Riggins v. City of Kansas City

In 1996 Loretto Redevelopment Corporation (Loretto) (defendant) proposed a redevelopment plan to the city of Kansas City (the city) (defendant) to rehabilitate and redevelop approximately six acres of property located within the city. The plan included building apartments, condominiums, and event spaces and renovating residential property. Loretto requested that the city provide a full abatement of general ad valorem taxes for 10 years and then a 50 percent abatement of general ad valorem taxes for 15 years. Loretto also requested that the city declare the area as blighted so that it could be zoned as an Urban Redevelopment District. The city approved the plan and adopted Ordinance No. 961414 to approve the tax request and Ordinance No. 961358 to approve the rezoning request. The city then entered into a contract with Loretto for the redevelopment. The city was authorized to enter into the contract pursuant to the state of Missouri’s Urban Redevelopment Corporations Law. The contract provided that Loretto would complete the development in four phases and the completion dates for the phases. In 2007 Loretto sought to amend the contract to provide an extension of the schedule and modify the approved uses of the area. The city held a public hearing and then approved an amendment that met Loretto’s requests by enacting Ordinance No. 070790. The city then amended its contract to reflect Loretto’s request. The amendment did not affect the tax-abatement period. In response, Cynthia and Thomas Riggins (plaintiffs) filed an action against the city and Loretto. The Rigginses argued that the city had arbitrarily and unlawfully approved Loretto’s extension request without considering a plethora of public concerns, including harming the city by allowing Loretto’s tax abatements to continue. The trial court determined that the city had not acted arbitrarily, because the Urban Redevelopment Corporations Law allowed for the abatement of taxes and contract law allowed for contract amendments. The Rigginses appealed.