variances, for an R5 zoned lot on about 0.126 acres generally located at 11237 Northwest 82nd Street.
Neighborhoods: KCI
Applicant: Rachelle Biondo, Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C.
Council District: 1
Result: Ahnna Nanoski presented this case with docket item 5, and the board voted on each separately. Both lots are in a subdivision under construction north of Weatherby Lake near Hawthorn Elementary, where the maximum pavement permitted in a front yard is 40 percent. This case covers Lot 10, a variance of 79.35 square feet to permit a driveway occupying 45 percent of the front yard, a 13 percent change. Nanoski said a substantial change to neighborhood character is anticipated if the rest of the subdivision follows the same pattern, citing green space and stormwater, and that the difficulty could be avoided by a change in design.
Adam Carlson appeared for the applicant with Aiden Mertz and Rob Young of RL Buford Land Survey, who said lot widths vary and the driveways are already narrowed to the width of the garage door. Of 30 lots in phase one, 26 permits have been issued, leaving three lots in this situation, with four to five more phases planned. Board members said they would accept three lots but would not set a precedent for more, and the applicant agreed not to return with further requests. One member said the hardship sounds self imposed and asked the applicant to design it out in later phases. No public testimony. Approved in accordance with the site plan and staff report.
Docket Item 5: CD-BZA-2026-00122, 11501 NW Barry Road
A request to approve a variance to the front yard impervious surface coverage requirements, plus any other necessary variances, for an R5 zoned lot on about 0.13 acres generally located at 11501 Northwest Barry Road.
Neighborhoods: KCI
Applicant: Rachelle Biondo, Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C.
Council District: 1
Result: Heard with docket item 4 and voted separately. This case covers Lot 26 in the same subdivision, a variance of 19.06 square feet to permit a driveway occupying 41 percent of the front yard, a 3 percent change. See docket item 4 for the presentation and discussion. No public testimony. Approved in accordance with the site plan and staff report.
Docket Item 6: CD-SUP-2026-00014, Belleview Avenue and West 30th Street
A request to approve a special use permit for indoor warehousing and limited manufacturing in proposed District DX-2 on about 1.7 acres generally located at the northeast and northwest corners of Belleview Avenue and West 30th Street.
Neighborhoods: Westside
Owner: Northtown Center LLC
Applicant: Rachelle Biondo, Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C.
Council District: 4
Result: Genevieve Kohn-Smith presented. The case covers three parcels in the Westside neighborhood area, with an industrial building on the eastern parcel and a semi paved parking area on the western parcels. The site came to the department’s attention through neighborhood complaints, and Kohn-Smith described the applications as an effort to clear up what she called a web of nonconformities.
The building has stood since roughly the 1920s and operated as the Central Paper Box Company, which received a certificate of legal nonconforming use in 1973 specific to paper products, boxes, and cartons. Once the building began to be used outside that certificate, it was no longer valid. A companion rezoning from R-2.5 to DX-2 has since been approved by the City Council, but indoor storage and warehousing and limited manufacturing still require a special use permit in that district. Kohn-Smith showed earlier images with truck storage, dumpsters in the right of way, and unpermitted gravel, and said the owner cleaned the site up after the City Plan Commission hearing. Staff recommended approval subject to conditions. The City Plan Commission recommended denial on June 3, 2026, primarily over semi truck traffic.
Adam Carlson and Chris Maddox appeared for the applicant, with Mark Abbott appearing for the owner, and submitted 21 additional conditions negotiated with neighbors, admitted as Exhibit 10. Carlson said the 80,000 square foot building predates the city’s 1921 zoning code and has been legally nonconforming since it was built. On the traffic question, he said one tenant, Premier Packaging, generates a couple of semi trucks a week. The owner moved to terminate that lease, and the tenant then asked neighbors directly for a 90 day wind down before retiring or relocating. The applicant committed not to return seeking uses that require semi truck traffic. Carlson also said the dumpsters will move into an enclosed bin area across the street, which is why the two dumpster screening appeals were dismissed earlier in the meeting.
The board went into closed session on a motion by Mr. Ventura III to obtain legal advice under Section 610.021 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. After it returned, Katie Claggett, who lives across the street, testified in support and urged the board to approve that day rather than leave the neighborhood without operational controls any longer.
