North Kansas City begins 10-year master plan update; residents raise concerns about connectivity, parking and zoning

North Kansas City convened a community workshop to kick off a once-in-a-decade update to its 10-year comprehensive plan, project manager Abby Nam said, with residents and elected officials flagging priorities that include east–west connectivity across I‑29, parking management and tensions between civic uses and residential zoning.

"This is something that is kind of a once-in-a-decade opportunity for our city," said Abby Nam, project manager for the master plan update with consulting firm Olsen, who walked participants through the project scope and schedule. The plan will address land use, zoning, parking regulations, transportation and other topics and is intended to guide short- and long-term city actions.

Nam said the work began in winter 2026 and the project team is currently in the "envision" phase, which centers on public engagement. The city has produced existing-conditions reports and a target-market analysis for housing and retail; those documents are under review, Nam said. The city also contracted TY Lin to conduct a parking study; Nam noted the firm has experience managing parking for large venues and is surveying downtown and school-area conditions.

Why it matters: the master plan will set policy direction for development, transportation and public facilities for the next decade. Officials said broad participation is central to aligning the plan with community needs and that the city will hold pop-up events and a public open house during a planning-and-design charrette later in the year.

During facilitated exercises, participants listed community strengths — including an active block-party program, strong city staff and a zoning code that produces relatively few variance requests. "We see a pretty low volume of variance requests, which would suggest that the zoning code is currently meeting a lot of the needs that the city has," said a planning commission member.

Workshop participants also raised problems they want the plan to address. A commissioner described recurring situations where civic uses such as parks or the high school conflict with residential zoning rules, forcing variances for things like tall fencing or parking adjustments. "The park wants to put in a basketball court, but needs a variance from the city in order to put in fencing that's tall enough for a basketball court," the commissioner said.

Speakers named vacant residential and commercial properties as an ongoing challenge and emphasized poor east–west walkability across Interstate 29. One participant noted a grocery-store purchase agreement on Diamond Parkway and the One North development increase the need for better connections. "Walkability east of the highway... is something that is now even more pressing," a participant said.

Residents proposed specific priorities. "A foot bridge to River Forest Park from Macken Park" was suggested as a near-term or long-term project by a participant named Cynthia; another participant, Michael, urged improved and more affordable public-transit options, saying costs for riders are "out of control." Workshop facilitators also recorded calls for increased renter engagement.

The project team asked workshop groups to prioritize needs, wants and desires and to identify barriers and obstacles; small groups later selected top items in each category. Nam urged continued participation at upcoming outreach events: the team will staff tables at Arts in the Park on June 12 and Movies in the Park on June 26, and will hold the planning-and-design charrette with a public open house (open house at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 3). Technical reports and next materials will be delivered to the city as the team moves into drafting later this year and into 2027.

The workshop closed after the exercises and a reminder about outreach; staff said they will circulate reports and reminders of public events as the project moves forward.