# LLMs-Full.txt - Full Content for Project Pages # Generated on: 2026-01-30T19:01:44.327Z # Total pages: 9 --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/blog ### Title: Blog ### Page ID: 8219019 ### Content: #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/home ### Title: Home ### Page ID: 8219020 ### Content: ## 1,000,000+ lbs ### of food waste composted annually by Compost Collective + Urbavore Farm ## What Happened? ## Original (Erroneous) Violations ### Additional Documentation & Counterpoints to the City’s Board of Zoning Adjustment Case ### The City's Assertions ### Urbavore's Facts ## Community Engagement ## Nearly 200 Supporter Comments ## Urbavore In the News #### It’s good KC is getting on board with composting — but don’t shut down local farmers #### Don’t let Kansas City shut down Urbavore Urban Farm. It turns trash into treasure #### Visit Urbavore Urban Farm before voting on its future, KC Mayor Lucas, City Council #### Urbavore Farm on Kansas City’s East Side is thriving small business worth saving #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action [**Urbavore Urban Farm**](https://urbavorefarm.com/) is one of the largest and longest-standing urban farms in the Kansas City region. Along with our sister business, [**Compost Collective KC**](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/), Urbavore has a substantial impact on Kansas City. We feed thousands of people each year, we compost well over one million pounds of food waste annually, and we create climate resilience for our region! In May 2023, our farm received four violations from the City of KCMO based on ongoing complaints by a few neighbors. **These violations contradicted prior zoning approvals from the City.** The violations also threatened the broader urban farming community by setting a negative precedent for community composting and urban farm stands at-large. We originally created this website so that anyone could see the facts for themselves, ranging from the violation notices to the City’s 2021 compliance determination for our composting expansion to the text of the actual zoning code. You don’t have to dig very deep to find that the City’s violations were baseless. However, instead of correcting their mistake, the city insisted Urbavore go through a costly zoning overlay known as a [Master Plan Development](/master-plan-development), which (if approved), would have protected the farm's current activities as well as any future activities/developments included in the plan. **After two years, investment of considerable expense, and donations of architectural/engineering, legal, web design, and other services, Urbavore presented an MPD to the city, which they voted not to approve.** This website remains as a permanent record to document the city's actions. Urbavore Farm originally received four violations from the City of Kansas City. Click the tabs at left to read summaries of the violation notices, along with an explanation of why Urbavore was in compliance on ALL of these violations. Staff from the City Planning Department would not listen to our arguments negating these violations, nor would they provide clarification of their own code interpretations. After two years and jumping over every hurdle they put in our way, they finally acknowledged the violations were in error. *Note: all supporting links will open in a new window. Click the tabs to view each violation.* The City determined in this violation that Urbavore’s composting operations constitute a Composting Facility as defined in the Zoning Code. *Response*: In March 2021, in preparation for expanding our composting operations and purchasing Compost Collective KC, Urbavore asked the City Planning Department for assistance in determining how our proposed compost expansion could comply with the Zoning Code. After some initial emails and a meeting, City Planning issued this compliance determination, as well as this email providing some context for the determination. As you can see, the City determined that the compost expansion would NOT be considered a Composting Facility because the compost is part of the agricultural production and is not being sold. That was the basis on which Urbavore invested approximately $85,000 in building its current compost infrastructure. It was also the basis for purchasing Compost Collective KC for $275,000. Thereafter, Compost Collective KC has continued to make substantial investments in its compost operations. Compost operations at Urbavore are an **accessory use**, as stated in the Planning Department's own compliance letter of March 2021. In April of 2023, Inspector James Duddy (looking onto our property from a neighbor’s property and seeing our composting operations from a distance of about 300 ft.) determined our compost operations to be a Composting Facility. In issuing the violation, Mr. Duddy was not aware of the prior approval we had received from his own department. When Urbavore farmer Dan Heryer spoke with Mr. Duddy by phone shortly after receiving the violation, Mr. Duddy stated that the prior compliance determination did not apply. He stated that the