Board members then questioned condition 20, which requires the owner to record a deed restriction but set no deadline and did not say when the permit takes effect. Staff said conditions are normally tied to a building permit, a plat, or a certificate of occupancy, none of which apply here, and suggested a fixed deadline instead. The applicant agreed to 30 days.
Approved in accordance with the site plan, the staff report, and the conditions therein, together with the conditions in Exhibit 10, with condition 20 amended to require the deed restriction to be recorded within 30 days, and with the term of the special use permit set at one year instead of two.
Docket Item 7: CD-BZA-2026-00088, 1829 McGee Street
A request to approve a variance to the sign standards to permit a larger sign, plus any other needed variances in a B4-5 zoning district on about 0.13 acres generally located at 1829 McGee Street.
Neighborhoods: Crossroads
Owner: Icg Realty Holdings LLC
Applicant: Infinity Signs LLC
Council District: 4
Result: Continued off docket.
Docket Item 8: CD-BZA-2025-00204, 2926 Belleview Avenue
A request to appeal a zoning violation related to dumpster screening on the subject site on about 0.355 acres generally located at 2926 Belleview Avenue.
Neighborhoods: Westside
Owner: Northtown Center LLC
Applicant: Rachelle Biondo, Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C.
Council District: 4
Result: Dismissed.
Docket Item 9: CD-BZA-2026-00014, 2911 Belleview Avenue
A request to appeal a zoning violation related to dumpster screening requirements on about 0.9 acres generally located at 2911 Belleview Avenue.
Neighborhoods: Westside
Owner: Northtown Center LLC
Applicant: Rachelle Biondo, Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C.
Council District: 4
Result: Dismissed.
Docket Item 10: CD-BZA-2026-00120, East 49th Street and Chestnut Avenue
A request to approve variances to the Prospect Corridor overlay district community node to permit a mixed-use tower in a UR district to exceed the 75-foot maximum height, plus any additional variances, on about 1.5 acres generally located at the northeast corner of East 49th Street and Chestnut Avenue.
Neighborhoods: Town Fork Creek
Owner: Oz Development Company LLC
Applicant: Tony Edwards, Taliaferro & Browne, Inc.
Council District: 3
Result: Olofu Agbaji presented. The site is phase two of the Offices at Overlook development off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where phase one has been built. The Prospect Corridor overlay, adopted in May of 2025 by Ordinance 250378, limits building height in this community node to 75 feet. The applicant seeks to build to 133 feet 8 inches. Agbaji said the 2020 urban redevelopment plan approved by the City Council allowed 80 feet on this building as part of a 440,000 square foot development with about 155 residential units, so the request is measured against the overlay rather than the underlying zoning. Staff said a change to neighborhood character is anticipated because the surrounding area is one to two and a half stories tall, and the building could be reduced.
The applicant described roughly 150 apartments in nine stories with a partial penthouse level and two levels of parking below grade, with a lower structure fronting 49th Street with walkout entries and two story townhomes buffering the tower from the neighborhood. Emmett Pearson, president and chief executive of Community Builders of Kansas City, said the organization has worked with the Town Fork Creek neighborhood for more than 30 years, has held two recent meetings with residents, and is seeking the height in order to bring mixed income housing to an area that has none.
Two residents testified in opposition. Concerns included the jump from 80 feet to a building that qualifies as a high rise for fire response purposes, parking and traffic on an already congested stretch of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and the precedent the height would set for further development in the neighborhood. One speaker said the townhome concept fits the existing housing better than a tower.
In discussion, a board member said approving the request would undermine a code the council adopted last year, and that amending the overlay is the council’s job rather than the board’s. The applicant noted a minor amendment under the urban redevelopment framework could have taken the building to about 88 feet. Approved in accordance with the site plan and staff report.
Docket Item 11: CD-BZA-2026-00113, 2740 Cypress Avenue
A request to approve a special exception in an R-2.5 district to permit a fence taller than four feet in the front yard on about 0.1 acres generally located at 2740 Cypress Avenue.
