Westport High School Commences Construction

The owners of the former Westport High School began work in April. A Master Plan Development (MPD) was approved by the City in 2018, and revised in 2020.  The MPD is divided into multiple phases, with the first phase comprised of a renovation of the original 1908 building into 138 apartments. The work also includes renovating the 1964 and 1992 additions. Site modifications include Oak Street will be extended from 39th to 40th, similar to the street configuration prior to 1989.  A parking lot and park will be created south of the school building. 

Work is anticipated to be complete in Fall 2023.  View project schedule here. 

If you have questions or concerns about the project, please email us at sna.membership@gmail.com.

Key Impacts 

Week of May 23rd: Connection Building Demo 

June 2022: Water tie-in (McGee) 

September 2022: Sanitary tie-in (McGee) 

Fall 2022 – Summer 2023: West sidewalk closure 

Fall 2022 – Summer 2023: Oak Street Extension 

Fall 2022 – Summer 2023: Maximum workers on-site                         

Working hours: 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., M-F, some Saturdays 

City to Redraw Council Districts

The Kansas City Missouri charter requires the City to re-evaluate and redraw its council districts every ten years, following the receipt of results from the US Census. This process must be complete by the end of the year. 

Many people may not be following this process, but it will have an impact here in Southmoreland.  We are currently in the 4th District, and over the last ten years it has grown by nearly 16%, while the City has grown by 10%.  South of the 4th District is the 6th District, which has lost population.  Because the largest and smallest districts can not be more than 10% apart in size, and each district should be roughly equal in population, there will be a shift in the 4th District Boundary.  Proposed plans show the district boundary between 4th District and 6th District to be at 43rd Street, which splits our neighborhood into two districts. There are advantages and disadvantages to this split. 

The Neighborhood Association has testified publicly that our preference is for Southmoreland to remain in one district, and not split between two districts.  If you have a preference - you wish to stay in the 4th, move to the 6th, or have other comments, please reach out to the City Redistricting Commission by submitting your feed back in the form at the bottom of the link below. 

https://www.kcmo.gov/programs-initiatives/redistrict

Timeline of Events - KCAI Academic Building

January 27 2018
KCAI holds public presentation to share Master Plan Proposal. It is announced that after construction projects are complete, KCAI will be selling Mineral Hall and Advancement House into single-family residence.

March 14 2018
Meeting with KCAI , Polly MacRoberts (immediate neighbor and SNA VP), Scott Heffley (SNA Neighborhood Preservation Chair) and Laura Burkhalter (SNA board president) to discuss site inclusion on the MPD (it was removed by KCAI to give neighbors more time to work with KCAI on mass, scale, style, materiality, etc).

April 16 2018SNA sends letter of support to City for KCAI MPD, after negotiations with the school. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lvROHa5ciM_fbp681-_H5wwBA46u8Zt9/view?usp=sharing

May 17 2018
Public meeting - discussed new Residence Hall and discussed 44th and Oak site.

June 14 2018
July 18 2018
October 3 2018
Charette Meetings - the SNA board then decided, along with KCAI to have a series of meetings with the Architect, Landscape Architect, other immediate neighbors, Rockhill, Brad Wolff from the City’s Historic Preservation Office, and KCAI. The very first session, was a listening session where Hufft reviewed the program for the building, then listened and documented what the neighbors thought was important, what should be included, and what should be avoided for the project. In subsequent meetings, we discussed massing, scale, setback, lighting, security, style, materiality, etc). After the last of these meetings, the group agreed that the design and concept was at a point that should be shared with the entire neighborhood. That meeting is taking place this Tuesday, December 4th at Epperson Auditorium on the Campus of KCAI, at 5:30 pm.

To read the minutes from those meetings, view the link below: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nbRKL6zscwz4KD3tcvc6gRK1Z-5RdWJr

October 8 2018
Polly and Stacey Kenyon (SNA Planning and Development Chair) met at the Hufft office with KCAI rep and the Architect to look at the architectural model, give feedback, and view the building from the perspective of Polly's property.

November 16 2018
Proposed project is reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission, and was a approved in a 6-0 vote, and was provided a Certification of Appropriateness.

View the presentation to the Historic Preservation Commission here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1olxvyCM43k2GSLXn9oPHHYIE7IDRQxgB
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LLhBzVmjuSN8pxkXunneMKg5fAnfRC_y

December 4 2018
Public meeting for proposed project, which requires a Special Use Permit by The City. SNA Board of Directors will meet immediately after presentation, at Epperson Auditorium.

