This Week at City Hall (September 8 – 12, 2025)

School and Daycare Development in Tri-Blenheim and Blue Hills, a cottage-house subdivision in Staley Hills, and two changes to the Zoning and Development code regarding native plants and used car lots.

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Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee

Tuesday, September 9th 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. Councilmember Patterson Hazley was not present at this week’s meeting.

Ordinance 250560 and Resolution 250714 requested approval to rezone the area at the southeast corner of Northwest Barry Rd and Interstate 29 in the Northland from AG-R and B3-3 to only B3-3 and approval of a development plan for the same area that would allow for the construction of a car wash. 

These items were held in advance of the meeting, at the request of the applicant, to be heard in three weeks. 

Ordinance 250695 requested to accept a one year grant award for $732,999 with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to provide for core public health functions. Sean Ryan, the Division Manager of the Kansas City Health Department, presented this ordinance to the Committee.

This contract supports on-going programs in the Kansas City Health Department in the Communicable Disease Control, Environmental Health and Health Education/Chronic Disease Control divisions, and contributes to communicable disease surveillance and reporting, community health assessments as well as collaborations & partnerships with civic organizations to develop and implement population based strategies. 

The Committee moved to recommend approval of this ordinance. It was later passed by Council this Thursday.

Ordinance 250530 requested approval to amend Chapter 88, the Zoning and Development Code, by repealing and replacing Section 88-805-04, “Commercial Use Group,” with a new section of like number and subject matter to establish special use permit requirements and operational standards for used motor vehicle sales lots. Katherine Nace; Policy Director with the Office of the Mayor, Darius Diamond; general counsel for the Mayor, and Staff Planner Sara Copeland presented this ordinance to the Committee.

This case was brought before the City Plan Commission (CPC) as CD-CPC-2025-00102 on August 20th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

Among the changes this ordinance would make to the code, the largest is redefining Vehicle Sales, Used as its own use category, separate from Light Equipment Sales/Rental. Within this new category, the proposed text amendments include establishing new use tables (showing which zoning districts this use will be allowed in), and new use standards (regulations about design and operation of used vehicle sales lots). 

The allowed zoning districts for this use would be B-1 through B-4 (commercial), DC and DX (downtown), and M1 and M2 (industrial). However, a Special Use Permit would be required to build a new used car lot in any of these districts. 

Some of the use standards in the proposed amendment concerned: size of primary structure (at least 200 feet) storage of vehicles (at least 10 feet from the public right-of-way and any residentially-zoned area), screening from public right-of-way with landscaping, and total number of stored vehicles (one vehicle per 200 square feet of lot area), among others.

The Committee moved to recommend approval of this ordinance. It was later passed by Council this Thursday.

Resolution 250536 and Ordinance 250537 requested approval of an amendment to the Midtown/Plaza Area Plan for the site located at 3809 Roanoke Rd in the Volker and Roanoke neighborhoods, changing the recommended land use from residential low density and mixed use neighborhood to only mixed use neighborhood. In addition, these items requested approval to rezone the subject site from B3-2 and R-5 to B3-3, and to approve a related development plan for a multi-unit residential/commercial building built by Hickok Homes.

These cases were brought before the City Plan Commission as CD-CPC-2025-00055, CD-CPC-2025-00054, and CD-CPC-2025-00056 on June 4th and were covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

These items were held in advance of the meeting, at the request of the applicant, to be heard in one week. 

Ordinance 250598 requested to accept the recommendation of the Central City Economic Development (CCED) Tax Board to increase funding for two projects by $771,680. The two projects in question are the Essential Families Office Building/Francine Marie Kerr Family Center at 2407 Prospect Ave in the Wendell Phillips and Washington Wheatley neighborhoods, and the Developing Seeds of Luv project by Friends of Luv Does Matter at 5521 Woodland Ave and 4336 Flora Ave in the Blue Hills and Ivanhoe neighborhoods. Dion Lewis, Deputy Director of the Housing and Community Development Department, and Sherise Kirkwood, Program Administrator at the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDCKC) and Program Manager with the CCED, presented this ordinance to the Committee.

Developing Seeds of Luv, will rehab two single-family homes for persons with mental disabilities. Both this and the Essential Families projects have been delayed after it was found that additional work needed to be done to complete them. For the same reason, both projects required more funding, and were seeking an appropriation via this ordinance. 

The Committee moved to recommend approval of this ordinance. It was later passed by Council this Thursday.

