Drive-thrus aren’t allowed in Westport. Will rules change for dispensary pick-up?

Kansas City officials are again confronting the question of where drive-thrus should be allowed in the urban core as one business seeks to add a pick-up window in Westport.

The owner of the property at 706 Westport Road, which houses The Forest cannabis dispensary, is seeking a change to city rules that would allow the business to add a pick-up window for customers in vehicles, who currently have to park in a lot or somewhere nearby.

But drive-thrus are not allowed in the Westport area under zoning rules the City Council approved in 2023. Falling under what’s called an overlay district, they set standards that were meant to protect the street-level scale and character of Westport while encouraging walkable, pedestrian-friendly development.

The dispensary property owner is asking for changes to the overlay district, which centers on properties along Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue, that would instead allow for an order pick-up window — but not a fast food-style drive-thru — in Westport.

(The pre-existing Sonic drive-thru on Westport Road was exempted after the city set the new standards. The nearby Raising Cane’s drive-thru is outside the overlay district’s area.)

City staff oppose the proposed changes, saying they clash with the city’s long-term planning goals to encourage walkability and using alternate modes of transportation to get to and around Westport.

“Drive-thrus just inherently conflict with that idea,” city planner Luke Ranker said at a public hearing last month.

Staff say that, as residents offered feedback and guidance on the city’s long-term goals, many people wanted to limit drive-thrus in Westport.

Planning staff are also concerned that making the change could set a precedent for more drive-thru expansion in areas where they are currently limited or not allowed.

The proposal shares some similarities with a previous case, which went to court a few years ago, over whether to grant an exception for a drive-thru in a proposed McDonald’s rebuild that’s now under construction along the streetcar line. In that case, zoning standards allowed for drive-thrus on some Main Street properties, while they are currently not allowed at all in Westport.

Business says drive-thru changes would be narrow

But Chris Frantze, attorney representing the owner, said at a public hearing that the proposed changes would be narrow.

“This is not opening up Westport to all kinds of drive-thrus,” he said. “It is very specifically allowing pick-up windows only.”

Under the proposal, a drive-thru in the Westport district could only be used for order pick-up, not on-site ordering. There could only be one lane, and menu boards and speakers would not be allowed.

Drivers would have to enter on Westport Road and exit on a different street, limiting the types of properties where a drive-thru could go.

And city officials would still need to approve a special permit with public hearings before a drive-thru could go in.

Frantze said approximately 95% of the dispensary’s customers arrive by car and that changes to the traffic flow could actually reduce conflicts with pedestrians off Westport Road.

Orders would be placed online in advance. The estimated number of cars in the window area at one time would be two, and cars would exit onto Clark Avenue.

Frantze noted that another new dispensary is planned nearby off 39th Street and will include an order pick-up component. Without the ability to do the same, The Forest would be at a competitive disadvantage, he said.

Neighborhood groups oppose drive-thru changes

Some neighborhood and advocacy groups that were involved in creating the zoning standards for Westport in 2023 oppose changing them now to allow for drive-thru facilities.

In a letter, the Valentine Neighborhood Association called that process a lengthy and thought-out one, saying the standards should not be changed without a compelling reason.

“The creation of a drive-through window for a dispensary does not seem to us to meet this test,” Valentine Neighborhood Association President Travis Gaddis wrote.

After an April hearing, the City Plan Commission voted to recommend that the City Council deny approving the changes. The City Council’s neighborhoods committee is scheduled to discuss them May 19.

If the City Council does approve the changes, it would not automatically mean a drive-thru for The Forest. The business, and any other that could meet the restrictions, would still need to go through the special permit process and get approval.