compost operations had “become a primary use” rather than an accessory use when the compost had exceeded the volume of 40 cubic yards. Rather than argue with Mr. Duddy over the phone, Farmer Dan decided to check his records to make sure that he had specified the scope and volume of compost that Urbavore would be handling in his initial communications with the City. As it turns out, Farmer Dan had explicitly stated many times that the compost volume could reach 1,500 cubic yards by 2023. Check out the initial emails, as well as this meeting invitation where the compost volume is listed in the notes. Farmer Dan had also sent City Planning a hand-drawn-to-scale site map of the proposed expansion. When Inspector Duddy learned this information, he changed tack and claimed that we had not only exceeded the 1,500 cubic yard volume, but had also become a primary use because, he claimed, the composting was the main use of the land. Despite that, our composting operations closely fit the definition of an accessory use in that it is "subordinate in area, extent, and purpose to the principal use on the zoning lot and is customarily found in conjunction with a permitted principal use." (Section 88-810-030) The principal use of the lot is agriculture, and the agricultural activities extend to all 13 acres of the lot area. The composting activity is contained within a quarter-acre of the lot. City Planning refused to discuss the details of their interpretation in our June 9, 2023 meeting, and stated that the violations could only be removed by appealing to the Board of Zoning Adjustment. While Urbavore clearly did their due diligence in complying with KCMO’s zoning code, it’s also worth noting that the zoning code is a complete human fabrication, made up over the past 100 or so years. Composting is a natural process that has been happening forever! Urbavore produces a wide range of products (including various vegetables and fruits, eggs and pork), and sells them on an online store and through a Community Supported Agriculture program. Customers pick up their purchases on Urbavore Urban Farm on Thursday evenings from 4-7PM. In addition to our own products, Urbavore sells a few products from other local producers (cheese from Skyview Creamery, beef from Crooked Bar N Ranch, fermented vegetables from Fair Share Farm, and mushrooms from Myco Planet). In this violation, the City interprets Urbavore’s distribution of local products that are not produced on Urbavore Farm as retail sales, in violation of R-80 zoning. *Response*: Urbavore farm does not sell on-site to the general public. Orders for products from Urbavore’s online store are accepted online in advance, prior to the day of distribution, and are then distributed on the farm. Therefore, Urbavore’s sales of other local products cannot be considered retail sales. Also noteworthy, Urbavore is allowed to sell any products that are produced on the farm, as defined in 88-312-01-A 1.(c). Furthermore, this violation directly impacts local food systems at large, since many celebrated urban farms in KC’s urban core distribute healthy products from other local producers. If this violation holds for URBAVORE, it will negatively impact local food security, and healthy food options metro-wide. The crux of this violation is that the City requires driveways and roads entering a property to be paved for the first 25 feet from the edge of the property line. Both of the entrances at Urbavore are graveled, not paved. *Urbavore’s Response*: Entries at both Bennington Avenue and 55th Terrace are grandfathered. Both entries existed in the 1960s (or prior). Such entries are commonly addressed when submitting an application for a building permit. Urbavore has had three building permits approved (house, barn & solar array), and when we applied for those permits, the permit division indicated that these were grandfathered and did not require paved drive entries. While we do not have documentation of that interpretation, the building codes department does not approve such permits without legal drive entries to the site. Also noteworthy: The City has had control of the right of way that connects Urbavore Farm to 55th Terrace since the 1960s, and had a responsibility to pave that access when the neighboring subdivision was first developed. The house at 6400 E 55th Terrace was designed with its driveway and garage accessing this right-of-way, but has never had paved access to 55th Terrace. That right-of-way has been gravel for over 60 years. It’s arbitrary for the City to require Urbavore to pave 25 feet within the property boundary when the City has not paved the 125 ft. right-of-way that accesses the property. Pretty straightforward: the City is stating that you cannot *store* a shipping container on a residentially zoned property. *Urbavore's Response*: If you look closely at the text of this violation, you will note that the cited problem is the “storage of temporary storage containers”, which is only allowed in manufacturing districts. There’s a distinction between storing a shipping container versus using a shipping container for storage. Think of