An update to the Major Street Plan, planned improvements to a used-car sales lot at 74th and Troost, and confirmation of City Council’s moratorium on new non-municipal detention facilities.
- Bridgepointe
- Boone Hills
- Forgotten Homes
- Gracemor-Randolph
- Holmes Garden
- Hyde Park
- Linden Hill
- Marlborough
- Northland
- Rockhill Gardens
- Waldo Tower
- Ward Parkway
- Ward Parkway Plaza
- West Waldo
City Plan Commission
Wednesday, February 4th at 9am
The City Plan Commission was attended this week by Chair Coby Crowl and Commissioners Sean Arkin, Shawna Murrell, Matt Hasek, and Todd Forbes.
CLD-FnPlat-2025-00033 requested approval of a Final Plat in a B3-2 (Commercial) zoning district for the site located at the northeast corner of Northwest 68th Street and Highway-169 in the Northland, creating one lot and one tract for a motor vehicle repair shop to be known as Crash Champions KCMO.
This item was on the Commission’s Consent Agenda and was recommended for approval with little deliberation.
CLD-FnPlat-2025-00013 requested approval of a Final Plat in an R-1.5 (Residential) zoning district for the site located at 7800, 7802, and 7744 N Oak Trafficway near the Bridgepointe neighborhood of the Northland, allowing for the creation of 2 lots and 3 tracts for a multi-family residential development to be known as Stone View.
This item was on the Commission’s Consent Agenda and was recommended for approval with little deliberation.
CLD-FnPlat-2025-00037 requested approval of a Final Plat in a UR (Urban Redevelopment) zoning district on about 14 acres and located at 1800 E Bannister Rd near the Linden Hill, Holmes Garden, Boone Hills, and Marlborough neighborhoods, creating one lot for an industrial site to be known as Blue River Commerce Center.
This item was on the Commission’s Consent Agenda and was recommended for approval with little deliberation.
CLD-CPC-2025-00199 requested approval of a Project Plan in a UR (Urban Redevelopment) zoning district on about 31 acres and located at the southeast corner of North Wallace Drive and Northeast 48th Street near the Gracemor-Randolph neighborhood of the Northland, creating one building for an industrial site known as Hunt Midwest Business Park.
This item was on the Commission’s Consent Agenda and was recommended for approval with little deliberation.
CD-MISC-2026-00001 declared a moratorium on the issuance or approval of any new permits, plan reviews, special use permits, project plans, development plans, zoning changes, or other zoning applications for non-municipal detention facilities within Kansas City through January 15, 2031. Development Management Division Manager Sara Copeland presented this item to the Commission.
In January, the City Council adopted ordinance 260074 which declared a moratorium “on all approvals for non-municipal detention facilities, including the issuance or approval of building permits, special use permits, zoning applications, plan review, project plans, development plans, and zoning changes”. Because the aforementioned ordinance involves development applications that may be subject to review by the City Plan Commission, Staff were advised that a hearing before the Commission regarding it would be required.
This ordinance was adopted by the City Council in response to officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) touring a warehouse in South KC for sale and use as an immigrant detention center.
Commissioner Forbes asked if federal agencies (such as ICE or DHS) would be required to observe the ordinance. City attorney Sarah Baxter responded that the outcome of such a case would be dependent on its specific facts and circumstances, but that it would be up to the federal agency to challenge the ordinance in court. In similar previous cases, such as in Leavenworth, Kansas, these ordinances have been challenged. However, in that case, the City of Leavenworth prevailed. It should be noted, though, that other legal and legislative disputes remain regarding the proposed ICE facility in Leavenworth.
The Commission moved to recommend approval of this item.
CD-CPC-2025-00151 requested approval to amend and update the Major Street Plan (MSP). Staff Planner Olofu Agbaji along with Selina Zapata Bur, and Regan Tokos from the Public Works Department presented this item to the Commission.
The Major Street Plan (MSP) was last adopted in 2011 with subsequent amendments made in 2022. The plan was established by the City to show the general alignment and functional classification of streets, highways, and parkways. It is also meant to guide development of the arterial street network and identify appropriate street rights-of-way to be secured at the time of subdivision platting.
Major comprehensive updates to the MSP are recommended to be made once every 10 years. City Staff were making updates to the plan, because the plan had not been significantly revised since 2011 (when it was adopted) and because several changes have been made since then to the City’s arterial street network.
This update was also made in an effort to align with the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan and to meet the criteria for a Safe Streets For All (SS4A) grant which the City previously received in fiscal year 2022.
The MSP already maps and covers items like rights-of-way and through-streets. These items will remain part of the updated plan. Removed from the updated plan were recommendations about criteria for various street typologies and recommended number of lanes for certain roads. These criteria are now part of the City’s Streets Design Guide, so were removed from the MSP to eliminate redundancies. In addition, the updated MSP adds a note on whose Jurisdiction a given roadway is under (Parks or Public Works).
It should be noted that the MSP only covers “major streets”, meaning those roadways which are classified for a traffic capacity over that of a local street. This is reflected in which roadways are highlighted in the MSP’s map.