Neighborhoods: East 23rd St PAC
Owner: Kaitlin Gipson
Applicant: Kaitlin Gipson
Council District: 3
Result: The case was called in order but the applicant was not yet on Zoom, so the board moved on and returned to it later in the meeting. Connor Tomlin presented. The request is a special exception of two feet to permit an existing six foot chain link fence to remain, a 50 percent change. Tomlin said a substantial change to neighborhood character is anticipated because street view imagery shows fences over four feet are not common in the area, and that the difficulty could be resolved by replacing it with a four foot fence.
Kaitlin Gipson said the fence was already there when she bought the house in 2021 and came to the city’s attention through a zoning violation. She said she keeps two dogs in the front yard because the back yard is covered in sharp rocks and is not fully fenced, and that the chain link is see through. A motion by Mr. Hays to deny died for lack of a second. No public testimony. Approved in accordance with the staff report.
Docket Item 12: CD-BZA-2026-00117, 3005 Harrison Street
A request to approve a special exception to the maximum height of a fence on a corner lot zoned R-0.5, plus any additional variances, on about 0.63 acres generally located at 3005 Harrison Street.
Neighborhoods: Longfellow
Owner: Operation Breakthrough Inc
Applicant: Josh Lipscomb, Wallace Design Collective
Council District: 3
Result: Liz Collins presented. Operation Breakthrough proposes a six foot black vinyl chain link fence around a vacant corner lot it intends to turn into a children’s play space and vegetable garden for its campus, which sits just south. The request is a special exception of two feet against the four foot maximum, a 50 percent change. Collins said no substantial change to neighborhood character is anticipated given the existing six foot wrought iron fence on the north property line and the fact that most adjoining lots are also owned by Operation Breakthrough, though she noted a four foot fence would likely meet most of the applicant’s needs and that approval could lead to further requests.
Josh Lipscomb and a representative of Operation Breakthrough said the site has had recurring problems with encampments, including campfires that required calling the fire department, and that the difference between four feet and six feet matters for keeping people off the lot once children are using it. A board member noted the board has granted similar exceptions at other schools. No public testimony. Approved in accordance with the site plan and staff report.
Docket Item 13: CD-BZA-2026-00104, 4900 Oak Street
A request to approve a variance to the sign standards to permit a larger sign, plus any other needed variances in an O-3 zoning district on about 2.09 acres generally located at 4900 Oak Street.
Neighborhoods: South Plaza
Owner: Russell Stover Candies LLC
Applicant: Trey Maguder, Russell Stover Chocolates
Council District: 6
Result: Stephanie Saldari presented. The case was continued from July 22, 2026. The board granted a variance for temporary signage at the Russell Stover property in 2023, which expired in September of 2024 along with the related temporary use permit, and the applicant now wants the signage made permanent. The property was rezoned from residential to office in September of 2024 to allow larger signage. The ribbon sign on the site carries no logo or business name and is treated as art, so it was not before the board.
Three variances were requested. The first is 43.3 square feet to permit a monument sign of 93.3 square feet, an 86 percent change, which Saldari said is nearly double the maximum allowed. The second is 1.3 feet to permit a height of 7.3 feet, a 21 percent change. The third would permit the sign without a base. Saldari said the sign currently sits on two stilts, which classifies it as a pole sign, an unpermitted type in Kansas City, and that under Section 88-56-502(B) the board may not grant a variance that varies the type of sign allowed. She asked that two conditions attach to any approval: the monument sign must be moved out of the public right of way and onto the property with the required 10 foot setback, and the expired candy lawn art on the northeast corner must be removed.
The applicant said the signage was installed to mark Russell Stover’s 100th anniversary, has been in place almost three years without complaints, and has become a spot where visitors stop for photographs. Board members confirmed with staff that the sign could sit on poles as long as the bottom of the sign is level with the ground. Variance requests A and B were approved in accordance with the site plan, the staff report, and the conditions therein. Variance request C was denied.
Docket Item 14: CD-BZA-2026-00116, 5840 Troost Avenue
A request to appeal a notice of violation related to an abandoned pole sign on about 0.4 acres generally located at 5840 Troost Avenue.
