Multifamily zoning approvals in Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City's Zoning and Development Code, Chapter 88 of the city's Code of Ordinances, sets the district that applies to a parcel today. A multifamily project that needs a different district, or a flexible Master Planned Development or Urban Redevelopment Plan, takes that request through the City Plan Commission to the City Council.

Chapter 88 and the rezoning route

Chapter 88 "regulates land use and development across the City" and is amended by the City Council on the City Plan Commission's recommendation, under the City Planning and Development Department's own description of the chapter. A project that needs a different district, or a Master Planned Development (MPD) or Urban Redevelopment Plan (UR), files a rezoning application.

City Plan Commission and City Council steps

• A pre-application conference with a staff planner, then a filed application and fee.
• About six weeks later, a City Plan Commission public hearing, after notice to owners within 300 ft and a required meeting with affected residents.
• The Commission recommends approval, approval with conditions, or denial to the City Council.
• On a favorable recommendation, staff prepares an ordinance for a first reading, then a hearing before the Council's Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee.
• The Committee recommends "do pass," "do not pass," without recommendation, or to hold in committee; a "do pass" takes the ordinance to a second and third reading on consecutive weeks, with a Council vote at the third reading.
• An approval takes effect 10 days later.

Final plan review for MPD and UR zonings

A preliminary approval for a Master Planned Development or Urban Redevelopment Plan still needs a final plan, reviewed administratively before a building permit issues: the Development Review Committee takes up an MPD final plan in about three weeks, and a planner reviews a UR final plan on a similar timeline.

The city's tax abatement tools

Multifamily development is eligible for property tax abatement in an Urban Renewal Area (administered by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority), a Planned Industrial Expansion Area, or a Chapter 353 redevelopment plan, each staffed by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City. A multifamily project must be approved before construction begins, and the abatement takes 70 percent off the increase in property taxes for 10 years with a further period at 30 percent, with Minority and Women Business Enterprise participation, construction workforce and prevailing wage conditions attached. Projects using Low Income Housing Tax Credits or Historic Tax Credits, or in a continuously distressed census tract, are exempt from some of those conditions. Chapter 353's state authority sits in Mo. Rev. Stat. 353.110.

Questions

Who approves a multifamily rezoning in Kansas City?

The City Plan Commission holds the public hearing and recommends; the City Council votes at the third reading of the ordinance, effective 10 days later.

Does Kansas City offer a tax incentive for multifamily development?

Yes, through an Urban Renewal Area, a Planned Industrial Expansion Area or a Chapter 353 plan, each abating 70 percent of the increase in property taxes for 10 years, approved before construction begins.

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