COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR ORDINANCE NO. 140287
Amending Chapter 74, the Kansas
City Redevelopment Ordinance, by adding a new Article VI, Urban Agricultural
Zones, to guide City processes in the implementation of Section 262.900 of the
Revised Statutes of Missouri.
WHEREAS, Section
262.900 RSMo (the “UAZ Act”), authorizes the City to establish various types of
urban agricultural zones throughout the City for the purposes of promoting the
local production of produce or other agricultural products, raising and
processing of livestock or poultry, and sale of predominantly locally grown
foods on blighted land; and
WHEREAS, the UAZ
Act authorizes the City to offer certain economic incentives; and
WHEREAS, the UAZ
Act provides the City broad discretion in determining which urban agricultural
zone projects should be implemented and the duration of the incentives; and
WHEREAS, the
City desires to codify standards to guide the City’s staff in implementing the
UAZ Act and ensuring that the desired outcomes are attained, which outcomes
include, but are not limited to, redeveloping or reusing idle and/or blighted
urban properties, promoting innovation in agriculture and sustainable land use
practices, eliminating food deserts, creating urban agriculture employment
opportunities, expanding local agriculture-related business, and improving
access to locally grown, processed and marketed healthy foods; and
WHEREAS, the
Urban Agricultural Zone Advisory Commission as established by Ordinance No.
130983, As Amended, met for the purposes of studying these issues and making
its recommendation to the City Council by way of this ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the
City Council believes that this should be but the first step in incentivizing
urban agriculture and that additional incentives should be considered and used
to further the desired outcomes set forth herein; and
WHEREAS, the
City Council would be supportive of amendments to the UAZ Act that would
authorize additional incentives and provide for a single urban agricultural zone
board in lieu of multiple UAZ-specific urban agricultural zone boards, and
which single board would serve as a central coordinating and facilitating
entity for urban agriculture projects; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE
COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That
Chapter 74, Code of Ordinances of the City of Kansas City, Missouri, is hereby
amended by adding a new Article VI, to read as follows:
Sec. 74-200. Title of article.
This article
shall be known as the Urban Agricultural Zone ordinance.
Sec. 74-201. Definitions.
(a) The following
words, terms and phrases, when used in this Article, shall have the meaning
ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a
different meaning:
(1)
Agricultural products – an agricultural, horticultural,
viticultural, or vegetable product, growing of grapes that will be processed
into wine, bees, honey, fish or other aquacultural product, planting seed,
livestock, a livestock product, a forestry product, poultry or a poultry
product, either in its natural or processed stated, that has been produced,
processed or otherwise had value added to it in Missouri.
(2)
Blighted area – an area of the City which the City Council
determines that by reason of age, obsolescence, inadequate, or outmoded design
or physical deterioration has become an economic and social liability, and that
such conditions are conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, crime or
inability to pay reasonable taxes.
(3)
Director – the Director of City Development or his designee
appointed for purposes of performing any obligation assigned to the director by
this Article.
(4)
Grower UAZ – a UAZ that is (1) a qualifying small business
approved by the Missouri Department of Agriculture, unless otherwise exempted
as provided in Section 74-208 of this Article, and (2) engaged in growing
produce; producing value added agricultural products; raising laying hens (not
to exceed 50); raising broiler chickens (not to exceed 650); raising cattle,
calves, sheep, swine, ratite birds including but not limited to ostrich and
emu, llamas, alpaca, buffalo, elk documented as obtained from a legal source
and not from the wild, goats, or rabbits raised in confinement for human
consumption (not to exceed 30 collectively); or raising aquatic products as
defined by Section 277.024, RSMo (no limit).
(5)
Locally grown – an agricultural product that was grown or raised
in one or more of the following counties as dictated by the county in which the
UAZ is located:
Jackson County,
MO UAZ: Jackson County, MO; Clay County, MO; Ray
County, MO; Lafayette County, MO; Johnson County, MO; Cass
County, MO; Wyandotte County, KS; and Johnson County, KS.
Platte County, MO UAZ: Platte County, MO; Buchanan County,
MO; Clinton County, MO; Clay County, MO; Wyandotte County, KS; Leavenworth
County, KS; and Atchison County, KS.
Clay
County, MO UAZ: Clay County, MO; Platte County, MO; Clinton County,
MO; Ray County, MO; Jackson County, MO; and Wyandotte County,
KS.
Cass County, MO UAZ: Cass County, MO; Jackson County, MO;
Johnson County, MO; Henry County, MO; Bates County, MO; Miami County, KS; and
Johnson County, KS.
