The Unified Government Commission voted Thursday, Oct. 29, to bring local zoning rules in line with a new state housing law, but kept neighborhood meetings as one tool residents can use to weigh in on rezoning. Commissioners also debated gaps in the county’s short-term rental rules and turned down one rental opposed by the Planning Commission.

Commissioner Chuck Stites (District 7) attended online. The commission canceled a planned executive session.

Neighborhood meetings survive housing law changes

Senate Bill 418, the Kansas By-Right Housing Development Act, took effect July 1. In an effort to promote more housing development, the law lets certain homes and residences skip some local zoning and building reviews if they already match the area zoning requirements. The law also removes the right to file a protest petition against rezoning an area to a single-family residential district.

The commission weighed two versions of an ordinance to match the law. The first option would have dropped the neighborhood meeting requirement for rezoning. The second option kept the meetings for all rezoning.

Mike Farley, an attorney in the UG legal department, said the state leaves those meetings to local governments. “Neighborhood meetings are not regulated by state law right now,” Farley said.

Staff said the meetings would give residents a way to learn about and comment on rezonings they can no longer protest. Commissioner Phil Lopez (District 6) said that mattered to him.

“I’m not about silencing our residents. I’m never about that,” Lopez said.

Some commissioners criticized the state law itself. Commissioner Andrew Kump (At-Large District 2) noted that the protest petition limit came from the state, not the UG. “I don’t agree with it either, quite frankly, but our hands are tied with respect to that,” said Kump.

Commissioner Christian Ramirez (District 3) said he supports more housing but not this law. “I believe it’s a one-size-fits-all,” Ramirez said. “Every neighborhood, every community is different.”

He said the loss of protest petitions troubled him most. “It’s an option that citizens should have if they don’t agree with the housing,” Ramirez said.

Commissioner Andrew Davis (District 8) stressed the law’s narrow reach. It covers townhome projects of up to 12 units and single-family homes that meet a list of conditions, not large apartment complexes.

Kump moved to adopt Option B, and Davis seconded. The motion passed 9 to 1, with Ramirez voting no.

Short-term rentals expose holes in the rules

A short-term rental in the 2500 block of West 41st Avenue drew a long debate over how the UG polices such rentals. Ramirez, who lives down the street, pulled it from the consent agenda.

The property already holds a long-term rental license. Farley said an owner may hold both licenses but cannot host long-term and short-term guests at the same time.

Ramirez said he had seen the home advertised room by room. Wendy Green, deputy chief counsel and acting chief counsel, said a long-term license allows renting single rooms. A non-owner-occupied short-term rental must rent the entire home.

Ramirez proposed requiring the owner to report which license was in use. Commissioner Carlos Pacheco (District 5) and Green cautioned against making a rule for a single property.

“If we’re making that a stipulation for this particular applicant but it’s not that way for anybody else, it’s not a very uniform application of our ordinances,” Green said.

Davis questioned whether the UG could enforce such a rule without entering people’s homes. He said he wanted to “feel good that we don’t have a law or ordinance or resolution that we can’t enforce.”

Commissioner Jermaine Howard (District 1) said the problem goes beyond one property.

“It seems like we always have hiccups when it comes to these short-terms, right?” Howard said. “Seems like we haven’t figured it out yet.”

Changes may be coming. Interim County Administrator Alan Howze said a pilot program during the World Cup created a simplified administrative process for short-term rentals rather than the lengthy special use permit process that requires commission involvement.

“I think by and large it went actually pretty smoothly,” Howze said. He said staff would report on the pilot to a standing committee soon.

For now, Ramirez said, the ordinance gave the commission no grounds to deny the request.

“There is nothing we can do to disapprove of this application,” Ramirez said. He asked staff to bring the dual-license issue to a standing committee, along with a review of what other cities do.

The commission approved the permit 10 to 0.

Lloyd Street rental denied

The commission voted 10 to 0 to deny a short-term rental in the 4300 block of Lloyd Street. Shae Wells with Karat Investment Group sought the permit, the same applicant behind the West 41st Avenue rental.

The Planning Commission had recommended denial 8 to 1. It cited rule violations, neighborhood opposition, and incompatibility with the neighborhood. Four neighbors spoke against the rental at the Oct. 12 Planning Commission meeting. They raised concerns about limited parking, guests blocking driveways, guests smoking marijuana, noise, and trash left out.

No one appeared for the applicant on Thursday. “I find it perplexing that they’re not here,” Davis said.

Davis moved to uphold the Planning Commission’s recommendation, and Commissioner Melissa Bynum (At-Large District 1) seconded.

Kump and Ramirez both disclosed that they had spoken with opponents of the West 41st Avenue and Lloyd Street rentals. Karat also won approval for a third rental, on Fisher Street, on the consent agenda.

Hotel expansion, microbrewery approved

The commission approved the remaining consent agenda items 10 to 0, including:

• A rezoning for Lane4 Property Group to build a 32-room addition to the Home2 Suites hotel at 3405 Rainbow Boulevard.
• A two-year special use permit for The Woodyard to operate a microbrewery at 3001 Merriam Lane.
• A two-year renewal of a permit for used auto sales and repair at Fenix Auto Sales, 401 Kansas Avenue.
• Short-term rentals in the 3900 block of Fisher Street, the 3900 block of Booth Street, the 2900 block of Eaton Street, the 500 block of Tenny Avenue, and the 8700 block of Georgia Avenue.

Sales tax measures, ambulance program

Mayor Christal Watson used her announcements to promote two sales tax questions on the ballot for the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election. A quarter-cent county tax would address homelessness and community health needs. A three-eighths-cent city tax would go toward infrastructure and parks and recreation.

“Those funds will be restricted to those areas,” Watson said. She credited Davis with drafting an oversight ordinance for the community health funds. “So I hope you go out and vote and support it,” she said.

Bynum promoted the KCK Fire Department’s ambulance membership program. An annual membership costs $40 for an individual or $55 for a household. It covers out-of-pocket costs for an ambulance ride after insurance pays. Bynum said residents often contact her about those bills.

“Why did I get a bill for the balance of my ambulance ride when I have health insurance?” Bynum said residents ask her.

Watson also noted that in-person services at the KCK Municipal Court will resume Monday, Nov. 9, after an HVAC project and a software change. John Garland Park closed the week of Oct. 26 for infrastructure work expected to last about 120 days. Final landscaping should finish in spring 2027.