This Week at City Hall (March 9 -13, 2026)

Dillon’s Grocery and Gas Station coming to the Northland, Urbavore Urban Farms seeks several zoning variances, and Off-street Parking Ordinance held again for two weeks.

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Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee

Tuesday, March 10th at 1:30pm

The Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee is headed by Chairperson Ryana Parks-Shaw, Vice Chair Eric Bunch, and Councilmembers Nathan Willett and Melissa Patterson Hazley. 

PLEASE NOTE: Coverage is delayed for ordinance no.Ordinance 260219, regarding a request to amend Chapter 88, the Zoning and Development Code, by repealing and replacing Section 88-420, “Parking and Loading”, for the purpose of updating parking and loading standards to support more walkable development and reduce on-site parking requirements. Updates to this edition with completed coverage will be posted by Monday March 16th.

Resolution 260257 requested adoption of the Health Commission’s 2026-2029 Kansas City Community Health Improvement Plan (“KC-CHIP”) as the City’s guiding framework for improving population health and strengthening community well-being; and directed the Health Commission to provide an annual update to the City Council.

The Committee moved to continue this item to March 24th, ahead of the meeting Tuesday.

Ordinance 250876 requested approval to amend Chapter 88, the Zoning and Development Code, by repealing and replacing Subsection 88-445-06, Residential Signs for the purposes of allowing digital signs for Institutional and Office Uses in residential districts and adopting new standards for such signs.

This item was previously brought before the City Plan Commission on August 20th as CD-CPC-2025-00128 and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

The Committee moved to continue this item to April 7th, ahead of the meeting Tuesday.

Ordinance 260142 directed the City Manager to submit a response to the Missouri Department of Revenue’s Request For Proposals for license office operations; and directed the City Manager to develop a yearly funding plan in an amount not to exceed $750,000.00 for operational costs and report back to City Council in 30 days.

The Committee moved to continue this item to March 24th, ahead of the meeting Tuesday.

Ordinance 260261 requested approval of a rezoning from a lapsed MPD and B2-2 zoning district to be solely an MPD district to allow for the construction of a grocery store (Dillon’s) and a gasoline and fuel sales station on about 12 acres and located at the northeast corner of N Oak Trfy and NE Shoal Creek Pkwy near the New Mark and Highland Acres-Lakeside Heights neighborhoods of the Northland. Staff Planner Genevieve Kohn-Smith and Patricia Jensen – Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, P.C., a representative for the applicant, presented this item to the Committee.

This item was previously brought before the City Plan Commission on March 4th as CD-CPC-2026-00002 and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

Map of the existing conditions at the subject site.

Proposed Development Plan for the Subject Site.

The applicants on this item had requested several changes to staff’s corrections and conditions to the development plan. Among them were the following:

Regarding 88-347 – Gasoline and Fuel Sales Standards

The applicant was requesting the following deviations from the Code:

• Permission to construct a new gas station within 2,000 feet of an existing gas station. (88-347-02-A.1)
• Permission to construct a new gas station within 200 feet of a residential (R) zoning district. (88-347-02-A.2)
• Permission to exceed 45 foot-candles of illumination under the canopy structure. (88-347-02-D.4b)

Regarding 88-323 – Boulevard and Parkway Standards

The applicant was requesting the following deviations from the Code:

• Permission to locate parking and vehicular use areas between the building and the parkway (as opposed to in the rear of the site). (88-323-02-B.2)
• Permission to exceed the maximum 30 percent vehicular use area frontage allowed adjacent to the parkway to allow 100 percent of the vehicular use area along the frontage adjacent to the parkway. (88-323-02-B.3)
• Permission to provide less than 33 percent transparency along the parkway on the ground floor. The specific percentage will be calculated for the ordinance. (88-323-02-E.6)
• Permission to fully deviate from all additional provisions for sites with gasoline and fuel sales. (88-323-02-G)

Regarding 88-420 – Parking and Loading

The applicant was requesting the following deviations to the bicycle parking standards:

• Providing 11 out of 21 required long-term bicycle parking spaces. (88-420-09-C)

Last week the City Plan Commission (CPC) moved to recommend approval of this item, removing those corrections and conditions related to the application of the Boulevard and Parkway Standards (Correction no. 7 and Condition no. 35 in the staff report).

