City Beat: Plan B requested for 90-acre south-side rezoning

Developer Curtis Jared’s contested rezoning proposal was tabled Sept. 22 as Springfield City Council requested an alternative plan for some 90 acres adjacent to the Library Center on the city’s south side.

Jared seeks to rezone a single-family residential parcel to a 40-acre office district and a 52-acre general retail district.

For council members and most of the 19 public speakers, the sticking point in Jared’s proposal was its connectivity between the commercial development and the Quail Creek and Wellington Hills neighborhoods nearby.

“To connect one of our streets to this development, or to Quail Creek traffic, is unfair and would not enhance our safety,” said Tom Cedarblom, representing homeowners of Wellington Hills. “It would threaten both our safety and well-being.”

Most neighbors expressed little concern about the proposed zoning and the potential developments. The property in Jared’s proposal, owned by Ward Branch Trust et al., sits south of the 63-acre James River Commons development home to Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and Academy Sports.

Jared, CEO of commercial property manager Jared Enterprises, said the rezoning would need to be in place before attracting commercial tenants.

“Retailers don’t like, ‘Well, I want to do this. Well, I’ve got this grand plan.’ That’s great. Is it zoned? Is it ready?” Jared said after the Sept. 22 council meeting. “They want to see all the work done, and then they’ll sit down and maybe work out a deal.”

Four supported the zoning changes as proposed; one was Jared and another was Jay Wynn of CJW Transportation Consultants LLC, who represented the developer.

Stephanie Stenger Montgomery, an attorney and developer whose family partnered to build the adjacent James River Commons, said she had no economic interest in the development, but she also supported the plans. She said the connectivity via West Buena Vista Street and the overall zoning proposal was consistent with the city’s well-established long-range plans for growth.

“It is consistent with the adopted use plans and with city planning policies. It is compatible with the zoning and use of nearby properties and the character of the existing area. The public facilities and services are adequate to be developed under the proposed rezoning,” Montgomery said. “The existing zoning does not allow uses that are appropriate.”

Quail Creek resident David Inman countered that if El Camino Alto Drive was extended into his neighborhood via Buena Vista, the increased traffic could be hazardous to residents and drive down property values. He said traffic routinely backs up at Campbell Avenue and the development’s El Camino Alto entrance, and shoppers at Sam’s Club or Academy Sports would seek shortcut routes through the neighborhood if given the opportunity.

“If there was even the slightest ability to cut through Quail Creek to go over to Republic Road … that’s exactly what would happen,” Inman said.

After hearing neighbors consistently say connections shouldn’t be necessary for the development – and after hearing Jared wasn’t bent on connecting to the neighborhoods – Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky moved to table the bill. Rushefsky wants to see an alternative draft allowing council to consider plans without roads reaching into the subdivision. The vote to table was unanimous.

The alternative proposal is slated to be presented and receive its public hearing at the Oct. 13 council meeting.

East Cherry Flats
A property owner at the northern edge of the Rountree Neighborhood is planning a potentially $6 million, 24-unit student housing development tied to a designation of blight that would allow him to receive 10 years of tax abatement on improvements for the East Cherry Flats redevelopment area. The apartments, proposed by city landlord Russ Meck via RKJ Properties LLC, would accommodate up to 96 residents, according to the plans.

Two Rountree representatives spoke against the blight designation at the Sept. 22 meeting.

Jeff Barber, a Rountree Neighborhood Association board member and architect with the University of Missouri Greene County Extension, said a designation of blight could prompt a host of future abatement requests.

“Once this one goes through, the dominoes will begin to drop,” Barber said, adding he would expect property owners along Cherry Street between Kickapoo Avenue and Pickwick Street to seek similar abatements.

Brian Ash, a former Rountree Neighborhood chairman, said the neighborhood was established as an Urban Conservation District in the mid-1980s to protect its character, and that designation should be kept in mind as council considers the proposal. Ash said the development was welcome, but he opposed the location and density of the four-story apartments on less than an acre of land.

“I think this is a great looking development. I think it’s really sharp. It’s just that Rountree isn’t the right area for it,” Ash said.

According to the plans, the redevelopment area would combine three parcels with three residential structures and one commercial structure between National Avenue and South Kickapoo at 1243 E. Cherry St. Meck’s proposal calls for demolishing the 1930s-built structures, which were described as having broken windows, rotted wood, and termite and water damage.

Councilman Craig Hosmer said he’s tired of seeing the city continually declare areas blighted. According to city records, the Cherry project is the ninth request for abatement since Hosmer joined council in April 2013. With this development, he said there would be over 1,200 city acres of declared blight, which takes property taxes away from schools and taxing districts and gives it to developers.

“I absolutely think this is the wrong thing to incentivize,” Hosmer said.

Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP development attorney Shawn Whitney, who represented Meck, disagreed with Hosmer’s assessment.

“Heer’s building, Woodruff building, McDaniel building – look at the development that’s occurred in the last five years. It is directly related to these types of incentives,” Whitney said.