Plaza businesses sue Kansas City over parking issues at Jack Henry redevelopment
Some property owners on the Country Club Plaza are suing the city of Kansas City over a redevelopment of the former Jack Henry building that they say will cause troublesome parking issues for neighboring businesses.
But the project’s developer says he is only trying to make the Plaza better.
“Unfortunately you’ve got an adjacent property owner that is bullying a smaller property owner as it relates to this parking issue,” said Matt Pennington, president of Overland Park-based Drake Development. “At end of the day we believe that we will be in compliance with parking and there isn’t an alternative parking plan needed.”
Pennington is renovating the former Jack Henry Building at 612 W. 47th St., to include tenants such as Puttery (an indoor, high-tech mini golf course) and Chiefs Fit (Kansas City Chiefs-themed fitness club).
The lawsuit, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court by Stephen Block, with 46 PC LLC, and Country Club Plaza JV LLC, claims that the developer doesn’t have enough parking to meet city requirements and that will result in “spillover parking into nearby properties and neighborhoods,” including parking garages owned by the plaintiffs.
The suit, filed against the city and the city’s planning and development director, Jeffrey Williams, claims the plaintiffs’ “due process rights are being violated,” saying the city does not notify neighbors about parking decisions to allow them enough time to appeal.
“The current City public notification system does not work for neighbors affected by new development or redevelopment,” Brian Madden, an attorney representing the property owners, said in an email to The Star.
The city does not comment on pending litigation. City spokesman Chris Hernandez said in an email that the city thinks “it’s important to let the legal process do its work right now.”
Pennington said he thinks the lawsuit ultimately stems from the cocina47 project Drake Development is working on nearby. That project, rejected by the City Plan Commission last month, was set to be a nine-story multi-use building with three stories of restaurants and six stories of condos, soaring, 115 feet over the area’s height limit.
Parking for that project was also a concern of opponents who testified to the commission.
Pennington said he doesn’t think “Jack Henry has anything to do with the bigger picture.”
“I’ve developed all over the country, and to see this kind of malice toward another owner only trying to make the Plaza better, I just think you’re seeing the true colors come to light here,” Pennington said.
Block asked the city to let him know of the Jack Henry parking plan so he could file an appeal within the 15-day time limit. He was later told that city staff didn’t have a way to notify people about such matters, but that the public could look for information on CompassKC or Parcel Viewer, websites where the public can search for records, apply for permits or explore neighborhood activity.
The lawsuit says neither site is updated regularly “with fully accessible public information” when decisions on parking plans are made, meaning the public “is not timely notified.”
That lack of notice, according to the lawsuit which cites the Missouri constitution, violates due process rights.
It asks for a court order to ensure the city provides them written notice when a decision on the parking plan is made to allow them time to appeal.
A hearing on the case is scheduled for Oct. 11.
This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 3:14 PM.
