Council overrides Funkhouser veto, but referendum threat remains

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - The Friends of the Plaza group says it has enough signatures to start a referendum process.

They turned in more than 250 signatures to the KCMO City Clerk Thursday afternoon.

The group wants to overturn the City Council's rezoning that would allow a new office building on the Country Club Plaza. Friends of the Plaza is a coalition of individuals, business owners and advocacy groups seeking to protect the Plaza.

The "Save the Plaza" crowd vows a full fledged referendum campaign to try to overturn the council's action.

"Kansas Citians need to understand ... they (the City Council) can do this anywhere. They are going to do it in the Northland in the name of development," said Walter Guth as he held a "Save Our Plaza" sign.

Highwoods Properties, the owner of the Country Club Plaza, says it will launch a "Decline to Sign" campaign.

They're already talking with a local political consultant.

"The referendum will be something we will fight. We think the people behind it should accept the decision of two separate city councils," said Spencer Thomson, an attorney and spokesman for Highwoods.

The veto override allows the plaza project to move forward.

There was talk of a compromise, but it failed.

Council member Jan Marcason helped push the project ahead despite strong opposition by many of her constituents in the Plaza area.

"Well, there really couldn't be a compromise today. It was straight up or down vote on overriding the veto," said Marcason.

She went in and out a side door to the council chamber to avoid confronting people from the Friends of the Plaza group.

Many legal questions are ahead, including whether this type of ordinance is even subject to a referendum.

Council members Jim Glover and Scott Taylor voted against the project, pleasing the Friends of the Plaza group.

John Sharp joined them for the third vote on the actual zoning ordinance.

The controversial issue had been generating heated debate for months.

It had been rejected by the City Plan Commission. Then the proposed tenant, the Polsinelli Shugart law firm, said it was looking at other options, including a move to Kansas.

Then last week the city council brought if back to life, passing the rezoning even without a confirmed tenant.

But then former mayor Mark Funkhouser vetoed the rezoning on his final day in office.

Thursday, the new city council voted to override the veto by Funkhouser. That allows the project to move ahead on the Plaza but opponents are already passing out petitions and gathering signatures to try to force a referendum vote.

The new mayor, Sly James, was not allowed to vote on the override, even though the veto was by the previous mayor.

As for the referendum, the group had to turn in 100 signatures along with the petition paperwork. That gives the group 30 days to collect the more than 7,000 signatures needed to force a city-wide election on the issue.

Friends of the Plaza volunteers started collecting signatures last week at City Hall, while waiting for the council vote that changed the zoning.

Members say it took only a short time to gather the signatures, and that people are angry about the proposed building, which they think is too large for that location on the Country Club Plaza.

It would be build at 46th Terrace and Broadway.

Other council members say they voted in favor of the project to signal to the business community that the city is open for business.