Microefficiency apartment plan divides midtown residents

A proposal for a planned development on a midtown church lot that would allow 84 microefficiency apartments to be built has divided a Springfield neighborhood already said to be struggling with crime and traffic issues. The plans also serve as Springfield City Council’s first test of recently reduced parking requirements for student-focused housing models.

At last night’s council meeting, several members of Timmons Temple Church of Christ in God, 934 E. Webster St., spoke in support of plans to sell the 1.6-acre church property, allowing the congregation to move and expand its ministry. However, several members of the Midtown Neighborhood Association said the apartments near Ozarks Technical Community College would push cars into neighboring streets and exacerbate crime problems in the area.

Timmons Pastor T.J. Appleby said those opposed to the plans could end up doing more harm to the neighborhood than good. He said the church is leaving the space whether the property sells or not, and the lot’s two vacant buildings would be magnets for the homeless and drug dealers.

“If this rezoning effort doesn’t go through, we are looking at vacating these properties anyway, and I don’t think any of the property owners in the area would like to have two vacant structures right against their properties when we already have issues with vagrancy and loitering,” Appleby said. “It would really be a bad situation. Those vacant structures would become a gathering place for drug deals and loud-music parties. We already find beer bottles. Imagine if the place is unoccupied.”

On Jan. 13, council passed an ordinance that reduced off-street parking requirements for developers of microefficiency apartments – dwellings with apartment units of 400 square feet or less – to one space per unit from 1.5 spaces for multifamily developments.

Springfield Planning and Development Director Ralph Rognstad said developers working on student-housing projects had complained the previous parking requirements were too restrictive for the smaller units typically within walking distance to Springfield campuses. Despite some concerns expressed by Councilwomen Cindy Rushefsky and Jan Fisk, the proposal passed with assurances council would be kept abreast of impacts on neighborhoods during the next two years. Now, the new ordinance has its first real-world test.  

Because the planned development would include 28 bicycle racks, the off-site parking requirements can be reduced by an additional 10 percent, allowing the 84-unit complex to construct only 76 parking spaces.

Peter Radecki, a board member of the Midtown Neighborhood Association, said the nature of the planned development itself calls into question if the proposed land use is appropriate for the neighborhood.

“Since the proposal retains the standard of allowing up to three unrelated residents per unit, that means we could have living in the complex up to 252 students. That means up to 176 spillover cars parked on streets overnight, every night, in front of nearby residences,” Radecki said. “We are asked to take a leap of faith that somehow a large percentage of residents and students will not have cars.”

Other opponents cited crime statistics with the nearby Park Place Apartments – averaging 17 police calls per month – as well as potential stormwater drainage issues as reasons to deny the plans. However, proponents of the development said regular church services already push parking into the neighborhood.

In all, 11 public speakers addressed council regarding the zoning change, with six in favor and five opposed.  

Greg Whitlock, owner of Whitlock Engineering, who represented the apartment developers Greenway Studios LLC at the meeting, said in a phone interview this morning it is hard to know how council might vote on the issue at its March 10 meeting.

“The development fits in with the master plan for the area, but I never know how a commission or council will act,” Whitlock said, adding his firm is acting as civil engineering consultant for the group of unnamed, local investors comprising Greenway Studios.

On Feb. 6, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-2 in favor of the planned development. City staff also recommended approval, according to Rognstad.[[In-content Ad]]