The Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce is drafting its annual legislative agenda as the Kansas Legislature will soon meet for its 2019 session in Topeka. Members of the Wyandotte County Legislative Delegation met with members of the chamber’s Legislative Committee Friday morning, Dec. 15, at the Chamber office.
Property taxes are sure to be an issue this legislative session. That issue is particularly important to Tony Privitera who is the incoming chairman of the chamber. He has seen values of commercial property he owns in the Fairfax Industrial Area jump as much as 100 percent.
The chamber’s proposal concerning property taxes favors a system that phases in changes to appraised value over several years. This would allow businesses to plan for and budget for tax increases. It also would allow local units of government time to adjust for revenue increases or decreases. Such a plan might be similar to the valuation used for agricultural land which is valued according to a floating eight-year average.
The chamber is proposing to oppose any funding formula that would place an undue burden on local property taxpayers. This chamber proposal is still in the draft stage and is subject to change.
There will probably be legislative action next year on sports gaming as it is now legal according to federal court action. The chamber is proposing to support sport wagering. It is uncertain who would administer sport wagering; It has been suggested it might be the existing Kansas casinos. This proposal also is in the draft form and is subject to change.
Turning to federal issues, the chamber is proposing to support a fair, accurate and complete count for the 2020 Decennial Census.
The chamber has supported a federal resolution when dealing with immigrants who are already here; this federal resolution should address situations compassionately.
The Board of Directors of the chamber will review the legislative agenda by the end of the year.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.
A plat of the KC Foodie Park is in the agenda for tonight’s City Planning Commission at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. To the right of this plat are proposed restaurant sites along State Avenue.
The KC Foodie Park proposed for the old Indian Springs mall site at 47th and State Avenue is on the agenda for tonight’s City Planning Commission meeting.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10, at the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St. Kansas City, Kansas. According to the agenda, a public hearing on the project is included in the meeting.
The project is seeking a change of zone from planned business park, planned commercial and planned limited business districts to planned light industrial and industrial park, planned non-retail business and planned general business districts for a mixed use development.
Distribution, food service center, office and commercial space are planned for the 49.2-acre former Indian Springs Shopping Center site. The site addresses listed are 4600 Orville Ave., 4601 State Ave. and 4602 Orville Ave. The site is located near the intersection of I-635 and I-70.
A final plan review and preliminary and final plat of KC Foodie Park also are on tonight’s City Planning Commission agenda.
According to agenda information, it will be a 234,716-square-foot distribution and food service center, also with office and retail buildings.
According to the agenda document, there has been no public opposition so far to this project. The Unified Government planning staff recommended approval of the project if the developer complies with all of its stipulations on the plan.
If the project is approved by the Planning Commission, next it would go to the Unified Government Commission for approval.
The applicant, Scavuzzo’s, is represented by the Polsinelli law firm in this zoning application. Richard Scavuzzo, chief executive officer of Scavuzzo’s, spoke at a community meeting on the proposed project in November.
About 75 persons attended the community meeting on the proposed project on Nov. 28 at the Painted Hills Country Club at 71st and Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas. At that meeting, community residents asked the developer to include minorities in the firms working on the project as well as in the employees there. Also, Kansas City, Kansas Area Chamber of Commerce members asked for inclusion in the project.
Information from that earlier meeting included:
Three proposed pad sites along the north edge of the development would be restaurants, Scavuzzo said. A little south of that would be more restaurants, some retail, and food service-based home delivery customers, he said. The order and delivery concept is popular with retail and would be brought to food service. He also mentioned a convenience store as a possibility.
A four-story office building would be the headquarters office for Scavuzzo’s, he said. It would include a test kitchen and offices, with space for culinary training for students. Other tenants also would be located in the office building.
A food service center building on the south side of the property would replace Scavuzzo’s current operations, he said. The facility would produce more energy than it would consume, he said. There would be a solar farm on the property, he added. The goal will be a gold-level LEED certification for the facility, he said. Trucks will be limited to the southeast side of the property, he said.
If approved, a small family-owned food service company could set the pace in its industry through innovation, he added.
In answer to a resident’s question, Scavuzzo said that his company currently has a little more than 100 employees and he would expect that number to increase to around 200 with the new development. The jobs would pay around $20 per hour, he said. Currently, there are five Wyandotte High School students working with his company in an after-school program, he said.
A rendering of the Scavuzzo distribution and cold storage facility proposed for the Indian Springs site is included in the agenda documents. A rendering of the Scavuzzo distribution and cold storage facility proposed for the Indian Springs site is included in the agenda documents.Developers showed a map of the proposed development at the Indian Springs mall site at the community meeting Nov. 28. The map is not final, according to developers. (Staff photo)
Richard Scavuzzo, left, talked with residents about his proposed KC Foodie Park at a community meeting on Wednesday night. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
by Mary Rupert
Community residents on Wednesday night heard a presentation on a proposal for a new “KC Foodie Park” at the former Indian Springs shopping mall site at 47th and State Avenue.
Richard Scavuzzo, chief executive officer of Scavuzzo’s, a food service business, described a proposal for the mall site of almost 50 acres. Buildings in the development would be almost entirely concerned with the food business, although there might be one or two not in the food industry, he said.
Residents attending the meeting asked him to include local residents and local businesses among the suppliers, businesses and employees of the development. About 75 persons attended the meeting at Painted Hills Country Club, 71st and Parallel Parkway. Some residents said they did not want a convenience store as one of the businesses visible from the road.