The CPC had deliberated over several of these requested deviations. First noted was construction of a gas station on the subject site. Since fall of 2024, new gas stations or expansions of existing gas stations have required developers to obtain a special use permit, and are prohibited from being constructed within 2000ft of any existing gas station or within 200ft of any residentially zoned district.

Additionally, deviation from the Boulevard and Parkway Standards had not been recommended by Angela Eley – KCMO Parks. She had described the intent around the standards was to create a sense of development akin to a “city in a park”, with tree-lined streets, pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares, and fewer curb cuts. Of particular concern was that this building would not front Shoal Creek Parkway, instead being located behind its associated parking lot. Ms. Jensen had explained that this kind of design for a larger grocery store is not feasible, in the opinions of her clients.

At the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee, this week, this item was continued to March 17th due to loss of quorum. 

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Board of Zoning Adjustment

Wednesday, March 11th at 9am

The Board of Zoning Adjustment was attended this week by Chairman Mark Ebbitts and Members Emerson ‘Jaz’ Hays, Theresa Otta, Randi Mixdorf, and Myeisha Wright. 

PLEASE NOTE: Coverage is delayed for case no. CD-BZA-2026-00008, regarding a request to approve request to approve several variances  related to gravel vehicular use areas, accessory structures in the front yard, and temporary portable storage containers on the site located at 5500 Bennington Ave (zoned R-80) in the Brown Estates neighborhood, otherwise known as Urbavore Urban Farm. Updates to this edition with completed coverage will be posted by Monday March 16th.

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. Staff Planner Genevieve Kohn-Smith along with members of the applicant team Shannon Jaax – KC Public Schools, Shelli Ulmer – DLR Group and Ishita Banerjee – DLR Group presented this item to the Board.

This item was previously brought before the City Plan Commission on March 4th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

Proposed development on the subject site included a ~10,000 square foot expansion to the existing building on the southeastern corner of the site. Additionally, work was proposed to add parking and improve vehicular circulation as well as to add a new soft play area replacing some of the current paved surfaces.

Additionally, signage was proposed for the building that would exceed the maximum permitted square footage. Ms. Jaax explained that these expanded sign designs were what had been proposed during public engagement sessions, before the applicant team was fully aware of the extent of the City’s sign ordinances. While they would prefer to be granted the larger signs, they were not insistent upon them, at least for this school improvement project.

The Board moved to grant approval of the requested special use permit, but moved to deny the request for larger signs.

CD-BZA-2026-00009 requested approval of a variance to the accessory use standards to allow for an accessory dwelling unit greater than 800 square feet above a proposed detached garage on the site located at 906 E 79th Ter. in the Waldo Tower and Rockhill Manor neighborhoods. Staff Planner Liz Collins and the applicants, Kent Simon and Dwayne Hodges – Hodges Garages, Inc., presented this item to the Board.

Board members expressed concern not with the addition of an accessory dwelling unit, but with the deviation from the maximum allowed square footage. 

The Board moved to grant the requested variance to allow the accessory dwelling unit, but denied the request to build a greater square footage than 800 ft.

CD-BZA-2026-00010 requested approval of a variance to the accessory use standards to allow for a six-car detached garage (larger than permitted maximum height and building footprint area) on the site located at 5825 State Line Rd near the Stratford Gardens neighborhood. Staff Planner Liz Collins and the applicants, Kent Simon and Dwayne Hodges – Hodges Garages, Inc., presented this item to the Board.

The first requested variance associated with this item dealt with a deviation from the maximum allowable height. The applicants were requesting a variance of 1ft to permit a total structure height of 17ft.

The second variance requested to permit an additional 10ft to the maximum building footprint area for a total footprint of 2,265 square feet.

The Board moved to approve the requested variances.

