Jimmy John’s gets green light for a drive-through in downtown KC

The Kansas City Plan Commission cleared the way Tuesday for Jimmy John’s to build a drive-through deli on Broadway downtown.

Some critics had argued that the project would worsen traffic congestion and was not appropriate for a downtown historic neighborhood.

But the Plan Commission voted 4-0 in favor of the business site plan, saying the developer had jumped through all the necessary hoops and halting the project now wouldn’t be right.

“I sympathize with an owner who followed all the rules,” commission chair Babette Macy said. “This case, sadly, has been very politicized.”

Jimmy John’s co-owner Mark Abbott said after the vote he was relieved and ready to start the project at 923 Broadway.

“I’m just thankful the way everything turned out,” he said.

He wants construction to begin in a few weeks and be finished by summer.

For a while late last year, it didn’t look as if things would turn out. Abbott said he had consulted city staff more than a year ago and had been told the zoning would allow a drive-through restaurant. The Downtown Council endorsed the plan. He got the necessary park board approval and invested more than $600,000 in an abandoned building on the site.

But when the owners began demolishing the old building, nearby neighbors complained that they were never consulted. They said a suburban-style drive-through wasn’t appropriate or desirable. Some City Council members said the city adopted a Downtown Area Plan more than five years ago that recommended a zoning that would have required more review. But somehow that zoning never became city code.

Still, supporters said that if the Jimmy John’s were denied approval, it would send a terrible message to other potential developers that they couldn’t trust City Hall’s word.

The city staff report says the initial site plan did have some problems, especially with potential conflicts between parked cars trying to exit the property and vehicles trying to enter the site from Broadway.

But Mike Burke, attorney for business owners, said the site plan was revised and the parking was moved to the north to eliminate that concern. The business also will have signs prohibiting left turns out of the site onto Broadway during the busy evening rush hour.

This story was originally published February 18, 2014 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Jimmy John’s gets green light for a drive-through in downtown KC."