businesses surrounding rail lines in manufacturing districts that might stack and store dozens of *empty* shipping containers. That’s not what Urbavore is doing at all. We reuse old shipping containers to store materials and things related to our business. That type of use would put our shipping containers in a different category: accessory structures. Any shipping containers that we are using for storage should be considered accessory structures because they are necessary to the operation of our farm, and they are not temporary, they are a permanent feature. In our zoning district (R-80), we are allowed to have accessory structures of up to 8,000 square feet. Adding to the extensive documentation that we’ve already provided above, here are two inspection reports (1 & 2) for some of the nuisance complaints that we have had on the farm since January 2023. We were found in compliance each time. The “nuisance” claims by a couple neighbors of odor, “illegal” animals and much more have been proven false time and again. During the Board of Zoning Adjustment Hearing on January 9th, the City of Kansas City did not act as a passive arbiter of facts, but as a prosecutor focused on winning the case in their favor. Thus, they were focused on presenting interpretations of our prior approval that showed us to be out of compliance. They did not seek out experts in the compost field (or even a measuring tape) to prove their case, but relied on Instagram posts and hearsay to demonstrate that our composting volumes, and the sale of compost. Here are a few important points to consider with regard to the City’s case on our composting compliance. 3\. The City cited a customer’s Instagram comment where the customer claimed to have “bought” compost proved that we are selling compost. 4\. The City claimed that Urbavore is selling beer and restaurant food. Additionally, on our Retail Sales violation, the City claimed that Urbavore was selling beer and restaurant food. Apart from the farm’s own products, Urbavore only sold whole foods made by local producers, including bread, cheese, mushrooms, beef, lamb, ferments, and flour. We have never sold beer or restaurant food. Some people got the impression that we should have done more community engagement to avoid these problems. **We started engaging this community with door knocking and community meetings way back in 2009, a year before we purchased our farm site in 2010.** We have been engaging with the community ever since, and we know practically everyone in our neighborhood. We have a proven track record here, and we are simply being harassed by a couple of neighbors who want to say “Not In My Back Yard” to something that is not causing harm (and also doing a great deal of good). We welcome the input and opinions of all, but some of our neighbors have resorted to assault. We’ve all seen how polarized various issues have become in our country. ***Some people think that violence and harassment are a form of activism.*** That is happening at the microcosm-level here at Urbavore Farm. Throughout the rezoning process, we held a number of meetings with neighbors to gather input. We created space for everyone in those conversations – ensuring that all voices are given a platform, not just the loudest. We ran two digital letter campaigns in 2024, and over a thousand people pledged their support. In addition, a notarized letter campaign generated hundreds more and required supporters to show up in person. Every meeting at City Hall was attended by Kansas Citians who cared. Urbavore Farm advances two key goals in Kansas City's Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan: (1) growing and sharing local and nutritious food and (2) waste reduction and reuse. The threat to Urbavore is a threat to all of Kansas City's urban farms and gardens, our local food system, and our city's climate resilient future. Let's stand together in support of urban agriculture's future in Kansas City. So many people left comments of support that we had to create a separate page to show them all. "I support Urbavore Urban Farm and Compost Collective. I published an op-ed in the Kansas City Star on August 29 explaining support and ideas for how collaboration can benefit the entire city. Together we can make change that helps everyone. Kansas City: Please hear and consider the requests of Urbavore and Compost Collective. Please support the trailblazers among us! They need your help right now. [Read the article I wrote here.](https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article278683029.html)" To diversify its methods of waste collection, Kansas City recently launched a new program for composting as part of the Kansas City Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan. But, in the process of trying things out, it’s nudging people out who are already composting successfully on a large scale. Right now, people that have made tremendous progress on these issues in Kansas City are being excluded from the conversation. I know how to make dirt. Really good dirt. The type of stuff that grows really good food. More impressive still, I can make this “good food