CD-BZA-2026-00011 requested approval of a variance to the accessory use standards to allow for a detached garage to be built closer than 10ft to the principal building (house) on the site located at 101 W 54th St in the Countryside neighborhood. Staff Planner Liz Collins and the applicants, Kent Simon and Dwayne Hodges – Hodges Garages, Inc., presented this item to the Board.

The variance requested a 4.4 ft deviation from the accessory structure separation standards to permit the detached garage to be 5.6 ft from the main house on the subject property. 

Staff had also added a condition to this case that two existing trees, identified on the approved site plan, be preserved or relocated when the proposed garage is built. Mr. Simon reported that the property owners for the site (clients of Hodges Garages) were in favor of saving these trees. So too were their neighbors, who would otherwise lose shade should the trees be removed. Preserving the trees, however, necessitated that the proposed garage be located closer to the house.

The Board moved to grant approval of this item.

CD-BZA-2025-00181 requested appeal of a zoning determination related to an unregistered outdoor advertising sign (billboard) located at 634 E 63rd St in the 49/63 Coalition neighborhood. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and the applicant, Vincent “Butch” Rigby Jr., presented this item to the Board.

The billboard had been on the site for several years prior to the applicant purchasing the property. However, the billboard had not been registered with the City Planning and Development Department. This was the cause for the notice of zoning violation.

Mr. Rigby stated that when he had bought the property in 2015, the sign was in disrepair. His team had originally painted the sign black and maintained it. They were informed by the City to put vinyl back on the sign, otherwise it would need to be removed. For some time, the billboard then contained a sign for Screenland Real Estate, Mr. Rigby’s company which owns several properties up and down a portion of 63rd St. This was deemed to be an “on-premise” promotional sign, and therefore not in violation.

More recently, however, Mr. Rigby was approached to donate part of his sign to promote several nonprofits, including Kanbe’s Market. These signs, because they promote an “off-premise” establishment, were deemed a violation. However, Mr. Rigby reported communications with City Staff that confirmed he would be allowed to have the billboard promote these nonprofits. 

As the sign exists now, one side advertises the Kanbe’s Market and the other side advertises Screenland Real Estate. Ms. Otto expressed concern, because, it would seem, one side of the sign could be classified as legal non-conforming, but the other side would still be a violation.

After a closed session, the Board moved to deny the requested appeal. This would uphold staff’s determination that the sign had been in violation, but it would not direct Mr. Rigby to immediately remove the sign. Instead, it would be reliant on him to work with Staff to find a way to bring the sign into compliance or obtain permission to keep it.

CD-SUP-2026-00006 requested approval of a special use permit to allow for temporary outdoor storage in a UR zoning district located at 8721 N Summit St near the Bridgepointe neighborhood in the Northland. Staff Planner Genevieve Kohn-Smith and the applicant, Jacob Hodson – Olsson, representing the property owner, Metro North Crossing LLC, presented this item to the Board.

This item was previously brought before the City Plan Commission on March 4th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

The subject site is owned by a landscaping company and is used to store equipment related to street weatherizing like salt and a brine tank. In addition, there are several shipping containers on the site. All but one of these containers were going to be removed, the final one would remain as part of this special use permit. 

Mr. Hodson explained that this landscaping company weatherizes the private streets that are part of the Metro North Crossing development. Given the recent redevelopment plans for that site and the new construction anticipated in the following few years, his team was contesting a condition that staff had put on their recommendation of approval which involved the duration of the special use permit. The applicants were requesting that the permit last for five years instead of three, as had originally been recommended by staff. 

The Board moved to grant approval of this item, changing the condition that the special use permit expire in three years to expire in five years.

CD-BZA-2024-00176 requested approval of a variance to the distance requirements for an accessory structure in an R-6 zoning district located at 4933 N Chelsea Ave near the Maple Park neighborhood in the Northland. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and the applicant, Maria Alvarez, presented this item to the Board.

This item was previously brought before the Board on January 28th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

The Board moved to continue this item off-docket with fee ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.

