Visit Urbavore Urban Farm before voting on its future, KC Mayor Lucas, City Council | Opinion

We need a resolution.

I’d make a strong argument that anyone following the fight to save Urbavore Urban Farm and its related compost business, Compost Collective KC, would agree.

Urbavore is a 13.5-acre farm in the 5500 block of Bennington Avenue in Kansas City. The eco-friendly compost operation is on site. Mayor Quinton Lucas and staff should charter a bus and visit. Bring along the entire City Council as well.

Council members Melissa Robinson, Melissa Patterson Hazley and Ryana Parks-Shaw have already been. So has City Manager Brian Platt, according to Urbavore’s Dan Heryer and Brooke Salvaggio. Other decision makers and city leaders have not.

As a collective, these folks should visit the farm before they vote on its future. Let’s call it a field trip. They should go on a Thursday when customers are there to pick up their weekly produce.

But we need a resolution.

Heryer and Salvaggio’s farm on Kansas City’s East Side produces vegetables, eggs, compost and more. For more than a year and a half, the couple have been embroiled in a not-so-friendly dispute with a group of neighbors over a fight to keep open a dead-end street that leads to their agriculture and composting business.

Frankly, this is a feud I’d rather not see. In this instance, a city-led compromise would be a great way to end this conflict. My hope is that the Kansas City Council comes to a similar conclusion. And soon.

Street access, vehicle traffic bother some neighbors

On Oct. 3, the Council was expected to vote on two separate action items related to the farm. Those votes never occurred. Instead, the Council kicked the proverbial can down the gravel road that leads to Urbavore’s main entrance on East 55th Terrace.

If approved, one ordinance would have vacated the public right of way on a dead-end street. Discussion on the other proposal, one that would have ruled on Urbavore’s future plans for the site, was also tabled.

It was a surprising move by the council to continue discussions for another six weeks on the future of one of the metropolitan area’s largest urban farms.

“We thought it was going to get resolved today, too,” Heryer said on Oct. 3. “But we didn’t know which direction it would get resolved.”

While I appreciate city officials seeking a compromise among Urbavore and its neighbors, a six-week delay only adds to the uncertainty surrounding the farm.

And that’s unfortunate for Salvaggio, Heryer and nearby residents concerned with what they have described as heavy commercial traffic flow on the street, foul odor and other issues.

In the past, I’ve spoken with some of those residents who live near the farm, including Leah Suttington and her husband Bernice Norwood. Debra Nabors is another. For months, they have complained about the on-site composting operation and the vehicle traffic the farm draws on a weekly basis through its community supported agriculture subscription business.

But no final action has been taken by the city.

“I think there is a way to protect the business and the farm,” 4th District at-Large Councilman Crispin Rea said last week. “I think there is a way to protect the interests of the folks who are concerned about the traffic and accessibility and other stuff.”

Bingo.

I’ve said before that I don’t live in the area so I could never discount some of the issues residents have raised. But Urbavore’s development plan addresses those complaints and more, according to Heryer and Salvaggio.

The couple have embarked on a very public campaign to save the farm and said they have spent $70,000 on a development proposal to rezone the area to support their businesses.

I’ve written before that the city must help Urbavore and dissenting neighbors find common ground in the dispute. It’s proven to be a difficult decision to get to a compromise that keeps access to the business open and addresses environmental concerns.

“We, as a body, have to make tough decisions,” 5th District at-Large Councilman Darrell Curls said. “A lot of times, compromise means nobody gets 100% of what they want.”

I’ve been to the farm twice. Neither time did I witness the traffic issues neighbors have brought up nor did I get a whiff of any rotten smell critics claim permeate the air. My stance hasn’t changed: Urbavore is a thriving small business on Kansas City’s East Side that is worth saving.

To get a better lay of the land, and before action is taken, I suggest Lucas, Platt and the entire City Council schedule a day trip to Urbavore.

This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 5:15 AM.