Ordinance 250637 requested to amend Chapters 48, 56, 34, and 62 of the Code of Ordinances in the following ways:

Under Chapter 48 entitled “Nuisances”:

• Repealing Section 48-1, Definitions. 
• Repealing Section 48-30, Rank weeds and noxious plants.

Under Chapter 56, entitled “Property Maintenance Code”:

• repealing Section 56-433, Noxious weeds and enacting new sections of like number and subject matter and by enacting a new Section 56-116, Excessive growth of vegetation, invasive and noxious plants and poisonous plants to the touch.

Under Chapter 34, entitled “Health and Sanitation”:

• Repealing Article VII, Weeds and noxious plants

Under Chapter 62, entitled “Solid Waste”:

• Repealing Article VIII, Nuisances.

The Deputy Director for the Neighborhood Services Department, along with Tamara Mills and Stephanie Dresen from the Office of Environmental Quality presented this ordinance to the Committee.

The purpose of this code amendment is to allow residents to plant native species in the interest of climate resiliency; one of the City’s major goals in its comprehensive plan. This will not mandate the planting of native species, but it allows for them, where older code provisions made that more difficult.

Some of the benefits of the proposed code change included improved stormwater retention, water quality, ecosystem resilience, wildlife habitats and erosion control. Additionally, more native plants could result in increased biodiversity and a reduction in costs to maintain City infrastructure like storm sewers.

The proposed ordinance also “cleans up” the code, and seeks to better define what plants are actually maintained and a benefit and which should still be considered nuisances.

The Committee moved to recommend approval of this ordinance. It was later passed by Council this Thursday.

Ordinance 250639 requested to amend Chapter 88, the Zoning and Development Code, by repealing and replacing Sections 88-120-03, “Uses;” 88-120-04, “Lot and Building Standards;” and 88-810-395, “Country Club Plaza” with new versions that adjust the boundaries of the area these codes apply to, particularly at the site known as Seville West at 4720 Jefferson St. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and members of the applicant team including Roxanne Koch of Polsinelli Law Firm and Dustin Bullard, representing the Plaza ownership, presented this ordinance to the Committee.

This case was brought before the City Plan Commission (CPC) as CD-CPC-2025-00127 on August 20th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

Staff and the applicant teams’ presentations consisted of the same information brought before the CPC on August 20th. Briefly, though, the proposed ordinance would keep the site within the Country Club Plaza zoning overlay, but allow for a maximum height on the property of 275 feet. It would also allow for ground-floor office uses without requiring a special use permit. 

Public testimony was mostly in support of the proposed ordinance, stating the value from new growth that it may allow on the site. Opposition was primarily concerned with the maximum allowed height. 

Ultimately, the Committee moved to recommend approval of this ordinance. It was later passed by Council this Thursday.

Resolution 250668 and Ordinance 250674 requested approval to amend the Shoal Creek Valley Area Plan, rezone, and approve a development plan for the area located at the northeast corner of N.E. Shoal Creek Pkwy and Maplewoods Pkwy near the Staley Hills neighborhood in the Northland. Staff Planner Olofu Agbaji and members of the applicant team including Jacob Hudson from Olsson and Aaron Schmidt from Hunt Midwest presented this ordinance to the Committee.

These cases were brought before the City Plan Commission as CD-CPC-2025-00079, CD-CPC-2025-00077 and CD-CPC-2025-00076 on July 16th and were covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

Amendment of the aforementioned Area Plan would consist of changing the recommended land use for the subject site from mixed use community, residential low density, and residential medium density to residential high density. Rezoning would change the area’s designation from B3-2 and R-2.5 to only R-2.5. Approval of the associated development plan would allow for the construction of a 177-unit cottage house development.

Mr. Agbaji reported that Staff had received a protest petition for this project from the existing nearby neighborhood on September 8. This petition is currently being reviewed to determine validity. 

The Committee moved to hold these items for one week to allow for them to be discussed at a public meeting to be held Monday, September 15.

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Board of Zoning Adjustment

Wednesday, September 10th at 9am

The Board of Zoning Adjustment was attended this week by Chairman Mark Ebbitts and Members Theresa Otto, Randi Mixdorf, Tom Gorenc, Myeisha Wright, Emerson “Jaz” Hays, and Michael Meier. 

CD-BZA-2025-00100 requested approval of a variance to the maximum size of a monument sign for the site located at 1001 Locust St in the Downtown Loop. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and members of the applicant team: Austin Panko and Lee Moore, presented this case to the Board.