(6)
Processing UAZ – a UAZ that (1) meets federal and state
processing laws and standards, (2) is a qualifying small business approved by
the Missouri Department of Agriculture, and that (3) processes, for human
consumption, any one or more of the following and which shall have been located
in the State of Missouri or within 250 miles of the Processing UAZ for not less
than ninety (90) consecutive calendar days or the entirety of its life,
whichever is shorter, immediately preceding slaughter: Any domesticated bird
intended for human consumption, cattle, calves, sheep, swine, ratite birds
including but not limited to ostrich and emu, aquatic products as defined by
Section 277.024, RSMo, llamas, alpaca, buffalo, elk documented as obtained from
a legal source and not from the wild, goats, or rabbits raised in confinement
for human consumption.
(7)
Qualifying small business – a business meeting the smallest size
standard applicable to any financial assistance program as established by 13
CFR 121.301.
(8)
UAZ Act – Section 262.900, RSMo, as the same may be amended from
time to time.
(9)
UAZ eligible area – any area located wholly within the
corporate boundaries of the City of Kansas City, Missouri.
(10)
Underutilized urban parcel – a parcel of land that has
been:
a.
vacant or had less than thirty-five percent (35%) of the real property
and improvements thereon, if any, utilized to their highest and best use for at
least three (3) continuous years; or
b.
a lot owned by the City and which the City has identified as being
available for urban agriculture use; or
c.
an economically obsolescent, outdated or failing parcel of land, and
which is either:
i.
Located in a census tract or within one mile of a census tract
having a poverty rate of twenty percent (20%) or greater or a median family
income at or below eighty percent (80%) of the Kansas City Metropolitan
Statistical Area’s median family income as measured by the most recent American
Community Survey; or
ii.
Located in a census tract in which at least five hundred (500)
persons or thirty-three percent (33%) of the population live more than one mile
from a supermarket or large grocery store as measured by the most recent
American Community Survey.
(11)
Urban agricultural zone (UAZ) – an area containing one or
more Grower UAZs, Processing UAZs, Vending UAZs, or any combination thereof.
(12)
Value added agricultural products – any product or
products that are the result of:
a.
Using an agricultural product grown in Missouri to produce a meat
or dairy product, intended for human consumption, in Missouri;
b.
A change in the physical state or form of the original agricultural
product;
c.
An agricultural product grown in Missouri which has had its value
enhanced by special production methods such as organically grown products; or
d.
A physical segregation of a commodity or agricultural product grown in
Missouri that enhances its value such as identity preserved marketing systems.
(13)
Vending UAZ – a UAZ that (1) is able to accept food stamps under
the provisions of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as a form of
payment, (2) is a qualifying small business approved by the Missouri Department
of Agriculture for a UAZ vendor license, and that (3) sells no less than
seventy-five percent (75%) locally grown produce, locally grown value added
agricultural products, or locally grown edible portion or part of any
domesticated bird intended for human consumption, cattle, calves, sheep, swine,
ratite birds including but not limited to ostrich and emu, aquatic products as
defined by Section 277.024, RSMo, llamas, alpaca, buffalo, elk documented as
obtained from a legal source and not from the wild, goats, or rabbits raised in
confinement for human consumption.
Section 74-202. Location of
UAZ
A UAZ shall
fall, in whole or in part, within the UAZ eligible area and include one or more
underutilized urban parcels within its boundaries.
Sec. 74-203. Application.
(a) The application
to establish a UAZ shall be in such form as the Director may elect to require,
but shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(1)
An identification of the type(s) of UAZ the applicant is seeking to
establish.
(2)
An identification of the specific agricultural products that the applicant
seeks to grow, process or vend.
(3)
The number of jobs anticipated to be created.
(4)
The duration of the ad valorem tax abatement being requested.
(5)
Verification of Missouri Department of Agriculture approval, if
applicable.
(6)
Confirmation that the applicant currently possesses the ability to
control the site through ownership or leasehold interest.
(7)
A business plan containing sufficient information to enable a meaningful
consideration of the proposed UAZ’s viability.
(8)
Such financial records as may be required for purposes of establishing
that the applicant is a qualifying small business and has a viable plan of
financing the implementation of the UAZ.
(9)
Identification of the site improvements the applicant proposes to make
and a timeline for the same.
(10) Identification
of those factors that the applicant reasonably believes support a determination
of blight and substantiating documentation demonstrating the presence of such
factors;
(11) Written
consent of the owners of all the real property included within the proposed
UAZ; and
(12) If
the applicant is proposing to establish a Vendor UAZ, documentation that the
applicant currently possesses a UAZ vendor license and the ability to accept
food stamps under the provisions of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program as a form of payment in selling products to consumers.
