TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! KANSAS CITY CROSSROADS NEIGHBORS WILL SUBMIT FINAL PETITIONS AGAINST LIQUOR CODE CHANGE SATURDAY!!!
Our blog community has been following a groundbreaking Kansas City bar biz vs. neighborhood dispute over liquor codes since day one and right now we've got FIRST NEWS of the latest development and an important recap of the sitch.
To wit . . .
FIRST ON TKC!!! CHECK THE LATEST MOVE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD FIGHT TO SAVE THE CROSSROADS AND AVOID LIQUOR CODE CHANGES THROUGHOUT KANSAS CITY!!!
Again, we believe that in general Kansas City voters tend to agree with strict enforcement of liquor codes and most people don't want to turn the Crossroads into another entertainment district.
Here's the word . . .
The community and neighborhood organizers who have been conducting a referendum to repeal the proposed new liquor license ordinance will turn in their final petitions Saturday afternoon.
Observers say they will submit more than the 3,417 needed to force the KC City Council to either repeal the ordinance or submit it to the voters either on a November or April ballot.
Opponents' message is simple----this proposed ordinance, rammed through the council by Jolie Justus and few Crossroads bar owners, makes it much harder for homeowners to keep bars and nightclubs out of their neighborhood. Property owners half a mile away from a proposed bar or nightclub could overrule the homeowners closest to the location of a proposed liquor establishment that could bring crime, overbearing noise, and late night car traffic to their immediate neighborhood.
The hope of opponents is that the council will repeal the ordinance and conduct a full review of the entire liquor code, much of which is outdated.
If the council decides to allow the ordinance to go to a vote they will encounter a well financed opposition. The Protect of Neighborhoods' Committee has already raised around $50,000 for a campaign according to sources.
This all started when the owners of Tom Town's bar in the Crossroads went to their friend, councilwoman Justus, wanting to break loose from a few restrictions to their liquor license to which they originally consented. Their idea for the wonderful Crossroads ARTS District is to turn into another Westport bar area or a Bourbon Street. To hell with the mixed use atmosphere that has made the Crossroads so popular.
The ordinance was rammed through in 48 hours from committee hearing and council passage on April 28. Only the bar owners testified.
But in their haste to ram it through they didn't worry about the neighborhoods across the city that would be negatively impacted. And now those neighborhoods are fighting back with the petition drive.
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You decide . . .
Crossroads has enough bars.
ReplyDeleteOn this one Justus shows that she has a lot to learn. She's using Jeff City ram through tactics and maybe listening to her friends just a bit too much. Can't believe she would go for this when even other bars don't want to give their competition this kind of new advantage. There are just way too many thing wrong with this ordinance. If they were smart, Council would simply nix the Justus liquor code change.
I have heard that the bar owners are going to try to campaign against it but when they started hearing about the cost associated with launching a real campaign they quickly balked.
ReplyDeleteThey're going to try to win a vote on social media. Good luck to them.
No more hipster bars?
ReplyDeleteCheers to that!
I actually think most people will side with the bars/restaurants. Especially if its framed as one guy trying to tell owners what they can serve, when they can serve it along with the other limitations.
ReplyDeleteJolie got screwed over by her friends. She should have known better. They hung her out to dry.
ReplyDeleteKansas City liquor licenses are harder to get than anywhere in the Ks/Mo 2 state area. Without 3am liquor licenses, there will be no out of control party district. I think the Tom's Town bar should have all the same rights as any other 1:30 Bar/restaurant. The biggest complainer in the crossroads has tenants with liquor licenses and doesn't want the competition.
ReplyDeleteI think if asked whether to side with wealthy property owners who own entire blocks of properties along our business corridors or independent small business owners who are trying to make a living and small-time property owners, I think the general public will side with the small business people every time. And it will be disappointing if the big $$$$ wins this...
ReplyDeleteSnow & Co is moving to Westport from the Crossroads and others are considering not putting in great concepts because the drama created by one property owner (Brad Nicholson) who has tried to stifle competition with ridiculous restrictions on good establishment. I find it ironic that it's okay for a few voters to tax property owners to pay for an expensive fixed rail streetcar, but they want to whine when great bar / restaurant concepts come in to serve tourists attracted by the streetcar (which is the main use of it). Crossroads is truly a live/work/play neighborhood and all parts of it need to develop. The ordinance just clears the way for that to happen.
ReplyDeleteA gay paradise, put in another bar!
ReplyDeleteOoooh Choo Choo Choo Choo!
ReplyDeletePropetry owners just trying to make a living?
ReplyDeleteThese are millionaires were talking about with millionaire investors.
The servers aren't interested in this fight.
Snow&Co is no big loss. They'll be out of business in Westport in 18 months. The hipster paradise was far from it.
ReplyDelete^^^ I like Snow & Co. Great people but I think their departure was more of a right size.
ReplyDeleteThe real question. Does KC crossroads need more bars?
If you actually had a functioning city government in Kansas City instead of a gaggle of wannabe real estate developers, there'd be a system in place to regularly review ordinances like the liquor ordinance to consider updates and modifications to address current and future conditions and plans.
ReplyDeleteMaking law, which is what an ordinance is, on a case-by-case basis or to meet one individual's preferences is a terrible idea full of unintended consequences.
Any new TIFs this week?
^^^ More comments like this, somebody who actually knows what's going on with KCMO.
ReplyDelete^^^^ Agree completely, time to get rid of slackers in Planning & Development!!
ReplyDelete