KC may allow marijuana drive-thru in Westport over neighborhood objections
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas City Council advanced an ordinance permitting a Westport marijuana drive‑through.
- City staff recommended denying the drive‑through; neighborhood groups opposed it.
- The proposal would allow a one‑lane drive‑through limited to pick‑up only.
The Kansas City Council on Thursday advanced a proposed ordinance that would open the door for a Westport business to use drive-throughs to sell marijuana products despite opposition from city staff and neighboring community groups.
The plan, sought by the owner of The Forest dispensary at 706 Westport Road, would allow the store to apply for a special use permit for its drive-through. But city staff and community groups say the proposal contradicts the Westport district’s rules promoting walkability.
Council members are expected to consider finalizing the proposal next week.
Nadja Karpilow, president of the Old Hyde Park Historic District Neighborhood Association, said she opposes the change to allow a single business to amend the rules to add a drive-through. She called the proposal “a step backwards” in the city’s efforts to improve the compact area for pedestrians.
“It seems contrary to all the work in trying to make our midtown more walkable,” Karpilow said. “That just doesn’t make sense.”
Ethan Starr of Historic Kansas City, a group that advocates for preserving the city’s historic places, said the group worked for eight years to help create the overlay district that preserves the character of the area. The City Council approved those rules in 2023.
Starr said his group supports the recommendation from city staff to deny the request and the City Council should follow suit.
“Policies like a prohibition on drive-throughs were adopted to protect the qualities that distinguish Westport, one of Kansas City’s oldest and most walkable historic districts, and they should continue to guide decisions affecting its future,” Starr said.
A plan for drive-throughs
The owner of the property at 706 Westport Road sought the change to allow the business to add a pick-up window for driving customers. They currently have to park in a lot nearby.
Chris Frantze, attorney representing the owner, said at a public hearing in April that the proposed changes would be narrow.
“This is not opening up Westport to all kinds of drive-throughs,” he said. “It is very specifically allowing pick-up windows only.”
Under the proposal, a drive-through in the Westport district would be one lane and could only be used for order pick-up, not on-site ordering. 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.
On Tuesday, city staff recommended the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee deny the proposal for conflicting with the city’s long-term planning goals to encourage walkability and using alternate modes of transportation to get to and around Westport. But the committee advanced it to the full City Council anyway.
A united opposition
Several neighborhood and advocacy groups around the Westport area have voiced their opposition to the plan for months. Most focused on the contradictory nature of the plan to the overlay district rules they created for the area and the city’s focus on urban walkability.
Matt Fuoco, treasurer for the Plaza Westport Neighborhood Association, said the neighborhoods surrounding the Westport area unanimously oppose the idea. He said the change would bring more vehicles to Westport, increasing traffic in an already congested area.
Fuoco also argued that the idea contradicts the city’s Vision Zero plan, which aims to create safer streets, particularly for kids to walk and bike to school.
“They are speaking out of both sides of their mouths,” Fuoco said. “Adding drive-throughs to a predominantly pedestrian area doesn’t further that goal or objective.”
Amanda Bulter, president of the Volker Neighborhood Association, also voiced concerns in a letter to city officials. She said amending the overlay district rules for a single business to add a drive-through sets a bad precedent.
“If an overlay can be revised at the request of one applicant, the protection it offers is not real protection,” Butler wrote. “Protection that bends to individual requests is not protection at all.”
