Kansas City River Market Skyscraper Revenge: Testimony Silenced!!!

Bad legislation never really dies in Kansas City . . . It's the only thing we're serious about recycling.

To wit . . .

TODAY TESTIMONY FROM SMALL BIZ & RESIDENTS AGAINST THE RIVER MARKET SKYSCRAPER THREAT WAS SHUT DOWN!!!

Actually . . .

It was only delayed a week but we all know how it works . . .

KCMO is always willing to meet & talk residents to death. Developers & allies on the council do this for a living and they're ALWAYS willing to wear down opponents with constant meetings, conferences and rigged listening sessions. 

This time around . . .

Locals were sent notice of a meeting and gathered their allies . . . But then . . . Termed-out council dude Lee Barnes who serves as chair of the Neighborhood & Planning Committee held the item on the agenda.

Residents were none too pleased . . . From the livestream, here's a quick screen grab of justifiably angry KCMO residents captured by city hall cameras:

One small biz owner responded: 

"Like we don't have anything going on . . . We don't have a life and businesses to run!!!"

The retort from Councilman Barnes: "We tried to give as much notice as we could. We made the announcement yesterday." 

One member exited the meeting in a huff . . . With this pointed question:

"Who is paying you guys off?!?!"

Sorry, we don't have the answer to that one either.

However . . . To be fair there were a couple of council members and staff who seemed confused by the move to limit testimony.

Here's what we do know . . .

THE KANSAS CITY RIVER MARKET SKYSCRAPER IS BACK FOR REVENGE DESPITE RESIDENT & SMALL BIZ COMPLAINTS!!!

There's a petition gaining traction with nearly 100 small biz owners in the River Market voicing their objections. There's concern about overcrowding, tax breaks and eliminating even more parking that would pretty much kill most biz on the weekends . . . When retail outlets & restaurants make most of their profits.

So far, only council dude Eric Bunch and Kevin O'Neill seem to be supporting the idea along with the usual suspect amateur urban planners on Twitter who want to defund every parking space near downtown. 

We don't know how this will end but so far it looks like River Market denizens are confronting serious opposition that's connected to council and their reelection hopes. 

Developing . . .