Urban farm’s new plan to appease neighbors, update on Parade Park homes, and several vacations of public right-of-way.
- New Mark
- Old Hyde Park
- Little Blue
- Brown Estates
- Leeds
- 18th and Vine
- Gashland
- Martin City
- Ward Parkway
- West Bottoms
City Planning Commission
Wednesday, September 4th 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.
CD-CPC-2024-00015 requested the approval of the Staley Heights Development, which includes a clubhouse and swimming pool. The new development will be built at 10310 N Highland Place, within the New Mark neighborhood. The clubhouse will serve the nearby Staley Farms Golf course and is being planned by Andrea Lemken with Renaissance Infrastructure Consulting.
CLD-FnPlat-2024-00022 approved the final plan for the construction of new townhomes at 3600 Walnut Street, within the Old Hyde Park neighborhood. This plan creates 9 new townhome lots, with Lance Scott, from Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers, as the project lead.
CLD-FnPlat-2024-00015 approved the splitting of an existing lot at East 79th Street, within the Little Blue neighborhood. Approval of this plan allows Robert Anderson, with Anderson Survey Company, to build an additional house, south of the existing residence, on its own lot.
These previous three cases were placed on the City Planning Commission’s Consent Agenda, and were therefore approved with little discussion from the commissioners of the public.
Urbavore Urban Farms returns with a new Master Plan. CD-CPC-2024-00088 saw the return of the new master plan for Urbavore Urban Farms, located on the eastern portion of the city, in the Brown Estates neighborhood. This case has been covered in many previous editions, but most recently on August 9th. On Wednesday, Daniel Heryer and Brooke Salvaggio presented their master plan with a few changes after the August 7th CPC meeting. In that previous meeting, the commission ended by requesting Heryer and Salvaggio return with a more specific plan which addresses the concerns of the surrounding neighborhood. These concerns (associated with CD-ROW-2023-00053), include traffic overflow from the farm, large commercial vehicles on residential streets, and nuisances from the farm’s large-scale composting.
City Planning staff Ahnna Nanoski presented a brief summary of the case, including the commissioner’s comments from the last meeting, existing zoning violations on the farm, and the changes made by Heryer and Salvaggio. After a question from Commissioner Enders, Nanoski clarified the staff’s recommendation of approval, stating that the farm’s new drive was “technically a code compliant road”.
Brooke Salvaggio then presented the farm’s perspective on the changes to the plan, stating her wish to “respond to comments and concerns expressed at the last hearing” and to “add details on the long term vision of the farm”. Heryer then took the reins and described his perspective on the farm’s community relations. This included an overview of the Brown Estates neighborhood land use, Brooke and Dan’s history with the site, and complex history of neighborhood relations.
The specific changes to the plan were as follows: an additional 10 ft setback to the new drive running parallel to the farm’s southern property line, 50% reduction in the number of shipping containers allowed on site (from 10 to 5), and added details about the specific uses of yurts on the farm. Brooke and Dan justified their roadway changes with a report from an engineer, which agreed that the only possible location for the roadway was on the southern property line. Salvaggio addressed concerns about the shipping containers by including pictures which showed that no containers were visible from other properties. Salvaggio also addressed concerns about the yurts (tents on wooden platforms) by clarifying that they were not short term rentals, and were instead to be used primarily for education.
During public testimony, Leah Suttington, a resident of Brown Estates, stated her opposition to the plan, citing the continued use of Fremont Avenue within the plan. Other residents opposed to the plan included Bernice Norwood, Danny Nabors, Angel Adams, Debra Nabors, and Carrena Moultrie. Those speaking in support of the plan included Brianne Darby, Executive Director of Cultivate KC, Sarah Baltico, Lauren Hills, Micheal Jacobs, Maka Greenleaf Maple, Stan Slaughter, Annette Evans, Mickey Gallagher, Emily Aikins, Jacqueline Palmer, Jim Fleming, Coco Castle, Anne Mcgregor, Annie Riggs, Molly Scanlan, Natalia Louther, Rhonsa Kane, Shannon Moore, Alan Biggers, Taylor Maine, and DuRon Netsell.
In response to the opposition’s comments, Urbavore’s lawyer Christen Johnson recalled the opposing neighbor’s request, in their July hearing, that Urbavore just build a gravel road off of Bennington Ave. Johnson questioned why the neighbors opposed this plan when it fulfills that very request. Johnson went on to respond to other comments made by the opposition, citing evidence included on Compass KC. Commissioner Enders gave the first comments from the commission, stating his disappointment that the road was not moved, but that he would vote to approve the project. Commissioner Padilla and Arkin stated that they wouldn’t support the project because the applicants hadn’t moved the road specifically as requested. Commissioner Hasek disagreed and stated his belief that moving the road was more than just a cost barrier, and would affect operations of the farm. Commissioner Lynch stated her support for the plan before the CPC today, but that she would still hope to see the vacation of Fremont Ave. Finally, Chair Crowl gave his comments, stating he felt this project represented a lot of converging interest, and his struggle in deciding the best course of action. Crowl eventually agreed to support the project, meaning the project was approved 5-1.
CD-CPC-2024-00097 and CD-CPC-2024-00096 were cases requesting the approval of a 1,080 unit apartment building construction at 1536 Euclid Avenue, within the 18th and Vine neighborhood. This case was prepared by City Planner Larisa Chambi. This complex already exists next to Parade Park, but due to structural concerns with the homes, this case will completely demolish and rebuild the homes.
