The Unified Government’s Neighborhood and Community Development Standing Committee heard a presentation Monday evening on proposed temporary changes to short-term rental regulations in preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will bring an estimated 650 thousand visitors to Kansas City this summer.

With just five months until the first World Cup match kicks off at Arrowhead Stadium on June 16, officials are racing to establish a framework that allow more owners to rent out their homes while maintaining safety standards.

Unprecedented demand for World Cup

Kansas City will host six World Cup matches, including one quarterfinal game, between June 16 and July 11. The influx of visitors will far exceed available hotel capacity in the region, which totals approximately 55 thousand rooms within a two-hour drive.

Assistant County Administrator Alan Howze told commissioners that the temporary housing demand will be “significant,” with visitors expected to stay an average of 9.7 days. Currently, KCK has only 55 licensed short-term rentals operating under the current special use permit and administrative review processes.

“We know that short-term rentals are going to be in demand,” Howze said. “We know the interest is there, we know it’s going to happen, and the question is from a policy perspective, how do we manage that effectively as a community, as a city, and the public safety and the other aspects that come along with that.”

Proposed policy changes

The proposal includes three major components:

Temporary Moratorium on Special Use Permits The UG would suspend the lengthy special use permit process for short-term rentals from May 1 through the end of July. The SUP process currently takes more than 80 days and requires Planning Commission and full Commission approval.

Administrative Licensing Process Property owners would instead go through a streamlined online licensing process administered by the Neighborhood Resource Center, similar to the existing long-term rental licensing system. This would significantly reduce approval time.

Suspension of Block-Face Limit The current restriction allowing only one non-owner occupied short-term rental per block face would be temporarily lifted during the moratorium period.

After the temporary period expires, all regulations would revert to current policy.

Public safety considerations

Fire Chief Dennis Rubin emphasized the importance of safety inspections for short-term rentals, particularly given the anticipated party atmosphere during World Cup events.

“We need to get started with the appropriate inspections from fire extinguishers to exits, to make sure that there’s working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors,” Chief Rubin told the committee. “A major fire in the middle of one of these events that would take people’s lives probably wouldn’t fare well, and would cause some embarrassment organizationally, that we feel strongly we can prevent.”

The proposal would require third-party inspections of all short-term rental properties before licensing, covering life-safety items including fire extinguishers, exits, smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide detectors. Some commissioners suggested the Fire Department could conduct these inspections directly, though the cost and workload implications require further consideration.

Howze also noted that understanding where short-term rentals are located helps law enforcement address potential illegal activity.

Regional coordination

KCK is not alone in adjusting short-term rental policies for the World Cup. Planning Department representative Alyssa Marcy outlined similar moves by neighboring jurisdictions:

• Kansas City, Missouri declared a “major event” period from May 3 to July 31, reducing permit fees from $200 to $50
• Lawrence removed limits on the number of rentals per entity (previously capped at three)
• Parkville temporarily lifted restrictions on the number of rentals from May 1 to July 31
• Independence temporarily suspended bedroom caps, ownership limits, and density restrictions from June 1 to July 30

Fee structure and enforcement

Under the proposed framework, property owners would pay for:

• Third-party inspections
• KCK occupation tax ($4 per bedroom)
• Short-term rental application fee (potentially reduced to $50, down from $360 for the current SUP process)

The proposal includes significantly increased fines to incentivize compliance. Two enforcement options are under consideration:

• Warning (5 days to register), followed by $1,000 or greater fine for each day of continued non-compliance or,
• Increasing fine scale from $1,000 to $5,000 instead of the current lower amounts of $100 to $500

Committee discussion

Commissioners raised several questions about implementation, particularly regarding transient guest tax collection and the end date for the temporary policy.

Commissioner Chuck Stites questioned whether tracking TGT revenues would be feasible, noting that many short-term rentals might not be listed on platforms like Airbnb or VRBO that automatically collect and remit taxes.

“Unless I report to you that I’ve actually rented that place and for what the amount, how are we going to fact check what they’re saying?” Stites asked.

Marcy confirmed that the UG already uses a system called Granicus that tracks listings on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO to identify non-compliant properties, though there is some lag time in the data.

Committee chairman Andrew Davis suggested exploring third-party collection services for taxes and emphasized the importance of aggressive TGT collection given the UG’s investment in World Cup preparations.

The committee also discussed adjusting the proposed end date from Aug. 30 to July 31 to align with other jurisdictions and the school calendar. The last World Cup match in Kansas City is scheduled for July 11.

Economic opportunity

Officials emphasized that the policy changes would allow UG property owners to benefit economically from the World Cup while ensuring visitor safety.

“This provides an opportunity if people want to do that, whether that’s renting out a room in their house or renting out the entirety of it, to get some of that economic benefit of those visitors that are coming and gonna be spending their time and their money here in the community,” Howze said[7].

The UG plans to provide short-term rental operators with information from Visit KCK about local attractions, restaurants, shopping, and entertainment options to help visitors experience Wyandotte County.

Next steps

The presentation was for information only. Staff will present a proposal for a vote at the committee’s Feb. 2 meeting, forwarding it to the full commission on Feb. 5 and potentially rolling it out to the public starting Feb. 9.

Commissioner Melissa Bynum suggested implementing outreach events, noting that Kansas City, Missouri is holding “business or licensing days” where staff help people complete applications.

UG staff noted that they will be keeping an eye on the number of applications and their approval time, along with guest tax revenues and public safety calls to measure the success of the changes.

Land bank business

In other business, the committee approved 13 single-family residential land bank options and one commercial property option. 11 property transfers for gardens and yard extensions were also approved.

Two option applications submitted by Fairlane Contractors were held over to the next meeting. The Old Quindaro Community Partnership had indicated opposition, and commissioners noted that the notification email to neighborhood groups was sent Dec. 17, which may not have allowed sufficient opportunity for developer-neighborhood discussion due to the holidays.