A special use permit for an historic short-term rental in Scarritt, accessory structure variances in lower midtown, and new affordable housing in Hyde Park and Center City.
- Blue Valley
- Center City
- Cooley Highlands
- Country Club Homes
- Hyde Park
- Northland
- Osage Trail Station
- Red Bridge
- Scarritt Renaissance
- Wornall Homestead
Board of Zoning Adjustment
Wednesday, October 8th at 9am
The Board of Zoning Adjustment was attended this week by Chairman Mark Ebbitts and Board Members Michael Meier, Emerson ‘Jaz’ Hays, Theresa Otto, Myeisha Wright, Gonzalo Venture.
CD-SUP-2025-00023 requested approval of a Special Use Permit (SUP) to reuse a historic structure as a lodging house (STR) and micro-event space located at 511 Gladstone Blvd in the Scarritt Renaissance neighborhood. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and the applicant/owner, Megan Duma – MD KC, LLC, presented this case to the Board.
This case was previously brought before the City Plan Commission (CPC) on October 1st and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.
88-367 allows for the reuse of historic structures for uses not otherwise allowed, provided the BZA grants the owners a Special Use Permit.
This property had previously been approved to operate as a bed-and-breakfast, and had received a variance for the property owner to not live on-site. Under this new special use permit, Ms. Duma was seeking to change the number of allowed guests:
- The previous approval had allowed for a maximum of 46 people
- This SUP was requesting to allow a maximum of 49 people (10 overnight guests and 39 people for the event space + staff)
Ms. Duma was seeking this request as the previously-approved permits for her to operate this bed-and-breakfast now needed to be renewed. However, she was unable to obtain either an STR permit or a lodging permit. STR permits allow eight overnight guests, and she was requesting to allow more. Originally, her request had been to permit an additional sixteen people, and had been negotiated down to ten. She was also unable to obtain a lodging permit, as lodging establishments start at eight rooms, and the structure in question has five.
Ms. Duma, the applicant and owner, explained that the cumulative cost of the property per month totalled about $8,000, and because of its location in the Historic Northeast, it is unfortunately one of her least lucrative rentals. She also noted that several other historic homes in the area are in disrepair and suffer break-ins and fires. Her property being maintained and occupied reduces the risk of those occurrences.
Ms. Duma also went over the timeline of events since she had originally applied for a change of use in September of 2024, citing instances of miscommunication and misunderstanding regarding what uses were approved for the site. Other confusion had arisen regarding things like fire and building codes.
Chairman Ebbitts recognized Ms. Duma’s investments of time and money into this property, as well as the many City departments she’d had to communicate with to accomplish it. Ultimately, the Board moved to approve a Special Use Permit for this case for the duration of five years.
CD-SUP-2025-00029 requested approval of a Special Use Permit to complete construction of an Express Stop Gas Station in an M1-5 zoning district located at 6401 E US 40 Hwy in the Blue Valley neighborhood. Staff Planner Alec Gustafson and the applicant, Mark Murdick – Sullivan Palmer Architects, presented this case to the Board.
This case was previously brought before the City Plan Commission (CPC) on October 1st and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.
The Express Stop on the subject property is already built. The applicant had previously received approval of a project plan for the site in 2019 (CD-CPC-2019-00156) and had begun construction. However, development stalled, and the applicant now needed a special use permit to approve the completion of the project. Mr. Gustafson also explained that some of the development had been constructed across property lines encroaching on City-owned land, and that City Staff were requiring all development across those lines to be demolished and reconstructed according to the latest submitted site plans.
Mr. Murdick also explained that stagnation of construction had occurred as a result of MODOT construction along the gas station’s adjacent right-of-way. This incurred several reviews, and slowed the building process.
The Board moved to approve this Special Use Permit.