CD-BZA-2025-00152 requested approval of a variance to the setbacks for a deck and pool constructed without permits in a R-7.5 zoning district located at 25 NW 90th Pl near the Bridgepointe neighborhood of the Northland. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and the owner/applicant Candace Ostdiek presented this item to the Board.

This item had previously been heard by the Board on several occasions in the last year. The applicants were returning to the Board this Wednesday with three options for modifying the deck/pool to bring them closer to code compliance. These options all reduced the nonconforming structures in size to some degree, thereby increasing their setback from the rear property line.

Ultimately, the Board moved to grant the applicants’ second option, which was a variance of 20.0657 ft (a 70.8% deviation from the minimum setback requirements).

CD-BZA-2025-00103 requested appeal of a Notice of Violation related to an outdoor vehicle sales use (without a special use permit) located at 7730 N Oak Trfy near the Bridgepointe neighborhood of the Northland.  Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and Chris Mattox – Ross, Frets, P.C., representation for the applicant, presented this item to the Board.

This item was previously heard by the Board on September 10th, October 22nd, and December 10th.

The subject site is a strip mall where one tenant (TD Autobrokers) operates a used car lot.

This is classified by the City as “Outdoor Vehicle Sales” and requires a special use permit. No special use permit was recorded being attached to the subject site, nor any business license for TD Autobrokers.

Mr. Maddox requested continuance of this case. He explained that the site was constructed in 2006, and that a prior tenant had operated a pawn shop there with a special use permit. Part of the sales at that pawn shop were vehicle sales, and the current tenant, TD Autobrokers, continued the sale of automobiles without obtaining a new special use permit.

The Board moved to continue this item to April 8th, to allow for the applicants to file an application to obtain a special use permit.

CD-BZA-2025-00169 requested approval of a variance to permit a shorter setback for a detached garage in an R-6 zoning district located at 101 E 36th St in the Old Hyde Park neighborhood. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and the applicant, Mike Schumacher – RDM Architecture, representing the property owners, Arthur and Kristina Griffin, presented this item to the Board.

The proposed garage was originally designed to be approximately 6ft from the house on the subject site, but after prior hearings at the BZA had been redesigned to sit approximately 10ft in separation distance. However, an existing staircase that was not evident on the original plan reduced the effective separation distance, once again necessitating a variance.

The applicant requested that this item be held to discuss further options for redesign with his clients.

The Board moved to continue this item to March 25th without fee.

CD-BZA-2025-00195 requested approval of a variance to the residential accessory building standards in an R-2.5 zoning district located at 410 N Drury Ave in the Indian Mound neighborhood. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and the applicant/property owner, Andy Holbrook – Aspen Products, presented this item to the Board.

The Board moved to dismiss this item ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.

CD-BZA-2025-00170 requested appeal of a zoning violation related to a surface gravel parking lot on the site located at 2320 Summit St in the Westside neighborhood.

The Board moved to dismiss this item ahead of the meeting, Wednesday.

CD-SUP-2026-00002 requested approval of a Special Use Permit for a religious assembly and community center in an R-80 zoning district on about 10.34 acres located at 12181 N Woodland Ave near the Fairfield neighborhood of the Northland. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari (on behalf of Larisa Chambi) along with the applicants, David Frohling – GHN Architects and Mark Henrichs – Continental Consulting Engineers presented this item to the Board.

This item was previously brought before the City Plan Commission on March 4th, and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

The proposed development includes an 18,254 square foot church with community center amenities as well as three parking lots with a total of 277 spaces, a storage shed, and a pavilion in the northeast corner of the site.

There were several variance requests associated with this case. The first was a variance of 2 ft to the residential vehicular standards to permit a driveway width of 24 ft (as opposed to permitted 22 ft).

The second variance was a request to deviate from the residential vehicular standards by 14,575.24 square feet, to permit an impervious surface coverage of 46,978 square feet in the street side yard. This variance would allow for the construction of the church’s driveway and parking.

The Board moved to grant the requested items.

