New Bird scooter contract, kickoff of Swope Health Village, and an Urban Farms’ new Master Plan.
Neighborhoods affected by this week’s items:
- Town Fork Creek
- Blue Valley
- Brown Estates
- Crestview
- West Plaza
- Sunset Hill
Transportation, Infrastructure, and Operations Committee
Tuesday, August 6th at 9am
The Transportation, Infrastructure, and Operations Committee (TIO) includes Chairperson Kevin O’Neill, Vice Chair Melissa Robinson, Councilmember Eric Bunch, and Councilmember Johnathan Duncan.
Ordinance 240655, Ordinance 240656, and Ordinance 240657 authorized the Public Works department to enter into agreements with Sarai Construction for ADA sidewalk repair throughout the city. With these contracts, Sari will continue adding accessibility infrastructure, such as tactile paving. Jason Waldron, Daisy Dixon, and Uday Manepalli from the Public Works Department all presented the project to the committee. They unanimously recommended approval of the ordinances, which was upheld by Council on Thursday.
Ordinance 231049 approved a renewed contract with Bird Scooters, allowing them to continue serving Kansas City. Parking Division Manager, Matthew Muckenthaler, presented this ordinance to the committee and told them of its advantages. The new contract increases the amount paid to the City for every ride from $0.35 to $0.45. Previously, the entire $0.35 would go to funding zero-fare transit. With the new contract, the additional $0.10 will go towards scooter parking and other infrastructure. The new contract also approved temporary fleet increases for large events (such as the World Cup in 2026), and introduced Augmented Reality parking within the Bird app.
Councilwoman Robinson questioned how the safety of electric scooters is tracked by the City. Muckenthaler admitted there was no comprehensive tracking done on the City’s end, to which the committee suggested there should be. Before recommending approval of the ordinance, Chair O’Neill reminded everyone that Bird gives free rides on election days. The full City Council approved this ordinance on Thursday.
Ordinance 240582 accepted a federal grant to begin electrification of City vehicles. With this ordinance, Kansas City hopes to join several other cities across the nation in prioritizing green energy. This grant awards just under $500,000 to the City, which the committee happily accepted by recommending approval of the ordinance. City Council passed the ordinance on Thursday.
City Planning Commission
Wednesday, August 7th at 9am
The City Planning Commission (CPC) was attended this week by Chairperson Coby Crowl, Commissioner Tyler Enders, Commissioner Matt Hasek, Commissioner Sean Arkin, Commissioner Betsy Lynch, Commissioner Luis Padilla , and Commissioner Forestine Beasley, who attended this meeting via zoom.
CD-CPC-2024-00092 approved the development of a residential subdivision, containing 80 detached homes, at 201 NW 95th Ter. The City Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of this case.
CLD-FnPlat-2023-00019 approved another residential development, to be located at 10400 N Olive St. The development will be called Staley Farms, and contain 8 residential lots and a golf course. The City Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of this case.
CD-CPC-2024-00085 involved the rezoning of an existing restaurant, at 1121 W 47th St, within the West Plaza neighborhood. The Bar West Plaza is planning to renovate more than 2,000 square feet of their bar, triggering the need for approval from the City Planning Commission. The CPC unanimously recommended approval of the renovations.
CD-CPC-2023-00159 approved the construction of three homes at 609 W. 49th Street, within the Sunset Hill neighborhood. Masoud Shabazi purchased the site, as well as a near-by duplex, in 2021. Due to the extreme elevation of the site, Shabazi’s team could not design the homes to fit zoning code standards. Shabazi and his team worked with City planning staff Olofu Agbaji to ensure the plan could still be approved.
Shabazi also worked with Joan Dean, representative from the near-by 433 Ward Parkway Condominium Association. Shabazi and Dean entered into a settlement agreement, laying out which property will be responsible for maintenance of the private street and retaining walls. The City Planning Commision recommended approval of the development.
CD-CPC-2024-00090 zoned a one acre site at 73240 E US 40 Hwy, within the Blue Valley neighborhood, from business to manufacturing. Applicant representative Patrica Jenson stated there were no current plans for the site, only that the owner was looking to sell the land. The City Planning Commision recommended approval of the case.
Swope Health Village begins the planning and construction process.
CD-CPC-2024-00072 approved a major development at 3427 E 59th St, within the Town Fork Creek neighborhood. The subject site was sold by the City to Swope Health Services, who plan to develop a mixed-use campus containing group living, senior living, and a community center. The plan, titled Swope Health Village, will be completed in phases over the next 5 years. Mark Miller, a Swope Health representative, stated his intention for the campus to “become the catalyst to reinvigorate the area. We’re quite proud of the investment”. The City Planning Commission recommended approval of the case.