CD-BZA-2025-00127, CD-BZA-2025-00128, and CD-BZA-2025-00130 requested approval of several variances to the Troost Corridor Overlay to construct three multi-unit residential buildings at 3200 and 3211 Troost Ave and 3200 Forest Ave in the Hyde Park, Osage Trail Station, and Center City neighborhoods. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski along with James McClure of Polsinelli P.C. and Devon Coffey of Milhaus Development, representatives for the owner, presented these cases to the Board.
The proposed structures would consist of two affordable housing apartment buildings on the southwest and southeast corners of the intersection at Linwood Blvd and Troost Ave. The issues requiring variances mainly consisted of deviations from the standards for facade building materials as well as for balconies and terraces, as laid out under the Troost Corridor Overlay. The developers for these buildings informed the Board that they were requesting these variances in order to keep costs down for the project, allowing them to make a return on investment while keeping this housing stock affordable. Approval of these variances would allow them to use a greater degree of secondary materials for the facade of these structures, and would allow Juliet Balconies for some of the units instead of requiring full balconies.
Chris Koch, representing the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association and the Troost Coalition, spoke in favor of the development.
The Board eventually moved to grant the requested variances.
CD-BZA-2025-00133 requested approval of a variance to the height of a detached garage at 6014 Wyandotte Street in the Wornall Homestead neighborhood, zoned R-6 and under the Wornall Homestead Overlay zoning district. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and Laura Bauers, the architect for the applicant, presented this case to the Board.
The applicants were seeking this variance to build a detached garage with accessory dwelling amenities on the first and second floors. Outside the structure would be a patio and pool. These would both be in the backyard, behind the principal residence. The height of the proposed structure would exceed code by about six ft.
The Board moved to approve the requested variance.
CD-BZA-2025-00135 requested approval of a variance to the accessory uses and structures standards to permit a detached accessory garage in an R-7.5 zoning district located at 1201 E 108th Ter near the Red Bridge neighborhood. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and the applicant, Brian Rooney, presented this case to the Board.
The requested variance concerning the accessory structure requested that an existing detached shed be closer than permitted to the principal structure on the site (the applicant’s house). In addition to this, the applicant was seeking a variance to the location and design requirements for vehicular use areas in residential districts to permit gravel on the subject site.
Mr. Rooney explained that he had largely followed the permitting process for this structure, but was unaware of the need for a variance until it was brought to Staff’s attention. The Board deliberated and were mostly in agreement that the financial hardship to the applicant were they directed to move/demolish the shed would be difficult. However, they also agreed that the gravel on the site should be removed.
Ultimately, the Board moved to approve the variance to the separation requirements for the shed, but denied the request to allow gravel on the property, subject to the condition that the applicant be allowed two years to remove it from the site.
CD-BZA-2025-00136 requested approval of a variance to the separation distance between a detached accessory structure and a primary structure at 632 W 61st St in the Country Club Homes neighborhood. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin along with Mike Flynn, Frank Reardon, and William Trakas, representatives for the applicant, presented this case to the Board.
The accessory structure in this case was a garage. The applicants explained that the need for the variance stemmed from the size of the structure and the location of underground utilities, which limited where they could build.
The Board moved to grant the requested variance.
CD-BZA-2025-00134 requested approval of a variance to the maximum size of incidental (wayfinding) signage in an M2-3 zoning district for the site located at 11200 N Congress Ave in the Northland. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and Renea Spires, the applicant, presented this case to the Board.
The signs in question were built around the subject site (a medical office/industrial area) to assist delivery trucks in finding different areas of the complex. These signs had been constructed previously without permits, and were out of compliance with code due to their size (13.3 square feet).
Ms. Spires explained that the applicants were unaware that these signs were non-compliant and reiterated their purpose. The Board offered a continuance in order for her to consult with her clients to propose a redesign to bring the signs closer to code compliance, ultimately moving to rehear the case on November 12th.
CD-BZA-2025-00123 requested approval of a variance to the width of a driveway in an R-6 zoning district for the site located at 3526 N College Ave in the Cooley Highlands neighborhood near North Kansas City.
This case was previously brought before the BZA on September 24th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.
The Board moved for this case to be dismissed at the request of the applicants, 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