dirt” from your waste, or at least the organic components of your waste: food scraps of any kind — plants, meat and dairy, cooked or raw — along with paper towels, pizza boxes, shredded office paper, toilet paper roles, yard waste, grass clippings and leaves. We need a resolution. I’d make a strong argument that anyone following the fight to save Urbavore Urban Farm and its related compost business, Compost Collective KC, would agree. Urbavore is a 13.5-acre farm in the 5500 block of Bennington Avenue in Kansas City. The eco-friendly compost operation is on site. Mayor Quinton Lucas and staff should charter a bus and visit. Bring along the entire City Council as well. Urbavore Urban Farm sits on about 13.5 acres of land in a residential neighborhood on Kansas City’s East Side. On a recent Friday evening, I visited the farm in the 5500 block of Bennington Avenue. I needed to see for myself if I could witness the fuss over traffic flow and rotten smells permeating the area that neighbors have complained about over several months. Composting reduces greenhouse gas by sequestering carbon in the soil, it diverts organic matter from landfills, and provides nutrients to the plants that grow next season's produce. Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - Overview - Violation 1: Compost Facility - Violation 2: Retail Sales - Violation 3: Vehicle Use Areas - Violation 4: Shipping Container 1. When the City issued the original violation, the Planning Department inspector didn’t know that we had prior approval. See “Violation 1” for the details. 2. The City presented inaccurate mathematics to represent the volume of compost that Urbavore is producing: - The City conflated cubic feet with cubic yards in their presentation to say that each of our compost bays hold over 1,800 cubic yards of compost. - The City claimed that our weekly intake of 20,000 pounds of food waste (cited from Urbavore’s own Instagram posts that provide that estimate) converted into volumes that violate City codes. 1. Although we do not store over 1,500 cubic yards of material on our composting site, the City’s approval of our accessory use never capped the volume. 2. See the diagram below that shows the real volume of the compost bays. Our four largest bays hold 167 cubic yards each. The five smaller bays hold 96 cubic yards each. It’s easy math: (Length in Feet X Width in Feet X Height in Feet) / 27. Total capacity is under 1,200 cubic yards! 3. Mr. Stan Slaughter, MA Biology and a leading composting in our region with over 30 years of experience, was unable to testify on the day of the hearing, but followed up with this assessment of Urbavore’s volumetric compliance with the 1,500 cubic yard target. Note that Mr. Slaughter mistook the timescale of our estimate: we are taking in 20,000 pounds of food waste per week (not per day). All the same, his volume estimates put Urbavore well below 1,500 cubic yards. - Providing access to fresh, healthy, nutritious food; - Reducing greenhouse gases by sequestering carbon in the soil and by diverting organic matter from the waste stream and converting it to compost to improve soil health; - Stewarding a biodiverse ecosystem which provides beneficial natural habitats; and - Creating green jobs through small, local businesses. - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/page-not-found ### Title: Page Not Found ### Page ID: 8219023 ### Content: #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action The page you are looking for has been moved, removed or maybe it was never here. Find your way back to the site by clicking the link below: Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/reset-password-page ### Title: Reset password page ### Page ID: 8219025 ### Content: #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/protected-collection-item ### Title: Protected Page ### Page ID: 8219036 ### Content: #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action In order to view the page, please enter the password below: Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/supporters ### Title: Supporters ### Page ID: 8219583 ### Content: ## Urbavore Supporter Comments #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action Hear directly from our KC friends and neighbors about why they believe Urbavore Urban Farm is an integral part of our city. Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/timeline ### Title: Timeline ### Page ID: 8219896 ### Content: ## Timeline of Events ### 1/29/25 Update: FINAL City Council Vote! Thursday, January 30 at 2 PM ### 12/23/24 Update: BZA Hearing Wednesday, January 8 at 9 AM ### 12/10/24 Update: BZA Hearing Wednesday, December 11 at 9 AM ### 11/19/24 Update: Final Council Vote Thurs, Nov. 21 ### 11/5/24 Update: BZA Hearing Wed, Nov. 13 @ 9 AM ### 11/5/24 Update: BZA Hearing Wed, Nov. 13 @ 9 AM ### 10/3/24 Update: City Council Vote October 3rd @ 2:00 PM ### City Council Vote on MPD ### Thursday, October 3 ### 2:00 PM ### 9/26/24 Update: Committee Hearing Tuesday, October 1 @ 1:30 PM ### Neighborhood Planning & Development Committee Hearing ### Tuesday, October 1 ### 1:30 PM ### 8/23/24 