The Kansas City, Kansas City Planning Commission met Monday night to consider zoning changes and special use permits.
The most contentious item on the agenda, a special use permit for Reworld Solutions to operate a waste recycling facility in the Armourdale area near South 14th Street and Argentine Blvd., was deferred for sixty days at the request of the applicant. Community opposition due to potential traffic and environmental concerns has now delayed a commission decision twice.
A community group, RiSE4EJ, submitted a letter and petition in opposition to the project, specifically calling out additional truck traffic close to John Fiske Elementary and Reworld’s refusal to provide information to residents as reasons it opposed issuing the permit.
Although the facility’s planned use does not include handling hazardous waste, it is expected to recycle paper and packaging materials along with used oils and greases into fuel for cement kilns. The zoning in the immediate area of the building is for industrial use. The location is adjacent to a trucking company and a commercial food distribution warehouse.
The commission approved a zoning change for the quilting museum that the Linda Houston Foundation is building at 94th Street and State Avenue, unanimously voting to change the site from agricultural and single-family homes to limited commercial use.
The commission added requirements for additional sidewalk connections, including eight-foot-wide sidewalks along the 94th Street and State Avenue edges of the property. One house on the site will be demolished as part of the construction of the 40-thousand square foot facility.
The commission also gave unanimous approval to the Eden Village’s request to change zoning from apartments to a mobile home park for its property north of 59th Street and State Avenue. The undeveloped parcel of land, just west of Schlagle Stadium is nearby the Carroll Creek mobile home park on 59th Place.
A 140-room hotel proposed adjacent to the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway received unanimous approval for rezoning from agricultural to commercial use. The land is currently a parking lot for Kansas Speedway.
The commission also approved a special use permit for a short-term rental near 63rd Street and Georgia Avenue, while deferring action on a new dance studio at 62nd Street and State Avenue.