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Jul
18
Zoning and Development Ordinance Draft Made Public
July 18, 2007 |
The City’s Planning and Development Department has released the first public draft of new development regulations. This is the first major overhaul of these policies since the 1950’s. These policies affect:
- Zoning, Use Regulations
- Building Setbacks, Height and Bulk
- Signs, Landscaping
- Reuse/Rehab, Nonconformities
- Design Standards
- Streets, Sidewalks, Connectivity
- Open Space, Stormwater
Basically, these policies dictate how Kansas City is built, from streets to sidewalks, building heights and uses, sprawl and density.
The City has schedule public meetings August 7, 8, and 14. The City Council is scheduled to adopt the new policies on October 18.
Comments
4 Comments so far
Thats nice that they are bringing in the new policy. The problem is are they going to stand by the new policy.
Take for instance blight. In Kansas City there are too many definitions for the word blight.
That’s why Funkhouser got elected. He’ll either do what’s right or be gone soon. It was the TIF situation that got him elected. I don’t think that fact is lost on him.
This is a fairly big deal, our zoning hasn’t been updated for something like 30 years.
Fumes, I don’t know what your agenda is with the blight comment. If it’s aimed at the “conservation area” component of TIF, then say so, and I agree.
If it’s not, could you be a little more specific in your criticism?
Fumes, I think you are confusing a number of separate issues. Zoning laws are not about the conditions of buildings, they are about what can be built where, how big they are, how far back they need to be from property lines etc.
If you are talking about the conditions of buildings, you are refering to nuisance ordinances, which up to now have had no teeth. Part of the problem was that codes inspectors could only go after a property if someone else filed a complaint. The new, recently passed ordinances allows codes inspectors to initiate nuisance violations themselves.
As for the definition of blight, there might be a city definition, but I’m not aware of it. Where the definition of blight really comes in is with economic development incentives. Some of them, like LCRA and TIF, require a finding of blight in a particular area in order for the incentive to be granted to a developer. I don’t know about all of the half-dozen or so incentives, but LCRA and TIF use exactly the same language for the definition of “blighted area”. It is:
“an area which, by reason of the predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site improvements, improper subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors, retards the provision of housing accommodations or constitutes an economic or social liability or a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and use;”
The problem here is that the interpretation of that definition is so loose that areas like West Plaza and Briar Cliff can be designated as blighted areas.