Update: Please Attend CPC Hearing City Planning Wednesday, September 4 @ 9AM ### City Planning Commission Hearing ### Wednesday, September 4 ### 9:00 AM ### Benefit Concert – CANCELED DUE TO HARASSMENT OF THE VENUE ### 8/1/24 Update: URGENT Hearing Thursday, August 1 from 3-5 PM ### URGENT City Council Hearing ### Thursday, August 1st ### 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ### 7/24/24 Update: URGENT Hearing Thursday, July 25 from 3-5 PM ### URGENT City Council Hearing ### Thursday, July 25th ### 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ### 7/17/24 Update: Community Meeting Wednesday, July 17 ### Please attend "Master Plan" Community Meeting ### Wednesday, July 17th ### 6:00 - 7:00 PM ### 7/9/24 Update: Please attend BZA Hearing Wednesday, July 10! ### We need as many of you as possible to show up to a Board of Zoning Adjustment Hearing this Wednesday 7/10 at City Hall, 10th Floor. ### 3/20/24 Update: Urbavore is raising funds for the Master Plan Development rezoning required to continue operations. ### Urbavore is raising funds for the Master Plan Development rezoning required to continue operations. #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action The following is a record of all updates issued to supporters on the original website. It shows most of the timeline as things progressed over 2024. **FINAL City Council Vote for Master Plan Development Re-Zoning** This is truly the moment we've all been waiting for: the potential END to the nightmare that has plagued our lives (and threatened the City's sustainability) for 2 whole years!! The FINAL VOTE for the Master Plan Development Re-Zoning.  BODIES IN THE ROOM MATTER!! YOU CAN SWAY THE VOTE! Hear me out: Most Council Members defer to the district reps in how they vote. They often don't take the time to do their own research. It's quite common to simply take the "easy" route and follow suit with in-district "expertise". Well, in this case our district reps have firmly sided against us, deferring to the opinions of a few households over the majority of our neighbors. They were convinced of our criminality from the get-go, despite community support, despite our innocence proven at BZA, despite the non-political CPC voting TWICE to support our rezoning plan. We welcome homemade signs as well as RESPECTFUL CREATIVITY! Not only does the re-zoning protect us from future scrutiny and bureaucratic over-stepping, it paves the way for COMMUNITY BENEFIT in the form of on farm education, and resource-sharing. Our plan is what majority of our neighbors support, and this is what the few neighbors who got us into this mess have requested (meaning, this plan addresses ALL OF THEIR CONCERNS in a robust and direct manner.) Yet again, the last BZA hearing was continued and is now happening on January 8. Please show up and show your support. Although we are the oldest case, we are weirdly scheduled to be on the “overflow” docket which is a virtual hearing on Friday! However, Dan & I aren’t available Friday and we would like our fate decided IN PERSON with our supporters and team present. We will be requesting that our case be heard first thing on Wednesday, and assuming they grant this request we need to be ready to roll. Oddly, City Staff is RECOMMENDING the push to Friday which is so weird and I can only think it has to do with the fact that we FINALLY got an on-site measurement proving our compost compliance, and suddenly they aren’t quite as eager to hear our case, especially in front of a crowd. At any rate, we REALLY NEED YOU in the room. Physical support makes a BIG difference. This is the final vote by City Council on the Master Plan Development. Click here to learn more about the MPD. Please attend this meeting to show your support. You can also read and share Brooke's article in the Kansas City Star here. We hope this will be a routine continuance, since Council still won't have voted on the Master Plan. Yet we must be prepared for a FULL BLOWN HEARING with presentation and public testimony. We need you to attend if possible. The BZA is the track we were on when we attempted to appeal the zoning violations leveled against us in May of 2023. The agreement we came to with the BZA was that (whether those violations were legitimate or not) all issues would be resolved through a Master Plan Development Rezoning, and BZA would hold off on making any determinations until the Master Plan went through the City's process and was either accepted or denied. However, due to Council choosing not to vote on the Master Plan on Oct. 3rd as scheduled (and requesting a "6 week cooling off period") we are now The October 1st vote on our Master Plan Dev. Rezoning (MPD) was devastating. The Neighborhood Planning & Development Committee recommended "do not pass" to the full City Council which will vote on it October 3. ***Councilman Eric Bunch (4th District) was the only member who voted in support of the plan.