Boulevard &Parkway Standards of Kansas City, Missouri January 2010 “The system presented in 1893 may be considered properly in two divisions, boulevards and parks. These divisions, however, were inseparable. It was not contemplated that Kansas City should have boulevards without parks or parks without boulevards.” George Kessler, “Report of the Board of Park Commissioners”, Kansas City, Missouri, 1909 Acknowledgements BOARD OF PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSIONERS Former Current Sandra Doolin Aust John Fierro Bob Lewellen Tyrone Aiken Timothy O. Kristl Aggie Stackhaus William M. Washington Ajamu K. Webster John Fierro Mark L. McHenry Director of Parks, Recreation & Boulevards Steve Lampone Deputy Director of Parks, Recreation & Boulevards Richard Coleman Park Planning & Design Services Division Manager Parks, Recreation & Boulevards Staff Special thanks to Jade Liska, Dona Boley, Mel Solomon, Jonathan Kemper and Daniel Serda Table of Contents Section Historical Introduction .............................................................................................................100 Land Use Standards ...............................................................................................................200 Boulevard Standards .............................................................................................................300 Parkway Standards ................................................................................................................400 Landscape & Aesthetics Guidelines .....................................................................................500 Traffic Design & Engineering Guidelines ............................................................................600 Appendix .............................................................................................................A-100 – A-900 Boulevard Examples ............................................................................................................................. A-100 Parkway Examples ................................................................................................................................ A-200 Park Roads and Streets ....................................................................................................................... A-300 Boulevard and Parkway Inventory Listing ........................................................................................ A-400 Park Board Adopted Sections ............................................................................................................ A-500 Defining Characteristics of Historic Parkways and Boulevards .................................................... A-600 Zoning Section 80-805 Use Groups and Categories .................................................................... A-700 Forestry Operations Approved and Restricted Tree List ............................................................... A-800 Approval Process for Waivers and Modifications .......................................................................... A-900 The color photographs included in this document were taken by the consultant team. The historic, black and white photographs came from the Kansas City Missouri Parks, Recreation and Boulevards Department and the book “A Legacy of Design, An Historical Survey of the Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Boulevards System, 1893-1940”. iv The Paseo at 10th Street looking north toward The Pergola Introduction Historical Kansas City is fortunate to have a strong legacy of open space preservation largely dependent on a unique and historic Parks and Boulevard System. The historic Parks and Boulevard System is a defining feature of Kansas City’s character. Protecting Kansas City’s historic identity while allowing the boulevard and parkway network to respond positively to future demands is the challenge. The Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners takes seriously its responsibility to augment the system as the city grows. Appendix A-600 gives additional historical information on the system. The purpose of this document is to preserve, protect, and extend the Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Boulevard System as first envisioned by the first board of Park Commissioners and George Edward Kessler in 1893. 100-1 Philosophy Background “The development of Kansas City’s Recreation Commissioners and the city as a interlocking system of boulevards and whole, to preserve the historic integrity of parkways [at the turn of the 20th century] that system to the extent possible. Part of enhanced virtually all elements of urban life the responsibility rests in the assurance that then, as it still does today. It remade an the system itself will remain distinct and that ugly boomtown, giving it miles of graceful travel on and proximity to a boulevard or boulevards and parkways flanked by parkway will convey its special status. desirable residential sections, acres of In addition to preservation of the historic ruggedly beautiful parkland dotted with portions of the system, unity is established recreational improvements, and several by encouraging the development of new neighborhood playgrounds in crowded boulevards and parkways which, as often districts. Its boulevards helped define the as possible, mirror the unique and distinct natural demarcations among commercial, qualities of the system as a whole. Therefore, industrial, and residential sections, and were Kessler’s criteria for boulevard routes remain, a boon to neighborhood stability in the to a great extent, the current requirements: years before effective zoning. It reached into every part of the city, establishing unity • The routes must offer good grades through its own pervasiveness. In later years • They must be located in a naturally another set of city planners would find the . [attractive] locality . City Beautiful architects had willed them a boulevard grid to ease the mounting loads • The lands that abut upon such boulevards of automobile traffic, had pointed the way must be of a character satisfactory and to greater use of the park and boulevard suitable for good residences system’s recreational opportunities, and • There must be no costly natural or artificial had left to them a precious legacy of urban obstacles to remove [in order] to permit beauty.” This sentiment expressed by William proper widening of the streets selected Wilson in The City Beautiful Movement in Parkways, with many of the same Kansas City still rings true today. considerations, continue to be built as It is by way of honoring the sense of connectors with parks and other boulevards “unity through . pervasiveness” that and parkways. They also continue to guides, in many respects, the formulation provide opportunities for recreation with of these Boulevard and Parkway Design playgrounds, pools, baseball fields, tennis Standards. As stewards of the original courts as well as bicycle and pedestrian Kessler Boulevards and Parkways System, it trail options. is an obligation of the Board of Parks and 100-2 Introduction to Standards and Guidelines The standards, as adopted by the Board of • Boulevard and Parkway Examples Parks and Recreation Commissioners, are • A comprehensive listing of properties owned set out in this document by type of roadway by the Parks and Recreation Department, (boulevard, parkway, park roads and including boulevards, parkways, park roads streets), with notations of design standards and streets. that apply to each roadway type. The standards noted as Boulevards and Parkway • Guidelines on the use of traffic signals on the boulevards and parkways, as adopted Standards are generally those which by the Board of Parks and Recreation differ from the general requirements used Commissioners, June 20, 2006 by Resolution by the City of Kansas City Public Works #27762. Department. In addition, in keeping with the special nature of the park properties, there • Information about the historic nature of the is a discussion about use of landscaping, system and further distinctions between boulevards and parkways, as designed. and other decorative aspects, along these roadways. These planning and design criteria set out expectations related to preservation of Furthermore, there is a series of land use the existing system as well as appropriate criteria which differ from the underlying expansion of the system. Assessment of the zoning in areas which abut a boulevard, existing system served as part of the basis parkway or city park land. These are set for the criteria. out in the land use section of this document. Finally, there is an extensive appendix to the document which includes information to assist in implementing the design and land use portions of the standards. The appendix includes: May 22, 2007, per Resolution #28073, the Board of Parks and Recreation approved the Boulevard and Parkway Standards approach, which sets out engineering standards and aesthetic considerations as the framework for preserving the historic portions of the system and for creating a foundation for further development. 100-3 100-4 Northwest corner at the intersection of Gillham Road and Armour Boulevard looking west Standards Land Use The land use policies regarding private and city staff on the revision of the City of and public property adjacent to parks, Kansas City zoning code. In consideration of boulevards and parkways is an issue that that effort, numerous references will tie the has never been comprehensively addressed Boulevard and Parkway Standards and the in one document. As