How to Request Approval of a Rezoning

In KC News, New Development, Redevelopment by EDCKC Staff

Did you know that if you own property in KCMO and propose to use it in a manner that would be prohibited by the current zoning of that land, you or your authorized representative can apply to have the zoning changed? The City Council, upon the recommendation of the City Plan Commission, is authorized to change the zoning of any property within the city as long as the action is justified by public necessity, convenience or the general welfare.

Here is the procedure for getting a rezoning:

A. Request a pre-application conference with a City Planning and Development Department staff planner. Do this by contacting the department’s Development Management Division, 15th floor, City Hall, 414 E. l2th St., Kansas City, Mo., 64106 (telephone 816-513-2846), for an appointment.

Bring with you:

1. The address of the property in question.

2. The property’s legal description, available from the County Recorder’s Office or the City Assessor’s Office.

3. A sketch of the area or a plat map.

4. Your tentative plans for using or developing the land.

The purpose of the pre-application conference is to review with the planning staff your proposed rezoning and development for the site, as well as to learn how the city’s existing and proposed plans and policies may affect the site in question. At the conference, you will be advised of other information you must submit at a public hearing before the City Plan Commission. For example, “planned districts” such as community unit projects (CUP), planned business centers (CP zoning), a general planned development (GP zoning) or limited districts (P zoning) and the planned district (PD zoning) will require submission of detailed drawings of the proposed project. During this conference you also will be given appropriate application form for your proposed rezoning.

B. Submit the completed application forms to the City Planning and Development Department, along with 18 copies of your preliminary plans and other information suggested during the conference. You also will be required to pay a filing fee governed by the type of rezoning you request. The filing fee is listed in Section 80.480 in the Zoning Ordinances of Kansas City, Mo. Copies of the ordinance are available in the City Planning and Development Department on the 15th floor of City Hall (telephone 513-2846) at a cost of $25.00. (Make the check payable to the “City Treasurer.”)

C. A City Planning and Development staff planner will review your materials to make sure all necessary items have been furnished. The planner will then schedule your case on the next available agenda before the City Plan Commission. Five to six weeks will pass between submission of your application and the date of the City Plan Commission public hearing. The delay is due to a required period for legal advertisements; time to prepare and mail notices of the hearing to adjacent property owners and do other administrative work; and because of the limited number of cases the city Plan Commission can hear at one time. You and all owners of property within 185 feet of the affected site will be notified of the time, date and place of the hearing.

The Plan Commission has established a policy requiring you to hold a meeting with affected residents to review your project prior to the public hearing. You or your representative must be present at the Plan Commission public hearing to present and explain your preliminary plan. You should bring with you any maps, graphs or other materials that would help you explain your proposal. Adjacent property owners and other interested persons also will be allowed to speak at this hearing. Following the hearing, the commission will make a recommendation to the City Council either to approve your request; approve it subject to certain conditions; or to deny it. You will be advised by letter of the commission’s decision.

D. If the City Plan Commission recommends approval of your rezoning request, the City Planning and Development staff will prepare an ordinance and forward it to the City Council. Within about two weeks, the ordinance will be given a first reading before the City Council and will be referred to the council’s Plans, Zoning and Economic Development Committee. About three or four weeks will pass before the committee holds a public hearing on the ordinance. As in the case of the City Plan Commission public hearing, this delay is due to the need to publish legal advertisements and notify adjacent property owners, and because of a busy committee agenda. You will be notified of the time, date and place of the public hearing before the Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee. You or your representative must attend, and should bring any material that would help explain your development plan.

E. After hearing all sides, the Plans, Zoning and Economic Development Committee will make one of the following recommendations to the full City Council: “do pass,” “do not pass,” “without recommendation,” or “hold in committee.” If the committee recommends that the ordinance be passed, the measure will be given a second and third reading on consecutive weeks and the council will vote on it at the third reading. If the City Council approves your rezoning request, or approves it with conditions, the ordinance to rezone your property becomes effective 10 days later.

F. You are then ready to seek approval of your final plan from the City Plan Commission, a step that must be taken before a building permit can be issued. To do this, you are required to submit a completed application form, filing fee and eight copies of your final development plan to the City Planning and Development Department staff. (Make the check payable to “City Treasurer.”) This plan must be in substantial compliance with the intent of the approved preliminary plan.

After about three weeks, your case will be scheduled on the City Plan Commission agenda and you will be notified of the time, date and place of the public hearing. During the two-week interval, various city departments will review and comment on your plans. You or your representative must be present at the Plan Commission hearing.

G. The City Planning and Development staff will then send copies of the approved, final development plans to Development Services, 5th floor, City Hall, for use in issuing a construction permit. You must have such a permit if your project involves any new structures or any work that physically changes structures already on the property.

If at any time during the process of seeking a rezoning your request is denied by either the City Plan Commission, the City Council or the council’s Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee, you have three options:

1. You can revise your application and resubmit it at any time to the City Planning and Development Department.

2. You can resubmit the same plans for the same property to the City Development Department one year later.

3. You can ask a City Council member to reintroduce the denied application at any time.