*** The rationale given by Melissa Patterson-Hazley (& agreed with by Ryana Parks-Shaw) for not recommending the MPD Rezoning to council was simply that even though they like the plan, appreciate our work, and recognize that the plan addresses the concerns of a very small group of neighbors, they don't support rezoning as a means to fix violations. Click here to use our quick letter sender form, BUT it may be much more powerful at this point to call and/or send individually! We need your support to **pack the room** at this Committee hearing, made up of four members of City Council (Parks-Shaw, Bunch, Patterson-Hazley, Willett). We now have two recommendations to approve our rezoning plan: These recommendations are helpful, but City Council is ultimately a political body – they respond to YOU (their constituents) as much as recommendations. We absolutely NEED YOU TO ATTEND THE CPC HEARING ON WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 4th. This is Round 2 of our City Planning Commission Hearing - the group that decides whether or not to "recommend" our Master Plan Development to Council. This is a small room and likely seats will run out fast. Plop down on the floor, stand if you can, and wear one of the t-shirts we've handed out at past hearings. Signs might be a bit bulky in this room, but if they are held up at a key time (like during the vote) it may be useful. The Benefit Concert scheduled for Sept. 7th at The Combine is canceled, due to the owners receiving harassing phone calls and slurs. Although the venue supports our cause, it became more trouble than it was worth. This concert was meant to bring people together, the local talent was getting paid, and the proceeds were coming from generous sponsors and ticket buyers. The expected 10K that was to be raised would have gone directly to HELP PAY FOR THE NEW DRIVE ENTRANCE that would take traffic off 55th terrace and directly address the unhappy neighbors' main concern. Yes... AGAIN. See the last update (they pushed it forward by a week). Yesterday, City Council’s Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee voted 3-1 to shut down our only access to the farm via 55th Terrace. That once-a-week, three hours of seasonal traffic during our veggie distribution is simply making life too unbearable for three of my *newest* neighbors. So the City is convinced that they need to shut down access to KC's largest, longest-standing urban farm and our home to appease three people. We will park 1/8 of a mile away and hike up to our house rain, shine, or ice storm with our kids. If there was a fire in our home, fire trucks wouldn't be able to get to us. We have one last stand at City Council. We absolutely need to PACK THE ROOM with supporters – thousands if possible! Our Master Plan encompasses a long-term vision for this farm that focuses on climate resilient solutions from a grass-roots, neighborhood perspective. We believe that community farms can produce so much more than nourishing food - they can build soil, recycle waste, sequester carbon, harness solar energy, provide affordable housing, and educate - meeting diverse community needs as layered and complex as an ecosystem. The proceedings begin at 9:00 AM but we are 12th on the docket, so we have no idea when the case will actually be heard. We will do our best to post via Facebook / Instagram with timing updates. THIS PARTICULAR HEARING on Wednesday is the follow-up *Board of Zoning Adjustment* (BZA) hearing to the original event that took place on January 9th when we appealed the four violations leveled against us in May of 2023. These violations included the Community Compost Site that we had formally been approved for in 2021 by the City Planning & Development Dept. and by the State. In that hearing, we expected that the indisputable evidence we presented would more than easily prove our innocence and that the violations would be dropped. We were sorely disappointed. The conclusion was that the Board granted us a 6-month Continuance and asked two things of us: This hearing *should* be a formality in which the Board simply says, “*okay, you clearly did what we asked & we’ll see you again in 6 months after the Master Plan has had time to go through the processes of approval/denial*”. But because all other processes with the City have not followed legal procedure, we are expecting a curveball, and need to be prepared with HUNDREDS OF SUPPORTERS physically present as well as heart-felt testimonies from key people. We are pained to share that our January Hearing before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (Part 1 2:30:00 – 4:53:22; Part 2 0:00-45:00) did nothing to improve our situation, and forces us to pursue the expensive Master Plan Development rezoning. The application for that rezoning requires costly professional services that could cost us as much as $65,000 – that’s just to submit the application. We are RAISING FUNDS to pay for this mess that has been foisted upon us by the City, and we humbly request donations from anyone who has the means. We are prideful people and REALLY don’t like asking for money, but we appreciate your support, and hope you see our work as “worth it”! Use the video links above to view each captivating hour of our circus-like hearing before the Board of Zoning Adjustment. You’ll see that we made a very