The Community and Economic Development Committee voted Sept. 10 to forward an ordinance that would temporarily restrict street-closing block parties and new parade permits during the FIFA World Cup event window to preserve city resources and maintain traffic flow.

Tracy Albers of Development Services told the committee the ordinance (TMP-3442) would amend two sections of the Lee's Summit Code of Ordinances: Chapter 29, Article 1, Section 29-12 (play streets) and Article 6, Division 2, Section 29-452 (parade applications). Staff proposed the changes as part of a package of interim measures tied to the UDO amendments and said the window of applicability would match the UDO's temporary rules: June 1 to July 31 next year, coinciding with World Cup activities.

Albers summarized staff recommendations: to prohibit street-closing neighborhood block parties (known in code as play streets) during that window, with exemptions for city-sponsored events and FIFA events; to allow neighborhood gatherings on private property, in driveways, private lots or HOA common areas; and to prohibit new parade permits during the window except for city-sponsored, FIFA-related, or pre-designated "legacy" parades such as the Raintree parade. Albers told the committee that in prior World Cup windows, staff typically saw about a dozen block-party requests and only one parade permit (Raintree) during that same period.

A committee motion to forward TMP-3442 to the full City Council carried on a unanimous roll call: Vice Chair Carlisle — Aye; Council Member Pryor — Aye; Chair Hodges — Aye. Albers said the intent is to conserve staff resources for major events and reduce traffic interruptions, and she highlighted that funeral processions would be exempt from the prohibition.

Staff asked that the ordinance be scheduled for council consideration on the same night as companion UDO items to keep related actions in tandem; Albers noted the planning commission review schedule for the UDO could push council timing. The ordinance text presented to the committee included an explicit exemption mechanism for city-sponsored, FIFA and legacy events, and it also indicated that private-property events, HOAs and similar non-street venues would remain available for neighborhood gatherings.