This case was heard by the BZA on August 13th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

The subject site houses the offices of JE Dunn. The proposed sign would replace the existing sign outside of the 10th St entrance to that building. At the previous hearing, some board members expressed that they would like to see the applicant team experiment with some other options that would bring the sign closer to compliance, such as moving it elsewhere or reducing the proposed size increase. 

The original proposed sign size was about 50 square feet. The applicant team had returned to the BZA with a new proposed size of about 36 square feet. In addition, the applicants had now proposed moving the sign closer to the street, in an existing flower bed.

The Board moved to approve the requested variance.

CD-BZA-2025-00106 requested approval of a variance to the infill residential standards for the site located at 2021 Mercier St in the Westside neighborhood to allow a driveway access off the street where an alley is present. Staff Planner Alec Gustafson and members from the applicant team, Nick Christopher and Carla Cartel, presented this case to the Board.

The applicants were seeking to build a new house on the property, which has sat vacant since 2021. The old house had a driveway that fronted Mercier St, but since the lot is now vacant, it reverts to infill residential standards, which prohibit driveways on properties where alleys are present. The alley adjacent to the property was noted to be relatively inaccessible, though. The quality of the surfacing was degraded, there was no east side access, and there were light poles in the alley itself. For these reasons, the Board moved to approve the requested variance.

CD-BZA-2025-00013 requested an appeal of the denial of a Certificate of Legal Nonconforming Use (CLNU) for a Short-Term Rental at the subject site 321 Southwest Blvd in the Crossroads neighborhood. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and members of the applicant team, Megan Duma and Lucas Taylor, presented this case to the Board.

Ms. Nanoski explained that the City had previously denied the applicants a request for a CLNU as no record of the property owners ever obtaining a permit to use the property as a short-term rental existed. There was also no record of the property ever having been a hotel, bed-and-breakfast or something else similar to a modern short-term rental. Staff’s perspective on the case was that despite the applicants substantially converting the property to allow for this unpermitted use, that did not guarantee legal non-conforming rights. The building improvements could also allow for long-term rentals, which are permitted on the property by right. Per 88-575-09, an appeal to this case may only be granted if the BZA found that the administrative official erred in denying the previous request.

Ms. Duma, representing Mr. Taylor, explained that he had purchased this property in 2019 for the purpose of redeveloping them into short-term rentals. She claimed that around late 2022, Mr. Taylor hired a property management company that informed him he would not require a permit to operate a short-term rental, as the site was not zoned residential. In 2023, the law regarding short-term rentals changed, disallowing new STRs in residential zones, but requiring a permit to operate elsewhere. 

The Board went into closed session, and when they returned moved to affirm Staff’s decision to deny the applicant’s request for a Certificate of Legal Non-conforming Use, because Mr. Taylor had operated an STR without a permit, despite it being in a non-residential zone.

CD-BZA-2025-00107 requested an appeal of a Notice of Violation related to window signage coverage for the site located at 300 E 12th St in the Downtown Loop. 

The Board moved to continue this case to September 24th at the request of the applicant.

CD-BZA-2025-00114 requested approval of a variance to permit an accessory structure to be closer to a house for the site located at 7713 Madison Ave in the West Waldo neighborhood. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and members of the applicant team, Josh and Anna Lacey and their architect Joe Rathermel, presented this case to the Board.

The principal structure on the property, in this case a house, suffered a fire on the rear side of the building. The applicant was seeking to repair the damages, but also add a second floor addition. This addition would create a shorter distance between the house and the detached garage than is allowed under current zoning. Per 88-610-05, the applicants could repair the building to its size prior to the fire without the need for a variance, but not the addition.

The applicants explained that this addition would be used to accommodate space for their growing family. When they bought the property, they had one child, and now have three. A neighbor also expressed support for the project, and the Board moved to grant the request for a variance.

CD-BZA-2025-00118 requested approval of a variance to the front setback requirements for the site located at 700 W 44th Ter in the Plaza Westport neighborhood. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari along with Joan and Ken Pierson, the applicants/owners presented this case to the Board.

The home on the subject property was issued an occupancy permit by the City, but it was later discovered that the front steps and porches were approved in error. Significant redesign and reconstruction of the home would be required, and the applicant team argued that this presented a practical difficulty and unnecessary hardship, thus requiring a variance. 

Several other homes in the neighborhood had been improperly permitted and were granted variances in recognition of the City’s error. The applicants for this case were previously unable to join the rest of the neighborhood in getting those variances, and were applying for theirs’ this week. 

The Board moved to approve the requested variance.