Applicant and developer Dwayne Williams stated that this project was “… a $400 million reinvestment back into the community”. Julie Collier, another project manager, testified to her work with HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development), the city, and the current residents of Parade Park. Stephanie Hayward, architect for the project, also spoke about the organization of the site. After Commissioner Padilla asked about the fate of the current tenants, Williams informed the commissioner of the “relocation specialist” hired by the developers, who will assist tenants in relocating, if they want, or in moving back into Parade Park once construction is completed. The project will be completed in phases, allowing a majority of residents to move directly into the new homes once phase one is complete.
Commissioner Hasek began his comments by stating the importance of this project specifically in the rehabilitation of the 18th and Vine neighborhood, and then moved into some critiques. Hasek stated that this project felt like the developers were trying to “check boxes, rather than form a community”. Hasek requested that the developers increase the number of for-sale units, allowing for more community ownership, saying “This doesn’t feel like a neighborhood to me, it feels like a development”.
Patrica Jenson, legal representative for the project, responded to Hasek, saying “We’re disappointed you’re getting that feeling… but there are partners of this project that have to be satisfied”. Jenson went on to suggest that the issue of ownership was outside the authority of the CPC. The commission voted to approve the plan 5-1.
CD-CPC-2024-00078 approved the rezoning of a portion of a lot within the Little Blue Valley neighborhood. Applicant Paul Exosito sought to rezone the property from R-80 (Residential) to B2-2 (Commercial) to facilitate the sale of the property. As requested by City Planner Andy Clarke, the applicant left a 75 foot buffer between the surrounding residences and the rezoned property. This case has been covered in a previous edition of This Week at City Hall.
This case had previously been heard on July 17th, but was continued after the surrounding neighbors raised concerns about the illegal storage of vehicles on the lot. Seeing evidence of the violations, the CPC requested the applicant return only after they had removed the vehicles. To show proof that there were no remaining violations, the applicant provided video evidence of the site’s conditions. The commission unanimously voted to recommend this case for approval.
CD-ROW-2024-00015 approved the vacation of a section of Topping Avenue within the Leeds neighborhood. This section of Topping Avenue is unpaved and currently unutilized. Langley Enterprises owns all the property just to the west of the site, and are planning to further develop their automotive business. CD-ROW-2024-00019 approved the vacation of Bellaire Street, within the Leeds neighborhood. This section of Bellaire St dead-ends roughly 100 ft after its intersection of 32nd St. Langley Enterprises also owns the land surrounding this section of Bellaire St, and is planning to use this site to further develop their business once vacating is complete. Justin Smith was the City Planner associated with both these cases. The CPC recommended approval of these cases.
CD-CPC-2024-00100 and CD-CPC-2024-00101 approved the development plan for a mixed-use building containing 30 dwelling units and 15,000 square feet of commercial space. This building will be developed near Metropolitan Community College’s Maple Woods campus, within the Gashland neighborhood. During her presentation, City Planner Genevieve Kohn recounted her request to the applicant that they move their building closer to the street, to allow a more friendly pedestrian experience. Kohn pointed out that this request was not heeded by the applicants, as they instead chose to surround the building with parking.
Patrica Jenson, from the applicant team, responded to Kohn by telling the commission “we would lose too many parking spaces” if they satisfied staff’s request. The Commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of these cases.
CD-CPC-2024-00108 approved the rehabilitation of a site within the Martin City neighborhood, located at 12940 Wornall Rd. This development plan proposes to convert one of the existing buildings on site into a 133 unit, mixed-use building titled the Mayfair development. The main building was previously used as a retirement community, but will now be renovated to include apartments, as well as 600 square feet of commercial space. City Planning staff Genevieve Kohn received lots of emails containing traffic concerns from neighbors of the site, requesting that the commission address the traffic in the surrounding area. During the meeting, City Traffic Engineer Sam Akula testified that a traffic study was not required as this site would generate less than 100 trips during peak hours. Signal changes have also been made at the intersections in the surrounding area within the past couple months, in effort to relieve traffic concerns. The City Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the project.
CD-CPC-2020-00132 requested the approval of an expired development plan for Fareway Market. This plan will be located at 1307 W 79th St, within the Ward Parkway neighborhood. This development plan was previously approved by the CPC in 2020, but due to Covid, the applicant was not able to build within one year. The commission voted to recommend approval of the extended expiration date.
CD-SUP-2024-00026 requests the approval of a Special Use Permit (SUP) to allow two second story apartments within the West Bottoms neighborhood. City Planning Staff Alec Gustafson stated his hope that issuance of this SUP would require the property owners to remove the existing violations on sight, including the storage of non-functioning vehicles. Applicant Ben Bortnick agreed to remove the violations, and the CPC voted to recommend approval of the case.
CD-ROW-2024-00002 requested the vacation of an unpaved street within the Brown Estates neighborhood. DuRon Netsell, who spoke during public testimony at the meeting’s first case, was the applicant on this case. Netsell has been buying several lots in the area and plans to build his family home in the area after the approval of vacation. The CPC unanimously voted to recommend approval of 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.
Note: Many of the boards and committees that are normally covered in this space did not meet this week. Like many other workplaces, late summer is a popular time for staff, elected officials and appointed board members to take time off.
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