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City Beat: BK&M rezoning vote postponed

Amendment to conditional overlay results in delayed decision by council

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A vote on a zoning measure for the disputed northwest corner of Sunshine Street and National Avenue was delayed again at the Oct. 7 meeting of Springfield City Council, this time by council’s passage of an amendment to the bill.

The measure has been placed in front of both council and the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission multiple times without resolution, and it has also been removed from the council agenda on several occasions.

The bill itself, requested by developer BK&M LLC, seeks to change the corner’s zoning designation to general retail from single-family residential and offers a conditional overlay to address some neighborhood concerns.

At the meeting, Councilmember Abe McGull proposed an amendment that would further limit allowable usages of the property beyond the conditional overlay in the developer’s original proposal.

A conditional overlay sets up restrictions for a development beyond those connected to the zoning district. For the BK&M proposal, the conditional overlay voluntarily limits uses of the property by prohibiting drive-thrus, day cares, food trucks, gas stations and package liquor stores, among other uses.

McGull’s amendment sought to add more restrictions. These came via email from developer Ralph Duda, who originally offered them during remarks at the Sept. 23 public hearing on the rezoning measure. The new restrictions were then offered to city staff for review.

The additional restrictions were to prohibit any marijuana products being sold, and they would also eliminate vape shops, dollar stores, tattoo centers and single-story retail strip centers with a flat roof. The amendment also would limit operations to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily except in the case of temporary lodging, including hotels.

Because the amendment requires an additional opportunity for public comment, by council rules, a public hearing, addressing the amendment only, is scheduled for the Oct. 21 regular council meeting. A vote on the rezoning bill is set to immediately follow.

Councilmember Craig Hosmer raised questions about the language of the amendment – and about where it came from and if neighborhood residents were informed and involved in the process.

“Do we define what a dollar store is anywhere in the ordinance, anywhere in the statute? How are we going to enforce that?” Hosmer asked. “What about a $5 store? What about Harbor Freight? Are all those places going to be allowed at this location under this amendment?”

Hosmer also raised questions about the precedent for a limitation on roof type for a strip retail center and about the scope of a restriction on marijuana-related facilities.

City Planning and Development Director Steve Childers explained that Duda’s offer of additional restrictions just two weeks before set the wheels in motion for the amendment to be written by staff with input from the city’s legal department.

Hosmer asked if the information had been shared with neighborhood residents prior to the meeting, Oct. 7. Childers confirmed that they were not presented with a document, though residents had likely heard Duda’s offer to provide further restrictions at the last public council meeting.

Hosmer objected to voting on an amendment whose terms are not connected to statutory definitions or code requirements.

“It seems like if we’ve got a comprehensive plan and we’re planning for the city of Springfield, we should do so with forethought and plan instead of just letting things happen,” he said.

Hosmer added that he had asked for a corridor study of the area nearly two years ago.

“We were told no, it’s too late, we can’t do it. Now two years later we’re still arguing, and we’re getting an amendment Friday about what changes are going to happen,” he said. “The developer has talked obviously with staff, people on council, and it hasn’t even been communicated to the neighborhood.

“I think this is a poor way to make public policy, and I’m not going to be voting for it.” 

City Manager Jason Gage conceded council may not be ready to vote, and agreed it would be necessary to clarify some terms, such as the dollar store definition. 

“We have to put it in front of you, but it may be that you want to go ahead and defer the consideration of the amendment until the next meeting,” Gage said. “That will give us the opportunity to check on those things and make sure we have time to get it out to the public for general review by all parties.”

Hosmer compared the lack of communication to a situation in Galloway Village, where action on a development resulted in city voters overturning a council action in an election.

“I think it would have been better for the developer and better for the neighborhood if we had had some of these conversations up front rather than behind closed doors where nobody gets good information,” he said. “That’s the same thing we did in Galloway. That’s not good for the community, it’s not good for the neighborhood and it’s not good for developers.”

Gage said he did not see a closed-door issue but just a normal amendment process.

Hosmer said he’s simply asking that the city have a plan.

“Taking a dollar store off of something and telling you can’t put a vape shop and you can’t put a tattoo parlor – that’s not a plan,” Hosmer said. “We are a better community than that.”

Gage said the comprehensive plan is now in place and gives some guidance, and a development code is currently under development.

“Without question, we’re in between those stages, and a development code being finished would help us with this,” he said.

Nevertheless, a vote was held on the amendment and resulted in a 5-3 outcome. Voting in favor of the amendment were McGull, Mayor Ken McClure, Heather Hardinger, Callie Carroll and Derek Lee. Opposed were Hosmer, Brandon Jenson and Monica Horton. Matthew Simpson abstained.

With the passage of the amendment, the rezoning bill will be up for a vote on Oct. 21 following public comments.

Other zonings and annexations

  • Council approved four rezonings that were introduced with public hearings on Sept. 23.

A highway commercial district was approved for applicant McCurry Plaza LLC for a 2.7-acre tract at 3801 W. Sunshine St. The applicant intends to construct a new commercial development on the property, which was recently annexed into the city under the Greene County zoning designation of general commercial.

The property is located near the northwest intersection of Sunshine Street and West Bypass, where a Target store is under construction and an existing Walmart Supercenter is already in operation.

  • Council also OK’d the rezoning of 7.8 acres for applicant Frisco Building LLC at 3253 E. Chestnut Expressway to highway commercial from heavy manufacturing. The applicant would like to establish commercial uses such as a restaurant that serves the public, and there are no longer any uses that require the heavy manufacturing designation.
  • The rezoning of 11.5 acres at 3525 E. Battlefield Road to government and institutional use from general retail was approved for applicant Lester E. Cox Medical Centers.

CoxHealth officials told Springfield Business Journal that no specific development is planned.

  • In the 1300 block of East Florida Street, 1.6 acres were rezoned to residential townhouse from general manufacturing at the request of applicants William and Anedra Mosley, who plan to construct single-family and duplex residential buildings on the property.
  • Council annexed 21.6 acres of property into the city. These included areas generally located in the 3000 block of West Republic Road, the 4200 block of South Farm Road 135, the 5500 block of South Campbell Avenue, the 3800-3900 blocks of East State Highway D and the 3300 block of West Sunshine Street, as well as nearly an acre of right-of-way.

The city is moving on existing annexation permissions that were granted by property owners when provided with access to city sanitary sewer services.

Additionally, first readings were held on five additional rezoning measures, for 0.2 acres at 1719 E. Atlantic St., 4.6 acres at 2533 N. Fort Ave., 1.4 acres in the 700-800 block of North Broadway Avenue, 0.2 acres at 1055 S. Campbell Ave. and 1.1 acres in the 1400 block of North Beverly Avenue.

Other action items

  • Council approved the amendment of the Rountree Urban Conservation District regulations to allow Tie & Timber Beer Co. to construct a building with a ground floor elevation of up to 4 feet. The building would offer additional serving areas for the establishment.
  • The last of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funding was allocated to the Springfield-Greene County Library District for renovations to the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library. The allocation was for $84,000.
  • Council approved the purchase by the city of the former Conklin Bail Bonds office at 817 N. Boonville Ave. to expand government plaza. The cost was $110,000.

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