Neighborhoods: 49-63
Owner: Furry Little Friends Inc
Applicant: Tony Nichols, Furry Little Friends
Council District: 6
Result: Ahnna Nanoski presented. The sign at 59th Street and Troost Avenue carries the Prosperity name along with information indicating the business is located somewhere else. Under the zoning and development code, a nonconforming sign may be deemed abandoned if it is blank or advertises a business no longer operating at the site, and pole signs are no longer a permitted type, so an abandoned one must be removed. Nanoski said inspection photographs show an empty parking lot and dark windows with no sign of an active business, and that an appeal may be sustained only if the board finds the administrative official erred.
Tony Nichols said Furry Little Friends owns both this site and a building one block north, that the company is not disputing the sign advertises Prosperity, and that 5840 is currently used only for storage. He said the company obtained renovation bids in April but has not yet launched the capital campaign to fund the work. Staff said a 2024 review left the impression the applicant would occupy the space sooner, and that off premise advertising carries separate standards this site would not meet. The appeal was denied.
Docket Item 15: CD-BZA-2026-00118, 3000 NW 64th Street
A request to approve a special exception to the maximum height of a fence in the front yard of a residential lot, plus any additional variances, on about 6.77 acres generally located at 3000 Northwest 64th Street.
Neighborhoods: Stone Ridge Town
Owner: Bradley, James Lee & Gagne, Heddy R
Applicant: Jacob Littrell, SixTwentyOne
Council District: 2
Result: Liz Collins presented. The request is a special exception of four feet to permit an existing six foot fence with an eight foot gate around a newly built single family dwelling, a 100 percent change against the four foot maximum. The property counts as a corner lot because North Daggett Road runs along the east side, though that right of way is part of the Line Creek Trail and cannot be driven. Collins said no substantial change to neighborhood character is anticipated because the fence is set well back and is not easily visible from either the street or the trail, but that the heights are excessive for a typical residential property and could be lowered.
The fence came to the city’s attention when an inspector arrived for the final certificate of occupancy, which cannot be issued until the fence either receives this exception or comes down to four feet. Jacob Littrell and property owner James Bradley said the site is heavily wooded and the taller fence is meant to keep deer off the property. Board members said the fence is well screened, does not stick out, and has a reasonable purpose. No public testimony. Approved in accordance with the site plan and staff report.
Docket Item 16: CD-BZA-2026-00096, 14501 Kelley Road
A request to approve a variance to the setback of a building for an animal service use in an R-80 district, plus any additional variances, on about 13 acres generally located at 14501 Kelley Road.
Owner: Wurth Aaron
Applicant: Kevin Sterrett, Hg Consult, Inc.
Council District: 5
Result: Connor Tomlin presented. The case was continued from August 12. The request is a variance of 87 feet to permit a 113 foot setback where 200 feet is required for an animal service use, a 43.5 percent change. Tomlin said the existing building already operates as a dog training and boarding facility and already sits closer than 200 feet to the property line, having been built before that requirement was adopted. The proposal is an addition connected to the existing structure by a breezeway, holding a training area, a play yard, runs, and offices.
Aaron Wurth said he has operated on the site since 2018, lives above the business, and wants to move boarding out of his home and into the new space. He said he currently boards 20 to 25 dogs and plans for up to about 40, and that the layout is designed to house dogs in smaller groups so they can be separated when kennel cough spreads.
Rick Myers, the neighbor to the east, opposed, saying the size of the building could accommodate 50 or 60 dogs and that noise and waste both scale with the number. Staff read the animal service standards in Section 88-315, which require boarding to occur in a completely enclosed, soundproofed, and air conditioned building, set the 200 foot setback in R-80, and cap noise crossing into a residential district at 60 decibels between 7 am and 10 pm and 55 decibels overnight.
Board members said they were not comfortable voting until the applicant and the neighbor met to work through the waste handling and scale questions. Continued to September 9, 2026.
End of Board of Zoning Adjustment Docket
Dan Baldwin is the author of This Week at City Hall, a current Urban Planning & Design student at UMKC, a veteran, former Kansas Realtor, a political activist & organizer, and local musician. Dan is passionate about building a better future through policy design and how it interacts with our built environment and lived experiences and is confident that his time as the Center for Neighborhood’s intern will help him grow in those passions and be an opportunity for communal growth as well.
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