This event was the third in a four-part Housing Policy Innovation Series (HPIS), which provides local officials, policymakers and housing stakeholders a chance to explore strategies for addressing housing challenges in their communities. Learn about findings from the first two HPIS events — Pre-Approved Building Plans and Prefab and Modular Homes.
On Mon, Sept. 28, 2026, the Kansas City Regional Housing Partnership (RHP), in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City and United Community Services of Johnson County, led a two-part, interactive event explaining the how, what and why of missing middle housing types and the pivotal role that modernization of zoning codes plays in their integration across the Kansas City region.
Local zoning codes have largely blocked the construction of “missing middle” housing — from duplexes to cottage courts to townhomes — for decades. However, these housing typologies offer a range of benefits to address the housing challenges our region is facing today, such as increased affordability, improved walkability and better neighborhood integration.
For local officials, policymakers and housing stakeholders interested in constructing more middle housing and wondering where to start, navigating zoning codes can feel daunting. Here's what leaders from across the region shared about how they modernized zoning codes in the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas; the Englewood Arts District in Independence, Missouri; and the city of Joplin, Missouri.
Presentations and panel discussion
Hannah Mitchell, MARC regional housing program manager, welcomed event attendees and kicked off the event by defining the often-ambiguous term “missing middle housing.” She defined the term as referring to house-scale buildings with multiple units in walkable neighborhoods situated between single-family homes and high-rise apartment buildings in both form and size and, frequently, affordability.
While these medium-density housing types offer opportunities for increased housing variety and affordability, they are largely not being built across the Kansas City region due to restrictive zoning codes and other barriers.
Alyssa Marcy, Long-Range Community Planner, Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas
Alyssa Marcy dove deeper into this topic with a focus on the Kansas City region, specifically Wyandotte County.
“Zoning code rewrites do not come from nowhere,” Marcy said. “There are policy documents that guide the direction of zoning codes.”
Marcy went on to explain how the PlanKCK Citywide Comprehensive Plan, adopted by the Unified Government on Nov. 30, 2023, was used as an overarching policy framework to create a robust housing market with attainable options for all residents.
This led to a comprehensive update of KCK's zoning code (Municipal Code Chapter 27) to implement the vision and strategic goals identified in the comprehensive plan, pulling in policy goals and guiding policies from the following:
- The Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), which identifies safe and affordable housing as a priority area.
- Priorities set by the Board of Commissioners and mayor's office.
- The Capital Improvement Plan.
- Regional partners, like Habitat KC.
Marcy talked about the state of housing in Kansas City, Kansas, and the existing conditions. According to data pulled from the CHIP, more than 18,000 of the 60,000 households in Wyandotte County are cost-burdened, and 23,000 of these households can't afford more than $400 per month in rent.
When their health department received a grant from the Health Forward Foundation, they carved out some money to do a housing constraints analysis, allowing them to look at what in their code is preventing developers from building housing.
The housing constraints analysis reviewed four residential districts, predominantly in older urban core and vacant/land bank lots, and reflected six barriers to housing development, such as dimensional development standards, parking requirements, shared living arrangements, etc.
"We have to address the fact that housing is aging, because as we've seen a lot of it [houses] get demolished, now we have vacancies on the inside... We also have missing language for types of housing. We don't have any language about tiny homes, container homes," Marcy said, explaining how the transitional housing facility made up of tiny homes called Eden Village had to navigate several loopholes because the Unified Government doesn't have language about that type of development in their code.
SB 418, the By-Right Housing Development Act, took effect upon publication in the Kansas Statute Book on July 1, 2026, to address statewide shortages and promote affordability by streamlining permitting for housing development.
According to Marcy, the Unified Government used SB 418 as an opportunity to start the conversation about first allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) with the aim that it will open the door for more discussions about allowing different types of housing so they can be as flexible as possible about meeting the goals for SB 418.
Teresa Dorsch, Englewood Arts District in Independence, Missouri
Next, Teresa Dorsch discussed the process of zoning in the Englewood Arts District in Independence, Missouri. Particularly, how Grassroots of Western Independence, a community-led group made up of Independence residents, worked with their local city officials to get a zoning overlay to be able to allow missing middle housing to be built in their district.
She explained that for neighborhoods with older homes, like the Englewood neighborhood, many homes were purchased for a low price by out-of-town investors because they needed maintenance, and then minimal maintenance happened, leading to more dilapidation and house fires.
"We have over 200 vacant lots in our area," Dorsch said. "And the area I'm talking about is about 3,700 properties."