CD-BZA-2025-00093 requested approval of a Special Exception to permit a taller fence on the street side yard of 2 E Bridlespur Ave in the Bridlespur neighborhood in South KC. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and Anthony Spallitto, the applicant, presented this case to the Board.

The existing fence is six feet in height and has been present on the property for about 40 years. Given the longstanding nature of the fence, the Board moved to grant the requested special exception.

CD-BZA-2025-00120 requested approval of a Special Exception to permit a fence height of six feet in an R-6 zoning district for the site located at 450 W 51st St near the South Plaza and Sunset Hill neighborhoods. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and members of the applicant team, Jeffrey Schutzler; the architect, and Janelle Agnos; a representative for Pembroke School, presented this case to the Board.

The proposed fence would sit at the front of the property, close to the road. The materials depicted in mock renderings consisted of a stone base and wrought iron, allowing for transparency. In addition, it was mentioned that the home on the subject property is inhabited by the headmaster of Pembroke School, which sits adjacent to the site. No fence would separate the yard of the house from the school, only from the road. No explicit reason was given for the applicants’ desire to construct this fence.

The Board moved to approve the requested variance.

CD-BZA-2025-00091 requested approval of multiple variances to accessory structures and gravel standards for the site located at 5106 N Brighton Place near the Maple Park neighborhood in the Northland. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and the applicants, Misty and Jason Jones, presented this case to the Board.

The first variance, concerning gravel standards, requested to permit existing gravel parking on the site. The second variance requested to permit a 45 foot wide driveway, 23 feet wider than what is allowed. The third variance requested to allow a carport over the front driveway. The applicants were also requesting several variances for other accessory structures located in the backyard on the site.  

Mr. Jones has several medical conditions that prevent him from being in sunlight, which the applicants explained was a major reason that they had constructed the carport. The various other accessory structures, many of them sheds and shipping containers, they explained, were in order to protect property.

After a closed session and because of the complicated nature of this case, the Board moved to continue it until December 10 to give staff and the applicants time to provide them with more information and alternative solutions for the property.

CD-BZA-2025-00117 requested approval of a variance to the location of a detached accessory structure for the site located at 2201 NW 76th St near the Cedar Ridge neighborhood in the Northland. Staff Planner Connor Tomlin and the applicant/engineer Lance Scott presented this case to the Board.

The applicant was requesting two variances within this case. The first, Variance A, was to the location of the detached structure, in this case a garage, to be placed on the street-side yard. The second, Variance B, requested to allow a greater maximum height for said structure. The subject site is rather large, with a house near the center, in a semi-rural context area. Members of the Board noted that the placement of the garage, while technically on the street-side yard, was not close to the road. However, they failed to see the necessary hardship to allow for a taller structure.

With that, the Board moved to approve Variance A, but moved to deny Variance B.

CD-BZA-2025-00103 requested an appeal of a Notice of Violation related to an outdoor vehicle sales use on the site at 7730 N Oak Tfwy near the Bridgepointe neighborhood in the Northland.

The Board moved to continue this case to October 22nd at the request of the applicant.

CD-BZA-2025-00112, CD-BZA-2025-00113, and CD-BZA-2025-00080 all requested variances to the vehicular use area standards for R-2.5 zoning districts, to permit the existing driveways at 4335, 4329 and 4335 Spruce Ave (in the Vineyard neighborhood) to exceed the maximum percentage of pavement in those properties’ front yards. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and the applicants, Gloria Clark Bailey and Samuel Adam Bailey, presented this case to the Board.

CD-BZA-2025-00080, regarding 4335 Spruce Ave, was heard by the BZA on July 9th and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog. At that meeting, it was denied by the Board. The applicants were seeking an appeal of that decision at this week’s meeting.

Mr. and Mrs. Bailey admitted that they had deviated from Staff-approved site plans, which only included one-car driveways on the subject sites, instead building wider drives that can accommodate at least three cars per duplex. The reasons they gave for doing this was to address the congestion of street parking in the neighborhood, protect their tenants’ property (cars) from other drivers on the road, and provide enough off-street parking space for families that often own as many as three vehicles. 

The Board deliberated on ways to obviate the issue. Some suggestions arose to remove part of the parking pad to allow more green space. Mr. Bailey explained that were they to do this, tenants may still park on the lawn, or halfway on the parking pad/halfway on the lawn. Several board members agreed that this would be likely, and ultimately decided to compromise with the applicants. 

The Board moved to approve cases 00112 and 00113, on the condition that the applicant plant at least two trees on the subject properties within six months. However, they moved to deny the request to appeal case 00080.

