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[COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR] ORDINANCE NO. 230029
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Sponsor: Councilmember Katheryn Shields
Changing the name of W. 43rd Terrace to Steptoe Street from Jefferson Street on the west to Washington Street on the east; waiving certain requirements of Section 88-605-03 of the City’s Zoning and Land Development Code; reducing the Contingent Appropriation by $50,000.00 in the General Fund and appropriating that amount to the Public Works-Street Sign account of the General Fund; and recognizing this ordinance as having an accelerated effective date.
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WHEREAS, the Steptoe Neighborhood was an antebellum African American neighborhood roughly Jefferson to Wornall Road, from 42nd to 44th Streets and this African American neighborhood was an island surrounded by working class white neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, the heart of the Steptoe Neighborhood was at the corner of W. 43rd Terrace and Pennsylvania, with Steptoe spelled out in blue and white tile letters in the sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, three remaining residences at the southeast corner of 43rd Terrace, and Pennsylvania were demolished on June 21, 2022, without prior notice to the Plaza Westport Neighborhood Association which encompasses the majority of the former Steptoe Neighborhood, for the purpose of creating a surface parking lot; and
WHEREAS, such demolition galvanized the formation of the Steptoe Lives Coalition to identify and implement action steps to recognize the former Steptoe Neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri; the initial organizations that coalesced around these action steps include the Plaza Westport Neighborhood Association, St. James Missionary Baptist Church that was founded 152 years ago and remains located at 508 W. 43rd Street and continues to conduct services today, the Historic Kansas City Foundation, Westport Presbyterian Church, and others (“Coalition”); and
WHEREAS, one of the action steps identified by the Coalition was to rename W. 43rd Terrace, from Jefferson Street, on the west, to Washington Street, on the east, to Steptoe Street; one could categorize it as a “reclaiming” that name, as that is the name that street bore when platted in 1857 as a part of Pate’s Addition, but the City of Kansas City pursuant to Ordinance No. 3083, passed by the City Council on April 3,1933, took away that name as a part of a standardization of street names to numbered streets; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to accept the Coalition’s recommendation and rename W. 43rd Terrace, from Jefferson Street, on the west, to Washington Street, on the east, to Steptoe Street as the physical legacy of the Steptoe Neighborhood is being lost, and the entire Steptoe Neighborhood may vanish, unless steps are taken to recognize and honor that legacy; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. The name of W. 43rd Terrace, from Jefferson Street on the west, and Washington Street on the east, is changed and renamed to Steptoe Street.
Section 2. That the requirements of Section 88-605-0, Street Naming Committee, of the City’s Zoning and Land Development Municipal Code, are hereby waived.
Section 3. That existing traffic ordinances on this street will remain in effect and will not be affected by the street name designation.
Section 4. That the appropriation in the following account of the General Fund is hereby reduced by the following amount:
23-1000-179990-B Contingent Appropriation $50,000.00
Section 5. That the sum of $50,000.00 is appropriated from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the General Fund in the following account of the General Fund:
23-1000-892030-C Steptoe Street Renaming $50,000.00
Section 6. The funds in the Steptoe Street Renaming Account shall be used for replacement of street signs, and the addition of other signs commemorating the Steptoe Neighborhood in and about that historic neighborhood, and installation of blue and white tiles bearing the name Steptoe in the sidewalks at the key intersections of Jefferson, Pennsylvania and Washington.
Section 7. That this ordinance is recognized as an ordinance with an accelerated effective date as provided by Section 503(a)(3)(C) of the City Charter in that it appropriates money and shall take effect in accordance with that section.
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I hereby certify that there is a balance, otherwise unencumbered, to the credit of the appropriation to which the foregoing expenditure is to be charged, and a cash balance, otherwise unencumbered, in the treasury, to the credit of the fund from which payment is to be made, each sufficient to meet the obligation hereby incurred.
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Tammy L. Queen
Director of Finance
Approved as to form:
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Lana K. Torczon
Senior Associate City Attorney