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Kansas City council expected to vote on landfill moratorium

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A developer’s plans to add a landfill in south Kansas City could be put on hold after countless complaints from people who live in other nearby communities.

Members of the Kansas City council are expected to vote on a moratorium later this week. If approved, the moratorium would prevent the city from issuing permits or approving zoning for facilities like the proposed landfill until June 2024.

Communities across Jackson County have already passed resolutions opposing the project.

“No modern city is approving a landfill within their borders and putting it in population areas,” Rick Meyers, who lives a mile from the site, said.

The Jackson County Health Department says KC Recycling and Waste Solutions is the company that wants to build the landfill, even though the company has not yet applied for a permit with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The proposed landfill sits on 430 acres just south of Missouri 150-Highway. While located in Kansas City, Missouri, it is less than a mile from a Raymore neighborhood. The property is also within two miles of Summit Pointe Elementary School in the Lee’s Summit School District.

“We’re here to fight for our homes, for our livelihoods, for our children, for our schools,” Hanah Ammons, Lee’s Summit resident, said.

The moratorium would also prevent the expansion of waste facilities in Kansas City, Missouri, that are already in operation. The facilities would be allowed to renew permits.

“Is that who we’re going to be or are we going to go back 50 years and put a landfill in the middle of a population area?” Meyers said.

Concerned homeowners say Tuesday’s council meeting was a step in the right direction but believe there’s still more work to be done.

“If that land turns into a solid waste facility, 600 kids are going to be exposed to trash, debris, toxic gases every day at recess and so that’s a huge deal,” Ammons.

Missouri lawmakers proposed legislation preventing any landfill from operating within a mile of a community during this year’s session. The legislation would have killed the project. The bill passed the Missouri House, but did not make it out of the senate.