Northland High School plans major school and recreational expansions. CD-CPC-2024-00023 approved the expansion of St. Pius X High School’s main building and football field. The school is located at 1500 NE 42nd Terrace, within the Crestview neighborhood. Applicant Vince LaTona presented the plan for expansion, including new classrooms and a gym edition on the main building, a new chapel building, and a training facility near the football field. LaTona also created a drop-off area, near the entrance to the football field, allowing elderly fans to avoid the hill between the field and the parking lot. After some questions about the logistics of the drop-off, the CPC recommended approval of the case.
CD-CPC-2024-00024 was another case involving St. Pius X High School. In addition to their main campus expansions, the school is also improving their off-campus sports fields. At 3800 NE Davidson Rd, St. Pius X High School has a track, two baseball fields, and tennis courts. With this case, the school hopes to add outdoor volleyball courts, as well as an observation deck to the tennis area. The school is working with Olsson, an engineering and design firm, on this project. The City Planning Commision recommended approval of the case.
Urban farmers present their plan to address neighborhood opposition. CD-CPC-2024-00088 introduced a master plan for an urban farm, located at 5500 Bennington Ave, within the Brown Estates neighborhood. While this specific case is new, topics involving Urbavore Urban Farms have been covered in previous editions of This Week at City Hall.
City Planner Ahnna Nanoski introduced this case by giving the commission a history of the farm. In 2007, Urbavore Urban Farm (then Bad Seed Farm) was established at a site in South Kansas City. In 2012, farm owners Dan Heryer and Brooke Salvaggio moved to 5500 Bennington Ave, which had been freshly rezoned to R-80, the zone designated for urban farms. In May of 2023, the city recorded several zoning violations on the farm, requiring Brooke and Dan to appeal to the Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA). In January of 2024, the BZA directed Urbavore to create a master plan to rectify their violations. Seven months later, Urbavore and their team went before the City Planning Commision seeking approval of their master plan.
City Planner Nanoski also outlined the zoning violations at Urbavore Urban Farms, the main ones being shipping containers on site, unimproved gravel parking and driveways, the conduct of retail sales on site, and a composting facility that exceeds the approved capacity. If approved, the Master Plan would allow Brooke and Dan to ignore these violations and continue operation as normal.
Urbavore Urban Farm’s legal representative, Kristen Ellis Johnson, presented the Master Plan to the commission. The plan included three phases: phase one, immediate paving of some on-site drives and improvement of storage containers; phase two, construction of an alternative main drive; and phase three, aspirational projects like farm schooling, a community pavilion, greenhouse, and retail structures. The plan requires Brooke and Dan to finish phase two (construction of an alternate site entrance) within a year.
During public testimony, many different neighbors and customers of Urbavore Urban Farm spoke in support or opposition to the plan. Many customers and some neighbors expressed support for the concept of urban farming, and the products Brooke and Dan sell to them every week. Several neighbors also testified against the plan, feeling that it didn’t address their concerns properly. One neighbor, Leah Suttington, questioned why the plan put their new drive so close to their neighbors (especially considering CD-ROW-2023-00053), proposing they instead move it to the north side. Suttington also expressed her frustration that according to the plan, the farm’s current entrance, known as “Freemont Ave”, would remain open, exposing the neighborhood to the farm’s traffic.
After hearing all testimony from the applicant, staff, and the public, the commissioners spoke amongst themselves. Commissioner Lynch felt this plan was the best outcome the neighbors could hope for, and stated her intention to approve the plan that day. Chair Crowl stated his wish that Brooke and Dan had been better neighbors, but that it was their property, and should be able to develop it as long as it meets code. Commissioner Enders began his statement by telling Brooke and Dan, “I really admire the work that you do, I think it is incredibly important… What I would’ve liked to see instead of this Master Plan with a lot of aspirational ideas, is something that deliberately addresses the immediate concerns of the neighbors.” Enders went on to say, “I cannot imagine us being in this situation today if we had Black farmers and white neighbors, I just can’t… I don’t think we would be having this same type of discussion if that situation was reversed”, suggesting if the ethnicities of Urbavore Urban Farms and the surrounding neighbors were switched, the situation would’ve been handled differently. For that reason, Enders suggested the commision deny the request, or continue it to allow Brooke and Dan to change their master plan. After Commissioners Padilla and Hesek agreed with Enders, the commissioner unanimously voted to continue the case until September 4th. Continue reading This Week at City Hall to stay updated on this case.
Grayson Johnston is the author of This Week at City Hall, and an Urban Planning and Design Student at UMKC. He moved to Kansas City two years ago and has loved it ever since. Grayson became interested in community and neighborhoods while still in high school, when he discovered the field of Urban Planning. As he learned about the theory of walkability, transit, and strong communities, Grayson became committed to going to planning school and starting a career growing his community.
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