Commission advances 257.91‑acre rezoning request to heavy industrial for Youth Front property

The Linn County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to advance a rezoning request by Youth Front (formerly Kansas City Youth for Christ) to reclassify approximately 257.91 acres at 22724 East 2400 Road from Agriculture to Heavy Industrial.

Planner Jenny presented staff findings for case USKS107LU20257 and recommended approval, saying the property’s size, proximity to existing quarry/extractive activities and to utilities and a divided four‑lane state highway make the request consistent with the county comprehensive plan’s identified industrial growth areas. Staff emphasized that no specific development proposal has been submitted and that any future industrial project would require site-plan review and, where applicable, conditional-use permits to address environmental, traffic, and neighborhood impacts.

Topher Phil Green, speaking for Youth Front, said the nonprofit is not closing the camp but plans to market or potentially sell or lease the south tract in Linn County. He described the property as bordering active quarry operations and Evergy land that is already zoned industrial on one side, with a highway on another side. Green said Youth Front has no firm buyer or planned tenant yet and that rezoning is intended to make the site marketable to a range of potential industrial buyers so the nonprofit can raise capital for camp renovations.

Public speakers and some commissioners expressed concern about the large acreage and the lack of a defined buyer or specific plan. A resident warned rezoning could enable large-scale facilities such as data centers or cryptocurrency operations; another concern was the potential strain on county roads and the need for access improvements if industrial uses locate there. Applicant and staff noted that existing quarry activity already affects the area and that quarry operations have occurred under CUP authority even where the underlying zoning is agricultural.

After debate about marketability versus infrastructure and control mechanisms, the commission voted to accept staff’s recommendation and advance the rezoning to the next county step. The commission recorded the motion as passed and indicated the matter will be forwarded as required by county procedure. The record shows the motion carried; the transcript does not specify a detailed roll-call tally for every commissioner in the audio excerpt.