DoorDash drivers packed a Kansas City street at all hours. Then neighbors fought back
For the last few years, John Wildman has looked out his front window and counted cars stopping at a DoorDash-owned convenience store across from his Longfellow home.
During peak evening hours, he counts an average of 60 to 100 drivers per hour coming to the DashMart. Wildman, his wife Sarah and his three children live across the street from the DashMart. The family’s stretch of residential road saw an average of 885 vehicles a day in 2024, compared to approximately 1,500 on nearby Charlotte Street and 8,500 on Gillham Road, according to Missouri Department of Transportation data.
The family bought the Longfellow house in 2021, and the first thing he noticed about the DashMart was loud, “window shaking” music coming from DoorDash drivers’ cars in the middle of the night.
Across the street on a balmy February evening, DoorDash driver Jefferson entered a spare, windowless waiting room to pick up an order. When a person orders an item from the DashMart, a worker collects the items in the warehouse, packages them up and hands them through a sliding glass window to a gig delivery driver in the small waiting room.
Jefferson knows the DashMart drill. He gave only his first name out of fear of retaliation. He didn’t elaborate.
Speaking in Spanish, Jefferson said he has gone to the location “many times,” and has waited up to two hours to pick up an order, frustrating both him and the customer. During the busiest times, typically between 7 and 9 p.m., Jefferson has seen bad parking and even car crashes.
Wildman and Jefferson are examples of the tension in the midtown Kansas City neighborhood: a busy enterprise and the people who oppose it. For the past 2 ½ years, residents say the DoorDash drivers that flock to the facility have blocked driveways, increased traffic, played loud music and caused fender benders.
Longfellow residents say they are fed up with the large numbers of cars and delivery trucks frequenting the DashMart. But an end to the dispute is in sight.
For the past year and a half, Wildman and neighbors say they’ve met with KCPD, their City Council member and DoorDash representatives, who flew in from New York offices.
The shop, located at 2730 Holmes St., is a 24-hour convenience store where DoorDash drivers pick up orders to bring to people’s houses. The DoorDash website says the locations stock “fresh groceries, household essentials, and more.”
Wildman said he understands the appeal of a DashMart, but “it’s just terribly placed.”
Houses and apartments surround the Longfellow DashMart, in addition to an art gallery, mechanic shop, gym, church, elementary school, plant shop and brunch restaurant.
In contrast, the other Kansas City area DashMart is located in Lenexa, with a Coca-Cola bottling company and a logistics business nearby.
In late 2024, a city inspector issued two city code violations that threatened to displace the Longfellow operation. The inspector said there was not enough parking at the location and that there wasn’t space for delivery trucks.
On Feb. 26, DoorDash officials and lawyers appealed the violations at the municipal Board of Zoning Adjustment.
In a City Hall committee room high above Kansas City, DoorDash representative Arun Gokhale addressed the room consisting of the Zoning Appeals board members and Longfellow neighbors.
Reading from a statement, Gokhale said, “As DoorDash we strive to be good neighbors to everyone in the community, and we are deeply sorry that certain aspects of our operations have negatively impacted those around us.”
The company said they changed their app settings so that drivers cannot receive an order if they are waiting around the DashMart, and asked suppliers to use smaller box trucks or vans that fit in the parking lot, according to representative Wayne McPherson.
DoorDash rents the building from Liberty-based Star Development. Matthew Iway, a representative for the company, said that in response to complaints about loud and badly parked DoorDash drivers, they installed security cameras and hired off-duty officers to “maintain order in the area.” The officers are supposed to help direct traffic.
In the zoning board meeting, Brett Lamer, another neighbor, said that he and his wife love their Longfellow home and their neighbors.
“But the truth is, if we had to do it over again, knowing what I know now, we wouldn’t buy the house,” Lamer said.
In February, the Board of Zoning Adjustment decided that the initial zoning violations stand, meaning DoorDash will need to make major changes to their Holmes Street location or move.
As of March 18, DoorDash is still working on addressing the code violations at the location, wrote Jordan Berger, city planning spokesperson, in an email.
“At this time, we do not have updates on where they are in that process,” he said.
In February, Parker Dorrough, a DoorDash spokesperson, wrote the company is looking “into alternative sites in Kansas City,” in addition to complying with zoning code requirements.
For now, Wildman can continue to count the cars on his street and Jefferson still can pick up groceries to deliver around the Kansas City area. Things will change on the street, but they are not yet sure when or how.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 2:10 PM.