Scavuzzo and Curtis Peterson, a lawyer for the development, showed a proposed map of the development; however, it is not the final proposal and could be changed, officials said. Peterson said they don’t yet know exactly where the buildings will be.
The proposed development is located near the intersection of I-635 and I-70 in Kansas City, Kansas, and there are about 90,000 vehicles traveling nearby each day, according to officials.
Three proposed pad sites along the north edge of the development would be restaurants, Scavuzzo said. A little south of that would be more restaurants, some retail, and food service-based home delivery customers, he said. The order and delivery concept is popular with retail and would be brought to food service. He also mentioned a convenience store as a possibility.
A four-story office building would be the headquarters office for Scavuzzo’s, he said. It would include a test kitchen and offices, with space for culinary training for students. Other tenants also would be located in the office building.
A food service center building on the south side of the property would replace Scavuzzo’s current operations, he said. The facility would produce more energy than it would consume, he said. There would be a solar farm on the property, he added. The goal will be a gold-level LEED certification for the facility, he said. Trucks will be limited to the southeast side of the property, he said.
If approved, a small family-owned food service company could set the pace in its industry through innovation, he added.
He said there would be walking trails planned around the development, especially around the restaurant and retail areas.
In answer to a resident’s question, Scavuzzo said that his company currently has a little more than 100 employees and he would expect that number to increase to around 200 with the new development. The jobs would pay around $20 per hour, he said. Currently, there are five Wyandotte High School students working with his company in an after-school program, he said.
Construction would take place in phases, starting with the north and then the south. The center of the site would be developed later.
Some of the details of the plan had not yet been worked out, and more details are expected to be completed when the idea goes to the Kansas City, Kansas, Planning Commission meeting on Dec. 10, according to Scavuzzo. The Unified Government’s economic development department currently is working with them on the project, said Doug Bach, UG administrator.
There was no figure yet on the proposed cost of the development, or the square footage of the entire project, Scavuzzo said. The food service center would be approximately 130,000 square feet, and the office building would be about 15,000 square feet, in general, he said. Each retail pad would be about 15,000 square feet and the size of the restaurants would be up to the restaurants that would locate there, he said.
Peterson, a Polsinelli attorney for Scavuzzo’s, said it was a family-owned business for more than 100 years. Richard Scavuzzo is the fifth generation in the business.
Scavuzzo’s serves many restaurants in the area, especially family-owned individual restaurants, he said. It also serves a lot of casinos and does business in a 19-state area currently.
The “elephant in the room,” Peterson said, was that people have different opinions about the Indian Springs site, and there have been prior proposals on what to do with the site.
They believe strongly that a food-based park would succeed, according to Scavuzzo.
Peterson said Area Real Estate Advisers, a brokerage firm, would handle finding tenants for the development.
There are about 500 clients of Scavuzzo’s who may be asked if they are interested in locating at the KC Foodie Park, according to Scavuzzo. A resident asked Scavuzzo to include minorities, and a Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce representative asked him to include chamber members.
The “KC Foodie Park” proposal was the unnamed unsolicited proposal that came in to the UG for the Indian Springs site, according to Peterson. A flex-tech proposal for the former mall site did not advance after community members questioned it in September 2017.
The Indian Springs mall was torn down about three years ago, and the property is currently owned by the Unified Government. Whether the site will be leased or purchased by Scavuzzo’s, or by third parties who locate there, is one of the details that is not yet worked out, according to Scavuzzo.
Also not worked out yet are the details of financing. Peterson said some type of incentive would be expected to be offered, one that would use revenues from the development.
Some residents asked if there would be a grocery store at the new development, and Scavuzzo said he was there to find out what residents wanted in the development. There is currently a proposal for an expansion to the existing nearby Aldi’s grocery store at 48th and State Avenue that also is expected to come before the planning commission in December.
Some residents asked about inclusion of minorities in all the plans, and Peterson said the development would be race-neutral. Scavuzzo encouraged people to apply for jobs with the company now and said the company wants to include minority business firms in this development, also.
Another resident asked for an entertainment business to be at the site, such as a movie theater or bowling center.
Stephanie Kimbrough, who asked some questions at the meeting, said although you can’t encompass everyone, this was a very gallant effort to be economically sound and service the people of Wyandotte County.
Norm Scott, a Board of Public Utilities member who attended the community meeting, said he liked the idea of solar energy being produced at the proposed KC Foodie Park development.
The development is expected to come before the City Planning Commission at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Commission Chambers, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.
Curtis Peterson, left, a lawyer, showed a map of the proposed development at the former Indian Springs site. He said the locations of the buildings are not yet final. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
Richard Scavuzzo, left, and Curtis Peterson, right, presented information on Wednesday night about a proposed development at the former Indian Springs mall site in Kansas City, Kansas. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
Developers showed a map of the proposed development at the Indian Springs mall site. The map is not final, according to developers. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
Curtis Peterson showed an artist’s drawing of the proposed development at 47th and State Avenue. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
J. D. Christie, right, and Adam Blue, second from right, with Area Real Estate Advisers of Kansas City, Missouri, will find tenants for the proposed development. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
J.D. Christie of Area Real Estate Advisers explained how they would find tenants for the proposed development. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
Audience members asked questions Wednesday night at a community meeting on Indian Springs redevelopment. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
Audience members asked questions Wednesday night at a community meeting on Indian Springs redevelopment. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