(13) An
identification of the objectives the proposed UAZ seeks to further, which shall
include one or more of the following: redeveloping or reusing idle and/or
blighted urban properties, promoting innovation in agriculture and sustainable
land use practices, eliminating food deserts, creating urban agriculture
employment opportunities, expanding local agriculture-related business,
engaging in community outreach to promote healthier lifestyles and safe and
organic gardening practices, and improving access to locally grown, processed
and marketed healthy foods.
(b) The City or such
entity as the City may elect to contract with for purposes of assisting it in
matters of economic development shall review the application, determine its
sufficiency and apprise the applicant of any changes that are required as a
condition of its further processing or approval.
Sec. 74-204. Joint
applications permissible.
One or more
businesses may submit a joint application to establish a UAZ that is proposed
to include more than one specific type of UAZ. The application shall identify
each business by reference to a specific type of UAZ. The sufficiency of the
application shall be separately determined with regard to each specific type of
UAZ.
Sec. 74-205. Mixed-use UAZ.
(a) A UAZ shall not
be required to include more than one specific type of UAZ for approval.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a business may elect to apply for designation as
more than one specific type of UAZ, and the requirements applicable to the
specific type of UAZ shall be applied in determining which designations, if
any, may be approved. The sufficiency of the application shall be separately
determined with regard to each specific type of UAZ.
(b) The non-existence
or denial of status as a specific type of UAZ shall not impair a business in
its lawful operation. For purposes of illustration only, and without
limitation, a business approved as a Grower UAZ but otherwise not seeking
approval or qualified to be approved as a Processing UAZ or Vending UAZ shall
not be precluded from lawfully processing or selling its agricultural products.
Sec. 74-206. Prioritization
of Grower UAZs; excluded activities.
(a) The City
encourages the use of Grower UAZs in a manner that primarily supports the
expanded availability of healthy foods intended for human consumption. Uses
which would result in the production of non-edible agricultural products may be
permitted but shall be subjected to increased scrutiny consistent with the
objectives of this Article and may receive a shorter term of ad valorem
property tax abatement, if approved.
(b) The
following uses shall be excluded within any Grower UAZ:
(1)
The raising of fish or livestock not intended for human consumption.
Sec. 74-207. Seventy-five
percent locally grown; Vending UAZs.
(a) Not less than
seventy-five percent (75%) of the agricultural products sold by a Vending UAZ
shall be locally grown.
(b) Value added agricultural
products shall be regarded as being locally grown only if not less than
seventy-five percent (75%) of any components therein were locally grown.
(c) For purposes of
determining whether the seventy-five percent (75%) threshold has been satisfied,
sales shall be measured by the volume or weight of the agricultural products
sold consistent with industry standards.
Sec. 74-208. Small business;
Missouri Department of Agriculture approval.
Notwithstanding
Section 74-201(a)(4) of this Article, a Grower UAZ shall not be required to be
a small business approved by the Missouri Department of Agriculture provided
the UAZ includes one or more Processing UAZs or Vending UAZs, each of which
satisfies such requirements.
Sec. 74-209. Blight required.
(a) No
UAZ shall be established unless the area included therein is a blighted area.
(b) The existence of
blighting factors shall be verifiable and substantiated by either a blight
study provided by a third party or by other data sufficient for such purposes.
Existing blight declarations under any other provision of law or blight studies
related thereto may be utilized for such purposes to the extent a predominance
of the blighting factors identified therein continue to exist.
(c) The determination
of blight may be made at any time prior to receipt of an application to
establish a UAZ or contemporaneous with the ordinance establishing the urban
agricultural zone board provided for by Section 74-210 of this Article.
Sec. 74-210. Establishment of
UAZ board; hearing.
(a) If an
application is determined to be eligible for UAZ designation under the
provision of this Article and the UAZ Act, then the Director shall introduce an
ordinance to establish an urban agricultural zone board. If blight has not
yet been determined, such ordinance shall also include provisions for making
such determination.
(b) Upon approval of
the ordinance, the urban agricultural zone board shall be deemed established
and its members shall be appointed in such manner and for such terms as
provided by the UAZ Act.
(c) The urban
agricultural zone board shall fix a time and place for public hearing and
notify each taxing jurisdiction located wholly or partially within the
boundaries of the proposed UAZ. The board shall send, by certified mail, a
notice of such hearing to all taxing districts and political subdivisions in
the area to be affected and shall publish notice of such hearing in a newspaper
of general circulation in the area to be affected by the designation at least
twenty days prior to the hearing but not more than thirty days prior to the
hearing. Such notice shall state the time, location, date and purpose of the
hearing. At the public hearing any interested person or affected taxing
district may file with the board written objections to, or comments on, and may
be heard orally in respect to, any issues embodied in the notice. The board
shall hear and consider all protests, objections, comments, and other evidence
presented at the hearing. The hearing may be continued to another date without
further notice other than a motion to be entered upon the minutes fixing the
time and place of the subsequent hearing.
