City Council approves rezoning of Kansas City Star parking lot

The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved rezoning to allow the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection to build a church on land currently occupied by a Kansas City Star parking lot.

The council approved rezoning and an amended development plan for the church to use the northern half of The Star’s surface parking lot between 16th and 17th streets and between McGee Street and Grand Boulevard.

The Star’s employees are no longer using all the parking spaces on the lot, while the Leawood-based Church of the Resurrection is one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation. It has outgrown its 1522 McGee St. location and wants to expand.

“That says a lot about the revitalization of downtown,” Councilman Scott Taylor said.

The church completed the purchase of the northern half of the Star parking lot last week and has an option to purchase the southern half of the lot at a later date, said John McGurk, an attorney for the church.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 4:45 PM with the headline "City Council approves rezoning of Kansas City Star parking lot."