Kansas City’s Planning Department wants your comments on their recently released Draft Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy.

This document is extremely important for the economic development potential in transit corridors and around transit stations such as Streetcar and Bus Rapid Transit/MAX stations.

Transit Action Network is excited about this document since it is the missing piece in getting successful TOD. Building good transit, by itself, is not enough to get the desired economic development around transit stations and in transit corridors. Good land use policies, transit-friendly zoning codes and an incentive policy for developers are all needed. This TOD policy gets the ball rolling in the right direction.

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From the city:

“What is Transit Oriented Development (TOD)?

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is an approach to development that focuses land uses around a transit station or within a transit corridor in order to maximize access to frequent, high-quality transit and the benefits it provides. TOD is characterized by dense, compact development with a mix of uses in a pedestrian-oriented environment.

The Transit-Oriented Development Policy identifies the critical elements of a successful TOD and provides a concise program of initiatives to implement TOD in Kansas City. It is an important first step to ensure public transit investments are accompanied by new development and economic activity.”

 More Info:

For more information about the draft policy and to view the draft documents, please visit our project web page.

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The Planning Department considered similar policies from multiple cities to craft a policy it feels suits Kansas City. This policy is meant to address different levels of TOD depending on the density and economic potential of a corridor.

Please help evaluate the policy. It will lead to new zoning and development codes, which affect everyone from transit riders, homeowners, apartment/condo dwellers and large and small businesses.

Has the city taken appropriate situations, needs and groups into consideration?  How will this affect you, your group or business? Now is the time to evaluate the policy for completeness and desirability.  Now is the time to make improvements and changes.

You will find the Planning Department has put together a very extensive policy and a lot of time and effort has gone into this document.

Make sure you and your groups are comfortable with these recommendations or suggest improvements.

TAN suggests that you read the city’s questions on the KC Momentum page before reviewing the document. Since this document is long, knowing the questions before hand may help you focus on some of the main issues. Of course, you can comment beyond what the city has asked.

Provide your answers on their KC Momentum site through Aug. 28.