New Vine Street district could boost development, safety. Here’s where the money could go
An area around East 18th and Vine streets was granted district status, which could bring more resources to the historic neighborhood.
Last month, the Kansas City Council approved creating the Vine Street community improvement district as a way to help develop the area.
Here’s what that means
The district allows project money for development to be obtained by a loan or bond issuance that would be repaid through a one-cent sales tax on retail goods sold in the area. The funds will be spent on projects such as increased security and beautification efforts.
The district’s boundaries cover the area south of 18th Street, north of the railroad tracks, West of Highland Avenue and east of The Paseo.
It went into effect immediately.
Where could the money go?
Area leaders and business owners have long looked at the creation of a CID as a way to build up the neighborhood, a historic place for jazz music and staple of the Black community. The area that overlaps in the north — the 18th & Vine Jazz District — is home to the American Jazz Museum, the historic Gem Theatre and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
In recent years, the neighborhood and the stretch of businesses in the Jazz District have sought more policing and other resources from the city. Money generated by the district could be used to hire off-duty police officers, a tactic other districts have employed as a way to help deter violent crime.
Among the projects planned for the future: a parking garage, improved public infrastructure, street lighting, landscaping, security and district maintenance.
Push for policing and security
The CID has been in the works for well over a year, with a push coming in 2020 as 18th & Vine committee members tried to expedite an application for a CID program. It wasn’t approved in time for the summer.
The hope was that it would provide consistent funding for policing or security.
In April, personal trainer and gym owner 34-year-old Gary Taylor was shot near 19th and Vine streets. Early Wednesday morning, 32-year-old Mortez C. Falkner was fatally shot in the same area, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
Taylor’s shooting spurred discussions of an 18th & Vine CID and of gun control.
Falkner was the fourth person killed in the neighborhood over the last year in a city that saw a record number of killings in 2020.
The weekend before Taylor was killed, the 18th & Vine Development Policy Committee approved a safety plan in the hopes of preventing shootings.
The Star’s Anna Spoerre and Bill Lukitsch contributed to this story.