CD-SUP-2025-00019 requested approval of a Special Use Permit for Brookside Charter School to build their new campus on three lots zoned R-0.5, R-5, and R-1.5 and located at 1900 E Meyer Blvd in the Tri-Blenheim neighborhood. Staff Planner Larisa Chambi and members of the applicant team, Roger Offield and Andrew Schopen, presented this case to the Board.

This case was first brought before the BZA on July 23rd and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog. It was later heard by the CPC on August 20th and was covered in that week’s edition as well.

The details of this case were the same as they appeared in the previous presentation to the CPC. Representatives from the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA) testified on the case, and expressed concerns about parking and queuing of vehicles during dropoff and pick-up times at the new campus. MOCSA is moving into their new spaces nearby, and require easy, immediate access in and out of their facility to meet with clients at places like hospitals.

The applicants explained that several steps had been taken to alleviate any excess queuing, and that dropoff and pickup would be limited to onsite facilities, and claimed that this process would not congest the street.

The Board moved to approve the requested Special Use Permit, in accordance with the CPC and Staff’s recommendations.

CD-BZA-2025-00105 requested approval of variances to the Boulevard and Parkway Standards for the site located at 2500 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in the Blue Hills and Ivanhoe neighborhoods. Staff Planner Justin Smith and the applicant, Nikola Braynov, presented this case to the Board.

This case concerned Emmanuel Family & Child Development, which had recently purchased the existing buildings on the subject site. These buildings, currently apartments, are set to be demolished, along with several other buildings to the west of them, which Emmanuel already owns and operates out of. This demolition would be in order to build a new extension of the daycare along with offstreet parking facilities. 

The requested variances associated with this case included variances to the setback requirements and frontage standards for vehicular use areas (in this case parking) for boulevards. The applicant was requesting to place the parking 20 feet from the edge of the street, instead of the required 30 foot setback. In addition, they were asking to allow ~38% of the site’s frontage to include part of the parking lot, whereas only 10% is allowed under the code.

However, the second variance, regarding frontage, would be temporary, as the school has planned a later phase of development for multi-family housing at the edge of the property. This would place the parking lot behind that building.

The third requested variance was to permit a six foot welded-steel fence on the side yard of the subject site. The applicant explained that this was to provide safety for the daycare.

The fourth variance requested to permit the ground-level facade of the proposed building to have only 23% transparency, as opposed to the required 33%. This, the applicant explained, was also for safety and privacy purposes for the daycare.

The final variance requested to permit the planting of 14 street trees along the frontage of the subject site.

The Board moved to approve these requested variances.

CD-BZA-2025-00121 requested approval of a variance to permit smaller side and front setbacks for the site located at 8848 Lane Ave in the Hickman Mills neighborhood. Staff Planner Stephanie Saldari and members of the applicant team, including Ana Solis, presented this case to the Board.

The applicant was seeking these variances to resolve an outstanding violation for building a porch and attached garage without permits. The porch and garage encroach on the required setbacks for the front and side yards.

The applicants explained that the reason for building these additions was to accommodate Ms. Solis’ mother-in-law, who is now living with them, and to provide secure storage for their vehicles and other property.

The Board moved to approve the requested variances.

CD-BZA-2025-00020 requested approval of a Special Use Permit to allow for a school bus hub to be constructed at 2800 NE Shoal Creek Pkwy near the Staley Hills neighborhood in the Northland. Staff Planner Olofu Agbaji and members of the applicant team, David Ratley and James Everard, presented this case to the Board.

This case was heard by the CPC on August 20th, and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog.

This bus hub would be part of the Staley Hills High School Campus, and would help alleviate travel for school buses from the district’s only other hub.

The Board moved to approve the requested Special Use Permit. 

CD-BZA-2025-00102 requested approval of a variance to the Boulevard and Parkway Standards, related to setback requirements, for the site located at 11029 N Euclid Ave in the Staley Hills neighborhood in the Northland. Staff Planner Ahnna Nanoski and members of the applicant team, Jacob Hodson and Aaron Schmidt, presented this case to the Board.

This case was heard previously by the BZA on August 13, and was covered in that week’s edition of the blog. This case was also heard by the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee this week, and appears in that section above. 

The requested variance dealt with 88-323-03-A, regarding one and two unit residential development along boulevards and parkways. In that, the City requires that such structures be setback at least 30 feet from the parkway right-of-way line. This variance requested a setback of 25 feet instead.

The Board moved to approve this 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.