By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
December 2, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Four walls does not a structure make.

That’s the argument two Northeast neighborhoods are making to the city after the tragic Columbus Day fire that took the lives of two Kansas City Firefighters and destroyed the building on the Northwest corner of Independence and Prospect.

But attorneys for Speedy Cash, a payday lending business that occupied the corner of the building, are arguing otherwise as they attempt to rebuild in their old quarters at 2600 Independence Boulevard. The decision on whether Speedy Cash will re-occupy their old space ultimately rests with the City Planning Department, and as the old saying goes, the devil is in the details.

All payday loan operations within the city limits of Kansas City are required to have a Certificate of Legal Non-conforming Use [CLNU] to operate. However, according to city code, when more than 50 percent of the volume of a structure containing a nonconforming use is destroyed or damaged, the use may not be restored except in conformance with the regulations of the zoning district in which it is located.

Additionally, per the city code, if a demolition permit has been applied for on the structure, that, too, automatically terminates the CLNU of the occupying business. That’s the argument Legal Aid Attorney Peter Hoffman is making in representation of the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association.

“This should be a cut and dried issue,” Hoffman said. “The demolition permit was applied for and granted by the city because over 50 percent of the building has been destroyed, so the CLNU should be automatically revoked based on the city’s code.”

Jessica Ray, president of the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association, noted her displeasure with the status of the delay.

“We trust Kansas City will not bow to the Speedy Cash corporate attorneys but will back up the emergency demolition order issued by the Dangerous Buildings Department and remove both a hazardous structure and a predatory business from our neighborhood,” Ray said.

Karl R. Phares, an attorney with Stinson Leonard Street LLP representing Speedy Cash in this case had no comment on the matter when contacted by the Northeast News.

The city’s Planning and Development Department has thirty days to issue a decision on the matter. Per city code, that decision could be appealed to the Board of Zoning Adjustment and possibly to the Circuit Court by the losing party, which means the burned out hulk that currently occupies the Northeast corner of Independence and Prospect could remain well in to 2016.