View the submittal to City here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=11NqfN1XTTF6tQqPxhmoOZ91qX39czxCk

Monday, November 12th: SNA Board Meeting - SPECIAL LOCATION

Please join us for our monthly meeting to engage in the happenings of Southmoreland. The board will meet this month at St. Paul's Episcopal Day School, 4041 Main Street @ Maker's Space. We will be touring St. Paul's recently renovated school facility, and learning about their plans for new projects on their campus. The meeting begins at 6:30pm. Enter school building through Main Street Entrance.

City Plan Commission Moves to Advance Re-Zoning of Westport High

On Tuesday, November 6th, the Kansas City City Plan Commission voted to approve the re-zoning of the former Westport High School property. The sale of the property to Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners was approved by Kansas City Public Schools in 2015, and the sale was completed in 2016. A master planning effort by the Developer has been underway over the past 14 months. During that time Southmoreland neighborhood leaders have had an ongoing dialogue with the Developer about their goals and offered feedback. A public meeting was held on October 1st where the Developer presented its development plan and sought neighborhood feedback. Re-development plans include renovating the existing school building, building multi-family and single-family housing along the East side, facing Locust, between 39th and 40th Street. The site is also under consideration for the UMKC Conservatory project. Similar functions would take place if the site were chosen for that use.

While some questions understandably have been raised about traffic flow and protecting on-street parking for existing neighbors, most members of our community are supportive of the direction planned and believe this use will add to the overall vitality of the area. And in an effort to address these concerns, the Developer has committed to the following items:

1. Support in implementing permit parking with neighbors on McGee between 39th and 40th through the City's Public Works - Traffic Division, as homeowners on this block rely on on-street parking.

2. Continued study of the traffic along McGee, Oak, Locust, 39th Terrace (new) and 40th Street, to achieve a traffic solution residents are comfortable with.

3. Implement traffic calming mechanisms on McGee between 39th and 40th by means of raised tables and additional calming mechanisms as recommended by Architect and/or City.

4. Further assessment of proposed signal at 39th and McGee. There is concern regarding the distance between the signal at 40th and Warwick and the proposed one a block away.

5. Pedestrian-focused hardscape on Developer's grounds including walkways, lighting, and trash/recycling.

6. Southmoreland Neighborhood Association to give review and input of new buildings / parking structures prior to submitting to the City.

7. Participation in Southmoreland Neighborhood Association's Security Patrol Program, which hires off-duty KCPD Officers to patrol the neighborhood.

Neighborhood leaders believe the development team has positive history given their successful redevelopment of the former Westport Junior High property. The Re-zoning request will next be heard by Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee. You can view staff report and plans here.

SNA Endorses Question 1

Approximately 75% of Southmorelanders are living in rental units - in both multi-family and single-family homes.  Since so many of our residents are renters, our board agrees that it is our duty to help advocate for renters, in addition to homeowners.  Question 1 will work to protect the health and safety of rental units throughout the city, by requiring all landlords to secure a permit for rental apartments and homes. It will allow the Health Department to conduct random interior inspections and respond to complaints about dangerous and unhealthy conditions like chipping lead paint and mold. Landlords who refuse to correct these conditions will be subject to fines and suspension or revocation of their permits.  Landlords who fail to get a permit may be prosecuted.  Read more about the Healthy Homes Initiative here. Read the ballot language here.  

Race events impact March 11-12 weekend traffic in Kansas City

Scheduled race events are expected to impact traffic in Kansas City this weekend. Road closures for the races are as follows:

March 11

Big 12 Run | 10 a.m.
The race will impact traffic along Grand Blvd., 8th St., Holmes St., Truman Rd., Woodland Ave., 18th St., Highland Ave., 17th Terr., The Paseo, 31st St., 30th St., McGee St., Gillham Rd., Oak St., and 9th St. Additional race information, including a map of the race, can be found online or by contacting Dave Borchardt at 816-701-9143.

Westport St. Patrick’s Day Run | 10 a.m.
The race will impact traffic along Westport Rd., Clark St., 43rd St., Warwick Blvd., 38th St., Gillham Rd., Linwood Blvd., Broadway, 34th St., Pennsylvania Ave. Additional race information, including a map of the race, can be found online or by contacting Nancy English at 913-710-8682.

March 12

Shamrock and Run | 8 a.m.
The race will impact traffic along N Eastern Rd., to just before NE 96th St. The race will be an out & back course beginning at Hodge Park. The 10k route will loop the course twice. Additional race information, including a map of the race, can be found online or by contacting Laura Williams at 816-695-5155.

Martin City Whiskey Run | 10 a.m.
The race will impact traffic along Oak St., Clark St., 135th St., Wyandotte St., and Washington St. Additional race information, including a map of the race, can be found online or by contacting Missy Wilson at 816-308-1023.

southmoreland.org