The Streets Design Guide’s new typologies section includes diagrams of options for different street types to help designers of major infrastructure. Each typology has a table with recommended metrics such as target speed, design vehicles, pedestrian facilities, place type, number of lanes, etc.
Some of the new street typologies include:
- Urban Mixed Use
- Connector
- Parkway
- Neighborhood
- Downtown Core
Ms. Tokos explained that these street typologies are meant to be examples or options for design, and not necessarily prescriptive. Actual design review of streets will still pass through the Transportation and Design Committee (TDC).
The Streets Design Guide makes an effort to prioritize the safety of most vulnerable users of transportation facilities. In the past, the City largely followed national trends of transportation design, which focused on highways. The Streets Design Guide was developed, in part, to reintroduce attention to the safety of urban streets and a mix of different users like pedestrians and cyclists.
The Streets Design Guide may also be updated regularly to align with new engineering standards and guidance. Further updates and amendments to the MSP will come back to the City Plan Commission.
There were several amendments made to the MSP’s map of major streets. The vast majority of these amendments were changed to better depict reality as new development has occurred since the plan was written. One example of this was the removal of the old airport’s roads (as these are no longer needed).
One case in particular, however, regarded the realignment of Barry Rd and Line Creek Pkwy. This was the only revision staff were making which did not represent reality, but instead a proposed alignment change.
Barry Rd and Line Creek Pkwy proposed realignment
Neighbors from the area around Line Creek Pkwy gave public testimony. They reported that some people in the area were concerned about the parkway being too close to the Line Creek Trail, and some were in favor of no road whatsoever. There is also a desire to preserve an existing forested area nearby. One community member asked about how communities around Line Creek Trail can be notified of upcoming development or infrastructure changes. Chair Crowl responded, informing them to keep their neighborhood association or HOA information updated with the City.
Jim McClure – Polsinelli P.C., also gave public testimony and asked if staff had a more clear map, as the one in the documentation for their presentation was difficult to read. Ms. Tokos explained that in addition to the materials that were part of the presentation, there is also an interactive online map available for public use.
The Commission moved to recommend approval of this item.
CD-SUP-2025-00042 requested approval of a special use permit for the expansion of Hale Cook Elementary in a R-6 zoning district, located at 7302 Pennsylvania Ave in the Ward Parkway and Waldo neighborhoods.
The Commission moved to continue this item with fee to March 4th ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.
CD-SUP-2025-00047 requested approval of a special use permit to allow a used vehicle sales dealership in a B3-2 zoning district located at 7345 Troost Ave in the Marlborough, Waldo Tower, and Rockhill Gardens neighborhoods. Staff Planner Larisa Chambi, on behalf of Alec Gustafson, along with the applicant, Jason Higgs, presented this item to the Commission.
The subject site has previously operated as a vehicular sales use. The applicant provided a development plan for the site which would allow enough space for 27 vehicles. The plan also provides landscaping/screening around the west, south, and east sides of the subject site. The applicant was proposing to remove the existing chain-link fence surrounding the property, and replace it with a wrought-iron fencing around the north, south, and west property lines, and 6 ft privacy fence on the east property line, which abuts a residential district. The requested special use permit has a renewal deadline of two years.
The property has received several code violations over the past year and a half for unauthorized vehicles on the site. Mr. Higgs explained that he has been working to lease the site from the property owner and to enhance it with better paved surfaces, parking stalls, landscaping, and screening. Prior to that time-frame he reported that he was not involved with the site. Requesting the special use permit and bringing the site closer into code compliance would help mitigate the property owner’s standing code violations.
Mr. Higgs also stated that he plans to use the site strictly for used vehicle sales. No vehicle maintenance would be performed onsite.
The Commission moved to recommend approval of this item.
CD-CPC-2025-00174, CD-CPC-2025-00167, and CD-SUP-2025-00040 requested approval of an amendment to the Country Club/Waldo Area Plan from Office/Residential to Mixed Use Community, approval of a rezoning from zoning districts B1-1, B3-2, and R-0.5 to zoning district B2-2, and approval of a special use permit to allow for a Culver’s on the site located at 7953 State Line Road in the Ward Parkway Plaza neighborhood.
The Commission moved to continue these items with fee to March 4th, ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.
CD-SUP-2025-00045 requested approval of a special use permit in an Urban Transit Corridor within the Prospect Corridor Overlay to allow for an event center located at
the southeast corner of Euclid Avenue and East 12th Street in the Forgotten Homes neighborhood.
The Commission moved to continue this item with fee to March 4th, ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.
CD-SUP-2025-00044 requested approval of a major amendment to a special use permit for additional parking and building addition for Notre Dame De Sion school, located at the northeast corner of Locust Street and Harrison Parkway in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
The Commission moved to continue this item without fee to April 1st, ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.
CD-MISC-2025-00004 requested approval of the updated KCI Area Plan.
The Commission moved to continue this item without fee to March 18th, ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.
Ben Robinson is the author of This Week at City Hall, and an Urban Planning and Design Student at UMKC. He is a Kansas City native, having lived on both sides of the state line. From a young age, Ben has been interested in neighborhoods, communities, and the built environment, but only discovered the field of Urban Planning in college. He is now committed to a career in the profession, and is excited about using his education to support and grow the city he grew up in.
Leave a Reply