CD-BZA-2026-00020 requested approval of multiple variances to two menu boards, including digital aspects, in a B3 zoning district for the site located at 7198 NW Barry Rd near the Oaks at Prairie View neighborhood of the Northland. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and the applicant, Trey Watts – Springfield Sign, representing the property owner, Monarchs Sub LLC, presented this item to the Board.

The applicant was requesting permission to have two digital menu board signs for a Culver’s drive-thru. Digital signage is not permitted by-right in B3 zoning districts.

Mr. Watts argued that the Board should grant the requested variances on the grounds that this signage is not meant to advertise to the street, but instead is used for “internal guest education”.

Board member Hays added that these types of variances for digital menuboard signs were starting to become a pattern and may warrant a code amendment.

The Board moved to grant the requested items.

CD-BZA-2026-00004 requested appeal of a zoning determination related to a denied relief for a reasonable accommodation request for a 12-person group home located at 1110 Myrtle Ave in the Lykins neighborhood. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and the applicant, Allison Cole – Unity House Inc., on behalf of the property owner, The Urban Farming Guys, presented this item to the Board.

In December of 2025, Unity House, under 88-571, submitted a reasonable request accommodation to site a 12-person group home for persons with disabilities at the subject site. Eight-person group homes are permitted by right, but that is the maximum. City Staff had originally denied this request, and the applicant was appealing that determination at the meeting Wednesday. 

Factors that Staff consider when determining a reasonable request accommodation include:

• Whether the individual(s) with a disability will be denied an equal opportunity to enjoy the housing type of their choice absent the accommodation.
• In the case of developers or providers of housing for individuals with disabilities, whether the requested accommodation is necessary to make a facility or facilities of a similar nature or operation economically viable in light of the relevant market and market participants.

In the appeal application, the applicant acknowledged that their original application lacked the information that provided why twelve people would be necessary to make the use economically feasible at the subject site. Staff, therefore, believed that the applicant could reapply (combining and updating the relevant information) for a new review of the reasonable request accommodation.

Ms. Cole explained that the reason this use would not be economically viable without twelve people is because the rent would be less than $700 (closer to $500) a month. Additionally, fluctuations in occupancy common in group homes also contribute to the need to make economic viability more robust.

The Board moved to deny the request to appeal City Staff’s determination, Ms. Cole and Unity House to reapply for accommodation with the new information presented.

CD-BZA-2026-00012 requested approval of a variance to the required front setback to permit a covered porch on an existing single-family dwelling on the site located at 7006 E 86th St in the Blue Ridge area of South KC. Staff Planner Liz Collins and the applicant, Jocento Ramirez, on behalf of his daughter, the property owner, presented this item to the Board.

This site, and several of the others on the same block, encroach into the minimum required setback of 30ft for R-7.5 zoning. Each house on the block is already encroaching 5ft into this required setback. The covered porch, therefore, further encroaches into the setback. Permitting the porch would create an effective front setback of 12ft from the property line to the edge of the porch.

Mr. Ramirez explained that his intent was to beautify the house and the neighborhood, namely because his daughter and her young family were just moving in.

Due to the unique circumstances related to the setbacks of the properties on the block, the Board moved to grant the requested variance.

CD-BZA-2026-00017 requested approval of a variance to the residential vehicular standards to permit a gravel driveway in an R-7.5 zoning district located at 6819 E

66th St in the Swope Ridge neighborhood. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and the applicants/owners Scott and Michelle Culton presented this item to the Board.

The applicants were seeking this variance to permit the expansion of an existing gravel driveway to meet a detached garage proposed to be constructed in the rear yard.

At a prior BZA meeting, Mr. Culton had proposed to build a shed in the rear yard of the subject site, but certain aspects of this proposed construction did not meet code compliance. To obviate this, Mr. Culton had decided to change his proposal to construct this shed to instead build a detached garage. However, this would require that the existing driveway be extended to meet the proposed garage. 

The variance request before the Board concerned allowing gravel on the subject site, which is typically not permitted under residential zoning. However, the subject property and several other properties on the block had gravel driveways already. 

The Board moved to grant the requested variance.

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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.