compelling case, based on facts that prove our compliance. But as one of our customers said, “Facts are useless unless they’re considered.” And in the case of this board, they failed to acknowledge the clear-cut case that they were presented with. Instead, they heard the forceful complaints of a few neighbors above the abundant support from the majority of our community. Just a glance at our supporter map below – underpinned with letters of support – should have created a truer picture for this board. They had the power to remove these violations based on all of the legal evidence with which they were presented. They chose instead to continue us down the expensive path of rezoning (passing the decision-making responsibility to a different board). Thus, we begin YEAR TWO of this crisis that threatens not just our livelihood, but also critical climate-positive work in Kansas City. Read on to gather facts, with underlying documentation, about this continuing drama. Thank you for your support, and please donate if you are able. Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") 1. We did ask the City for permission up front, and they approved our use. Our main violation - the composting - was issued in error, and the inspector wasn't even aware of our prior agreement with the Planning Department. 2. We never violated the agreement by selling compost or exceeding the maximum volume. The City has changed their assessment of our compost volume four times in the past 18 months. While their estimates conveniently fit their narrative, the fact is that our compost site cannot exceed the maximum volume because it is not designed for that much material. 3. Council is saying they can't approve a rezoning to resolve violations, but that is precisely the purpose of City Staff recommending the MPD rezoning. If Council won't approve rezoning plans to resolve violations, then staff shouldn't be recommending that path. We just spent about $70k and nine months of toil to be told that they sent us down a rabbit hole. - Staff, Department of City Planning & Development: RECOMMENDS APPROVAL - City Planning Commission: RECOMMENDS APPROVAL (5-1 vote) - WRITE your Councilmember. Click here to instantly email a letter of support. Customize it to get their attention! - (Not a KCMO resident? Write or call the Mayor’s office.) - CALL your Councilmember: Here’s a list of contacts, and here’s a searchable map that will tell you your Council District. - ATTEND the Hearing! We need a big show of support! Please attend if you can, and bring an 8.5”x11” paper with your Council District number boldly printed on it! We are asking that you DO NOT testify, as we have limited testimonies already lined up from neighbors and organizations. (We’ll have larger signs available, too!) - SPREAD THE WORD: Have friends and family take these actions, as well! 1. SHOW UP to the City Council hearing on Thursday at 3PM! 26th Floor of City Hall. Bring your own sign, or borrow one of ours. 2. Call AND E-mail your Councilmember if you live in KCMO (find your district here). 3. If you’re a neighbor in Brown Estates, email ALL of the councilmembers! Let them know that you support the farm, and that Melissa Paterson-Hazley and Ryana Parks-Shaw are NOT representing your perspective as a constituent. 4. If you live outside of KCMO, email or call the Mayor, and ask if he’ll be voting to oppose climate initiatives by shutting off access to Urbavore Farm. - To pursue & submit a Master Plan Development Re-Zoning Application (which we did with a 65K price tag) - To put into place some traffic reduction efforts (which we’ve done) through alternative pick-up times/locations and member carpooling. - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/privacy-policy ### Title: Privacy Policy ### Page ID: 8220160 ### Content: ## Privacy Policy #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You. We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy has been created with the help of the \[Free Privacy Policy Generator\](https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/free- The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural. \* Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or \* Affiliate means an entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with a party, where "control" means ownership of 50% or more of the shares, equity interest or other securities entitled to vote for election of directors or other managing authority. \* Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to Urbavore, 5500 Bennington Avenue Kansas City, MO \* Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing \* Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a \* Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or \* Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used. \* Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, \* You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to: Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service. Usage Data may include information such as Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device. We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze \* Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service. Unless you have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, our Service may use \* Web Beacons. Certain sections of our Service and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server Cookies can be "Persistent" or "Session" Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on Your personal computer or mobile device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close Your web browser. Learn more about website\](https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/blog/sample-privacy-policy- We use both Session and Persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below: Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with services available through the Website and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided, and We only use these Cookies to provide You with Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy or the Cookies section of our Privacy The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes: \* To provide and maintain our Service , including to monitor the usage of \* To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered \* For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service. \* To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application's push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for \* To provide You with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted \* To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us. \* For business transfers: We may use Your information to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Data held by Us about our Service users is among the assets \* For other purposes : We may use Your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Service, We may share Your personal information in the following situations: \* With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, to \* For business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of Our business to \* With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that We control or that are under \* With business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services or promotions. \* With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside. \* With Your consent : We may disclose Your personal information for any The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies. The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company's operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer. The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and You have the right to delete or request that We assist in deleting the Our Service may give You the ability to delete certain information about You You may update, amend, or delete Your information at any time by signing in to Your Account, if you have one, and visiting the account settings section that allows you to manage Your personal information. You may also contact Us to request access to, correct, or delete any personal information that You have Please note, however, that We may need to retain certain information when we If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy. Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency). The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such \* Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company \* Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service \* Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security. Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our If We need to rely on consent as a legal basis for processing Your information and Your country requires consent from a parent, We may require Your parent's consent before We collect and use that information. Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services. We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "Last updated" date at the top You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac) --- ## URL: https://www.saveurbavore.com/master-plan-development ### Title: Master Plan Development ### Page ID: 8223883 ### Content: ## Master Plan Development #### Urbavore Farm #### Take Action This is the plan we developed with an architectural/engineering firm in response to the City's demands. They voted against it. Website design, development and hosting donated by [**Tiny Thunder Studio**](https://tinythunder.com) ©2023-2025 Urbavore Urban Farm. All Rights Reserved. Site by [Tiny Thunder Studio.](https://tinythunder.com/website-footer-link) - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Violations](https://cat3f6cd2cc.brizy.site#violations "Violations") - [Timeline](/timeline "Timeline") - [MPD](/master-plan-development "MPD") - [Supporters](/supporters "Supporters") - [Start Composting](https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/signup) - [Buy Weekly Produce](https://shop-urbavore.square.site/) - [Donate to GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/f/crisis-support-for-urbavore-compost-collective) - [Subscribe to Updates](https://www.urbavorefarm.com/newsletter) - [Public Comment](https://forms.endorsal.io/form/64db16b9e2e729387e339dac)