Sec. 74-211. Ordinance
designating UAZ.
(a) An ordinance
designating a UAZ shall not be introduced or considered until the public
hearing shall have concluded and the urban agricultural zone board shall have
made its recommendation. The City Council shall, if it deems designation of the
UAZ advisable, adopt an ordinance providing for such designation. The
ordinance shall specify the maximum duration of the tax abatement. If the
real property upon which the UAZ will be located is leased, the term of the tax
abatement shall not extend beyond the term of the lease as the same may be
amended. In no event shall the period of tax abatement exceed twenty-five (25)
years.
(b) The City Council
shall have the discretion to deny or approve such designation with such term of
abatement as it shall deem proper notwithstanding the recommendation of the
urban agricultural zone board.
Sec. 74-212. Tax Incentives.
The portion of
real property used as a UAZ designated by the City Council shall not be subject
to assessment or payment of ad valorem taxes on real property for such period
of time as was specified by the ordinance provided for by Section 74-211 of
this Article, except to such extent and in such amount as may be imposed upon
such real property during such period, as was determined by the assessor of the
county in which such real property is located, in an amount not greater than
the amount of taxes due and payable thereon during the calendar year preceding
the calendar year during which the UAZ was designated.
Sec. 74-213. Water
Incentives; Grower UAZs.
A business
within any Grower UAZ shall pay such water rates and costs as would otherwise
be applicable to such business, provided however that the Director of Water
Services may, subject to the availability of funds for such purposes, establish
and administer, or cause to be administered, a program whereby a business
within a Grower UAZ may apply for and, if approved, receive funds that may be
applied by such business to offset any amounts otherwise due.
Sec. 74-214. Sales taxes.
Local sales
taxes received from the sale of any agricultural product within the boundaries
of a UAZ shall be directed, deposited and utilized in accordance with the UAZ
Act.
Sec. 74-215. Annual
reporting.
(a) Those businesses
within a UAZ shall submit an annual report to the Director no later than May 1
of each calendar year. The report shall be in such form as the businesses
within the UAZ may elect to submit, but shall contain sufficient information to
enable the Director to determine whether the businesses within the UAZ complied
with the requirements imposed on them by this Article and the UAZ Act and
whether they continue to maintain eligibility under the standards applicable to
their specific type of UAZ. The failure to submit an annual report within
sixty (60) calendar days of its due date shall constitute grounds to terminate
a UAZ, in whole or in part.
(b) The receipt and
acceptance of an annual report shall not act as a waiver by City of any
violation of this Article or the UAZ Act nor shall it preclude the City from
enforcing any clawback, terminating a UAZ, or taking any other action permitted
under law with regard to a UAZ.
Sec. 74-216. Clawback.
If the Director
determines that any business has violated the provisions of this Article or the
UAZ Act in such a manner as to render the real property ineligible for the ad
valorem property tax abatement, the City shall be entitled to recoup from the
business the entirety of the ad valorem property taxes that would have
otherwise been due and payable but for their abatement. Any sums collected
shall be distributed pro rata to the relevant taxing jurisdictions. This
provision shall not be construed in manner that would limit any other lawful
remedies otherwise available to City.
Sec. 74-217. Ongoing review.
(a) The Director shall
review the operations within a UAZ no less than once every five years
commencing with the designation of a UAZ, or with such additional frequency as
the Director may elect to require. Those businesses within the UAZ shall make
their records available within ten (10) days of written notice.
(b) The Director
shall have the right to conduct on-site inspections of any business within the
UAZ during regular business hours for purposes of reviewing its compliance with
this Article and the UAZ Act.
Sec. 74-218. Termination.
The designation
as a UAZ and the benefits flowing therefrom shall expire at such time specified
in the ordinance designating the UAZ, which period shall not exceed twenty-five
(25) years. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City Council may, by
ordinance, dissolve the UAZ, in whole or in part, at any point in time if it
determines that the UAZ, or any portion thereof, is not in compliance with the
requirements of the UAZ Act or the provisions of this Article, or is otherwise no
longer in the City’s best interests. The approval of a UAZ shall not create
any legally cognizable interest in the continuation of a UAZ or any portion
thereof.
Sec. 74-219. Laws applicable.
A UAZ shall
comply with all federal, state and local laws applicable to the business
activities engaged in by the UAZ. Nothing in this Article shall be construed
as waiving or otherwise modifying any requirement imposed by any other
provision of law.
Sec. 74-220. Severability.
If any portion
of this Article is held to be invalid, that portion is deemed severed from the
other provisions and the remainder of this Article shall be valid.
_____________________________________________________
Approved
as to form and legality:
_______________________________
Brian
T. Rabineau
Assistant
City Attorney