Grassroots of Western Independence met weekly to talk about what could be done to catalyze the neighborhood. As a member of the group, Dorsch met with them as well. They decided to focus on the uniqueness of the Englewood Arts District being designated through city code and zoning as an arts district and focus more on arts in the area as a tool to improve tourism and community pride.
However, the arts district city code was only designated for the commercial strip of buildings. They decided to take a holistic approach so they could "advocate for housing opportunities for the folks that already live there to either stay there, become a homeowner themselves or rent, along with bringing others into the area and bringing density back into Englewood," Dorsch said.
To achieve that goal, they walked the neighborhoods, took metrics of what they could see and worked with a volunteer group that walked door to door to have conversations with neighbors. Then they created a map that they posted on the City of Independence's website showing the differences between homes that need love versus homes in good or great condition.
That work gave them the metrics and data needed to have real conversations with the city and their councilperson about older, overlooked neighborhoods. To address these challenges in Englewood, they landed on overlay zoning, which Dorsch defines as a method to add special rules and opportunities for one specific area while the city's regular zoning stays in place.
According to Dorsch, since overlay zoning can be a specific area, zoning can be made unique to that area's needs. Plus, it's easier to potentially pass it through the zoning process because it's a small area, meaning there's less concern about changes hugely impacting the city. ADUs, smaller homes and cottage/cluster communities are included in the Englewood neighborhood's overlay zoning in Independence.
Modernizing the zoning code required the following:
- Partnering with the city so Dorsch could write the code with the guidance of city staff.
- Weekly meetings with their councilperson.
- Meetings with the city's development director.
- Open lawn community meetings and larger town halls to address community members’ questions, as well as one-on-one meetings with those who were concerned about the changes.
Dorsch is hoping to work with the Truman Heritage Habitat for Humanity, Community Services League or other developers who build panel houses to develop in the vacant lots in the neighborhood. She mentioned that there are already a few new builds happening across Englewood and noted that the largest win is that people know about Englewood and they have attention from builders, developers and organizations.
Thomas Walters, Community Development Planner, Joplin, Missouri
Thomas Walters ended the presentation portion of the event by discussing missing middle in the city of Joplin, Missouri.
After the devasting EF-5 tornado that hit the city in May of 2011, one-third of housing stock in Joplin was lost along with many affordable and middle-income housing. The city was faced with the challenge of rebuilding this stock over the years following the natural disaster.
"We've also since then had zoning code updates and other fundamental changes in what we've been doing, policy aside, that has then had further immeasurable outcomes," Walters said. "The market we have now, the market we're operating in, is one we created by our own recovery policy."
Walters explained that the most impactful policy change that was made in the recovery effort was the Joplin Homebuyer Assistance Program (JHAP), a single-family down payment assistance program developed and implemented by the city that was designed to get families into newly-built homes quickly.
"What we did is we created an environment where the developers knew there would be a buyer at the end. If they saw the writing on the wall, they could scale up, take on a bunch of debt and start building like they never have before. You're guaranteed to have that buyer at the end," Walters said.
According to Walters, Joplin’s housing stock was fully recovered within five years, at least as far as numbers. For affordability, they're at the point where they're keeping in line with the projected growth rate prior to the natural disaster. He explained that now they've adopted walkable neighborhood standards in their code and allow detached garages and ADUs.
Walters noted that some builders need someone to demonstrate to them what's possible. The City of Joplin found that nonprofit developers were often willing to take risks and try new types of development that demonstrated the range of possibilities for what could be built in their city. Joplin partnered with their local Habitat for Humanity affiliate to achieve this, and their work inspired other builders to follow suit.
"Once you get your zoning code updated, really do your code review and make sure things make sense," Walters said. "Go through those tax amendments and get your feedback from the builders. Make sure those make sense."
What's Next?
After each speaker presented individually, the speakers came together along with Mitchell as the moderator to answer audience questions.
One of the audience members asked, “How can everyday people know more about zoning and interact with the people who are deciding it? And if advocacy groups or nonprofits wanted to move in this direction, what should be the first steps, the best place to go, to get more information and to make the changes you're looking for?”
Responses from the panelists included:
- Break down the bullet points in a way that's digestible and call out the positive benefits.
- Be prepared to dissipate some of the fears people might have by having community meetings and sitting down with people who are upset to try to figure out specifically why they’re upset.
- Tap help from community partners to talk to the community, including your own staff, and educate them on zoning so that a foundation of trust is being built.
- Attend planning and zoning committee meetings to learn about and watch the process.
