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Small business growth on Belton's west side has been at a standstill.
"I've seen a lot of business close," said Kareen Ward, a material hauling business owner. "I think they need to start putting their focus on this side of town.”
City of Belton leadership recently adopted its 2050 Comprehensive Plan, projecting its future for the next 25 years.
According to the report, city leadership's high projection shows Belton will grow upwards of 5,000 residents in the next 25 years.
"It’s changing pretty rapidly. There's new businesses developing on 58th bringing in new life to the area," Ward said. "I hope they start doing that in this area here on North Scott.”
Part of Belton's plans for the future is to listen to business owners' concerns on North Scott Road. It's the old 71 Highway with a rich history of serving military service members at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base.
For years, business owners in the area have been limited on how to improve storefronts.
"These are old buildings on small lots," explained Joy Parrish, an accountant along North Scott Road. "It takes a lot more money to demolish a building and start over especially when you can’t build anything there once you push the building into a pile."
Parrish's accounting firm often handles business building permits and additional accounts for businesses along North Scott Road.
She says many of her clients want to improve their storefronts, but the city land code limits their ability to do so.
"It’s impossible, unfortunately, in some cases someone stepping into the shoes of an existing operator because they can’t bring the building up to existing codes," she said. "It’s a problem inviting new businesses into town."
On Wednesday night, the City of Belton held the first "Building Belton Town Hall." It consisted of a brief presentation outlining the city's plans to address the current land use code.
"We want to go ahead and start that process now," City of Belton Community Development Director Matt Wright told members of the public.
Business owners and residents were encouraged to view information boards in the council chambers, write suggestions on a sticky note and attach it to where they saw fit. There was an opportunity for one-on-one interaction with the public.
"We want to hear from the public," Wright told KSHB 41 in an interview ahead of the town hall. "We’ve obviously grown a lot over the last 30 years. We anticipate that growth will continue if not accelerate over the next 30 years.”
North Scott Road is the first phase in the project following the adoption of the 2050 Comprehensive Plan. Wright says there are businesses interested in giving their business a new look.
The area is classified as a "Service District," offering residents auto repair and contracting services, auto sales, and a few restaurants.
"We have a number of land use changes that we think will help existing businesses in the community grow and expand. But also hopefully to attract and retain new businesses," Wright said. "I think maybe our pendulum swung too far one way where maybe we were trying to overly regulate and now we’re trying to pull back some of that regulation."
Wright says working out the specifics now will help implement a long-term strategy in the future. He added that the land use code updates won't impact taxpayers as the code changes are for private use.
The city isn't only focusing on the North Scott Road corridor, it's also prioritizing preserving Belton's Old Town and creating a variety of new housing options without building five or six-story apartment buildings.
"We want to keep that small-town feel," Wright added.
For business owners like Kareen Ward, he suggests the city widen North Scott Road, two lanes on each side, and even welcome a new gas station.
"It’d be nice to have some fresh new businesses, start-ups and make this area grow a little bit more," Ward said. "There’s a lot of residents over here. It'd be nice to have a grocery store. They had one here for years, but it closed.”
According to Parrish, a large percentage of North Scott Road businesses are mom-and-pop shops. She believes the area could be a haven for entrepreneurs and return the area to the hub it once was.
"I think this is going to be a huge opportunity for people to make those improvements and enhance their current facilities," Parrish said. "What we offer is proximity to Kansas City... We can accommodate the new businesses, the start-ups, the guy with the dream, the gal with the dream that wants to come in and start something from nothing. I think that North Scott is a zone for those folks.”
The "Building Belton Town Hall" series is one of many, according to the city.
There are currently no additional town halls on the schedule in the future, but the city is still taking input from the public.
For more information on the City of Belton's 2050 Comprehensive Plan, click here.
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