Cemetery threatened by 91st and Troost apartment project, neighbors say

Attendees of a lengthy Center Planning and Development Council meeting on Tuesday voiced concerns over an affordable housing project planned for 19 acres at 91st Street and Troost Avenue. 

When the project by developer Milhaus breaks ground in late 2027, it could threaten unmarked burials in a pre-Civil War cemetery, residents say.

Plans for the apartment complex show nine buildings with 288 units and a parking lot surrounding the Douglass/Grange Cemetery. The pre-Civil War burial site is the final resting place of at least 35 people who died between 1856 and 1919, according to local sources.

Milhaus also plans to preserve the Douglass/Grange Cemetery in 6-7 acres of designated park land, according to Devon Coffey, the company’s development director who presented the plans. The goal is to establish protections for the cemetery and park, which are pending review with the Kansas City Department of Parks and Recreation, she said. 

The cemetery appears to be smaller than one acre on the development plans from Milhaus. Coffey added that the cemetery will be fenced off with a 10- to 15-foot buffer to ensure no work touches ground where anyone could be buried, she said.

However, the cemetery is larger than it appears, according to area resident Clark Davis. Old Jackson County records show the cemetery takes up 1.5 acres, he says. 

Davis provided the company and attendees with a 1923 decree from a Jackson County court, which indicates the land area of the cemetery is 1.5 acres. The platted cemetery boundaries match those provided by Bradley Wolf, a Kansas City Preservation Officer.

Milhaus disagrees with Davis on the cemetery boundaries. In an email Wednesday afternoon, Baker told the Telegraph that based on initial feedback, the company believes it is continuing to plan and operate correctly within the defined borders of the cemetery. 

“Should that change, we will adapt our planning accordingly,” said Danielle Baker, a public relations representative for the company.

Baker would not confirm the exact area of land that the Milhaus plans designate as a cemetery. However, the company is now working with land use agencies to confirm the exact cemetery size versus the overall parcel size, Baker said.

The development plan has been amended several times and is still pending approval by the City Plan Commission and the City Council, according to Coffey. Final approval won’t happen until November, but neighbors are concerned now. 

“We’re proposing this,” Coffey told attendees on Tuesday night, reminding them the project is in an early phase and could be subject to design changes. “There is more information to come.” 

Milhaus held two public meetings at the Trailside Center about the development on Monday and Tuesday. Neighbors have raised a number of other concerns to Milhaus, from proximity to property lines to pedestrian safety and protecting existing wildlife.

But the foremost concern on Tuesday night was the cemetery. At the meeting, Davis stood up and asked Coffey whether Milhaus will comply with state and local laws concerning protected burial grounds throughout the development. 

“We will have to,” Coffey replied. 

Fellow neighbor Maris Ewing also provided independent research to the Telegraph. She points to an earlier record, a landowner map from 1904, which also indicates the area of the cemetery is 1.5 acres. 

“The smarter financial choice and the smarter PR choice would be to just leave this site alone,” Davis told the Telegraph. 

The project is set to go before Kansas City’s City Plan Commission on Nov. 4 and the City Council on Nov. 11, 19 and 24. Construction is expected to be complete by summer 2029.