A controversial apartment highrise near 6th and Central received zoning approval at the Thursday night, April 28, Unified Government Commission meeting.
On an 8-1 vote, with Commissioner Christian Ramirez voting no, the UG Commission approved the zoning change for the building at 529 Central.
Opponents of the project turned out at City Hall to speak against the project. It was the first time in a couple of COVID years that the Commission Chambers had been reopened to the public.
The building, according to Gunnar Hand, director of planning and zoning, will be market-rate apartments that are eight stories high.
However, the apartments will look like they are six stories high because the top two stories will be set back from view, according to developers. That setback was one of several changes made by the developer, Sunflower Development Group, after some community opposition.
Parking was one concern of the residents, and the developer changed many of the two-bedroom units to one-bedroom units in order to reduce the number of parking spaces that will be needed. The number of units was reduced from 140 to 129, and now includes 18 studio apartments, 103 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units, according to developers, who said it would be a $40 million investment.
However, some residents who live in the Russian Hill neighborhood were not satisfied with those changes. Some of the businesses in that area sometimes refer to themselves as being in the Strawberry Hill area.
Rachel McMeachin, who owns the former Russian Orthodox Church building at the top of Russian Hill, and runs an aerial performance business from it, said the proposed apartment building would harm her home and business. It would be detrimental to her staying in business, she said.
Also, there would be undue hardships with traffic and parking, she believes.
The Watchdogs, a neighborhood group in the area, was not consulted about the project, according to a spokesman.
One resident, who lives in the Russian Hill neighborhood, talked about the greatly increased numbers of visitors and traffic that would be brought into the tiny Russian Hill streets.
Another resident said the streets in the area are very narrow and the emergency services have trouble with them currently. She believed that the influx of residents would make this worse. She also said that there were not enough procedures in place to listen to the Hispanic residents of the area.
Amber Lear, a resident, said some recent housing built on Strawberry Hill were not affordable unless people had a very high-paying job or more than one wage-earner was living at the residence. She noted she had two jobs and it was hard to find affordable housing.
“The gentrification of Strawberry Hill is a very big thing,” Lear said. She was concerned that people on fixed incomes, including retirees, might be pushed out of their homes.
The project did have the support of the Central Avenue Business Association, Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association, the Wyandotte Economic Development Council, the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce and several businesses.
Mike Pierce, co-owner of the nearby Slap’s BBQ, said it was difficult to operate a restaurant because of the lack of traffic, and he was looking forward to the increased number of residents who would be in the area.
The owners of the nearby Chicago’s bar agreed. They have seen businesses in the area close, and they wondered how long they would have to drive the streets and see building after building with nothing in them.
Former state senator Chris Steineger also spoke in favor of the development. “Downtown needs a jump start,” he said, and this could be the first of several projects.
Daniel Parker, who lives in the project area, was in favor of the project, saying there were a lot of economic benefits to businesses and the community, and it would present the area well as a gateway to the city.
Opponents said they submitted petitions with almost 600 signatures against the project.
However, according to Misty Brown, chief UG attorney, it was not a valid protest petition. Hand said the UG originally validated the protest petition, the applicant appealed, it was reviewed by the legal department, which found some signatures invalid, making the petition invalid.
Commissioner Brian McKiernan tried to bring about a compromise between the residents and the developers. However, the developers did not want to accept R5 zoning, a compromise zoning change that would have allowed only four stories to the apartment building. Commissioners said, however, they would like to have the developer present such an option for a smaller building and discuss it.
Commissioner Christian Ramirez said while he thought the project could be catalytic for the area, it was not right for 6th and Central, where traffic could be congested.
The lengthy meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOwcF1HC6Pc.