Hickman Mills Deserves Better

Channel 4 news included a story about celebratory gunfire. Apparently it’s a regular and ongoing concern for those living in a KC neighborhood close to Raytown. This story and its connection to the still not passed in Jeff City Blair’s Law are certainly worth covering. The fact that there was so much gunfire, yet no injuries were reported is amazing.

What I don’t understand about this article is why the sentence “(one person was injured in the Hickman Mills area when a bullet grazed one man’s leg)” was included, especially since it was also in parentheses. The celebratory gunfire was somewhere close to 79th Street which is well north of Hickman Mills, so how is that sentence even relevant to the story?ick

It’s reporting out of context like this that has given Hickman Mills and still gives Hickman Mills a bad reputation.

Hickman Mills Gets No Respect

Yet another gas station has been proposed for Hickman Mills – that’s the historic neighborhood in southeast Kansas City that everyone seems to ignore – including the City. Anyway, this one has actually gotten a bit of attention. Channel 41 actually filmed and interviewed a group of neighbors about this project and their concerns. That is a big step forward. The next step, apparently, is to educate the news people on the neighborhoods that actually make up the community of Hickman Mills. Both speakers in this clip who were at the location live in adjoining neighborhoods called Fairwood and Loma Vista. The news person identified the area as Ruskin Heights. While that may be the largest neighborhood in Hickman Mills, it is actually a good 15 blocks south of where the neighbors were standing which is across the street almost west of Fairwood.

A New Kind of Council?

While I’m a bit behind, some of you may be aware that an On the Go convenience store was proposed for the area at Marion Park Drive and Bannister Road in the Hickman Mills Community. The proposal called for a parking area for 22 semi trucks and 16 gas pumps with no plans to add charging stations for electric vehicles. It sounds like the developer hasn’t heard about climate change, or maybe simply doesn’t care.
Anyway, the proposal made it through the City Plan Commission with a divided vote. It was then sent to the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee of the city council. That committee voted unanimously to send it to the full council with a recommendation of do not pass. Many in the community were on pins and needles waiting for the council vote.
That vote actually involved 3 separate votes. The first involved approving an amendment to the Hickman Mills Area Plan. That received a unanimous no vote.
The second concerned the rezoning of the property to allow for this type of development. It also received a unanimous no vote. It obviously would not meet the requirements set forth in the area plan which the council agreed to not amend.
The final issue concerned another rezoning and received a 12-1 vote with Bough being the lone holdout. Many wonder why she voted to change the zoning from what was in the area plan since she voted to not amend the area plan; but she’s a city councilwoman, so there’s probably no way to figure it out. The one thing we do know, is that she wasn’t supportive of her fifth district colleagues who were supportive of their constituents.
In a great turn of events and departure from the past, Darrell Curls and Ryana Parks-Shaw, who represent this area, actually listened to their constituents.
We applaud them and also the other members of the council who decided to be supportive of those who know the area they represent best. Kudos to 11 council representatives and the Mayor. Maybe this council really will keep constituents first in mind when making decisions which affect them. That would certainly be a pleasant departure from past practices.

No Food Desert Here

I started to write this last week, but decided I was just too upset. After a couple of days, I’ve cooled down a bit – but just a bit. First, someone needs to explain exactly what a food desert is to Mayor Lucas and John Sharp, who could also use a map with stores selling grocery items marked on it in the entirety of South Kansas City.

As some may have read, the Red Bridge Shopping Center is getting a new grocery store to replace the one that somewhat recently closed. Here’s the headlines from KCTV5: New grocery store at the Red Bridge Shopping Center could solve south Kansas City’s food desert. There are a couple of problems with that. First, there was never a food desert in this area. Second, there is a food desert in South Kansas City, but it’s in the Hickman Mills Community, NOT the Red Bridge area.

Everyone cheered when a Price Chopper moved from Bannister and Blue Ridge to just down the street on Bannister. Neighbors had been asking the owner for years to update and clean up his store. He finally did by building a very nice new store in an area where he could get tax breaks. That left the entire eastern section of Hickman Mills in a food desert. I didn’t hear anyone moaning about those people or the mayor pledging to get another grocery store. In fact, he wasn’t even at the Grand Opening of this one.

Back to Red Bridge. According to KCTV5, “South KC Alliance President John Sharp said then that nobody wants to live in a neighborhood where they have to make a 20-minute drive to get basic needs for their household.” That’s true. Nobody wants to have to do that, but it’s a daily occurrence for those living in Hickman Mills. The problem is, nobody in the Red Bridge area of town had to do that and Mr. Sharp knows it. Why isn’t he doing something for the Hickman Mills Community which is where he lives, though no one would guess that.

The real kicker, though, is the funding. “Lucas said the market will be funded through a $1.375 million tax redirection over 10 years through the city of Kansas City.” Seriously!!!? Hickman Mills can’t even get the City to tear down dilapidated and dangerous buildings because they simply “don’t have the funds”. Typical again. If the City – or the mayor – want something done, even if it’s purely political, the funds will be found.

Another blog-worthy topic might be the mayor’s continual use of the word equity, but I’ll just make a comment on that here. He uses that term a lot, yet you never see him doing something or moving this fast to rectify an issue if it lies east of Troost, or in the case of Hickman Mills, east of 71 Highway. Where is the equity? He’s getting a pat on the back for bringing relief to a food desert which didn’t really exist; yet people east of 71 Highway are in an actual food desert and no one cares.

The latest proposal to help Hickman Mills bring in developers was presented by Councilwoman Parks-Shaw with an assist from Councilwoman Andrea Bough, who was also at this great announcement. That solution is to make the entire Hickman Mills Community an Urban Redevelopment Area, thereby abating any taxes the school district would receive for quite a number of years. Really? Where’s the equity there?