By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
March 28, 2012

When the City Council of Kansas City approved the downzoning of Pendleton Heights, neighborhood resident Billie Robleado cried.

For more than 20 years, Robleado’s lived in the neighborhood and both she and former neighborhood president Kent Dicus pioneered the effort to downzone the neighborhood to single family use.

“It was really a wonderful experience,” she said. “After so many years of working on that and trying to be so careful that we did everything just right, it was a very happy day to have that over with.”

Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association President Jessica Ray said she felt both relief and gratefulness to those who played a role in the process.

“I think this downzoning is going to be phenomenal in protecting our neighborhood,” said Christy Maddux, vice-president of the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association.

Ray agreed.

“Preventing investors from breaking houses into multiple units or from building additional apartment buildings will ultimately help stabilize the neighborhood because home owners will have confidence that if they invest in restoring their home, its value will not be deteriorated by a future action next door,” Ray said.

The downzoning, which gained final approval March 15, includes approximately 200 acres generally bounded by Independence Avenue on the south, The Paseo on the west, St. John Avenue and Lexington Avenue on the north and Chestnut Avenue/Trafficway on the east. The downzoning will rezone Districts R-2.5 (Residential 2.5), R-1.5 (Residential 1.5), B1-1 (Neighborhood Business 1-1), B3-2 (Community Business 3-2) and B4-2 (Heavy Business/Commercial 2) to District R-6 (Residential 6).

Most of the neighborhood will be downzoned to single family use, but small portions of the neighborhood will now include multi-family and commercial uses, and previously existing zoning in several areas will remain intact. One example of zoning that will remain intact includes the retail and restaurant uses at the intersection of Lexington Avenue between Brooklyn Avenue and Park Avenue, and the institutional uses, like Don Bosco Community Center and the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.

Approximately 30 to 40 properties became non-conforming through the new downzoning, but the city agreed to waive the certificate of non-conformance fee if the property owners apply for a certificate within the first year, said Ray.

As Maddux talked about the downzoning victory, she stressed the importance of preserving the historic architecture.

“It’s a history of architecture and craftsmanship,” she said of the neighborhood. “They can’t replicate that. Once houses are broken apart into apartments or torn down, the history is lost forever. They’ll never be able to recreate it exactly the same.”