A troublesome stormwater drainage issue south of Republic Road could prevent or delay a proposed rezoning of 5.6 acres east of Cox Avenue.
The applicant and property owner, John Calvin Presbyterian Church, wants to sell the single-family residential parcel and is seeking a rezoning to attract a buyer, according to Neil Stenger, the Murney Associates, Realtors commercial real estate broker who represented the church at the July 21 City Council meeting.
During the public hearing to rezone the lightly wooded lot at the southeast corner of Cox and Republic to a general retail district, Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky said stormwater runoff solutions first need to be examined. She said the Price Cutter and strip center to the north, as well as a proposed Veterans Affairs medical clinic to the east, are exacerbating long-standing stormwater runoff problems to the south.
“I have been contacted by some residents in the area who are very concerned about the drainage issues there, and they are very unhappy with what happened with the previous (proposed) development. Apparently, there is no water detention plan in that area, and they are concerned we are looking at the same issue here,” Rushefsky said, referring to a rezoning in March of 20 acres south of Kansas Expressway and Republic Road. That property is one of three in Springfield in the running for a proposed VA clinic.
Springfield Planning and Development Director Ralph Rognstad said the size requirement of a water detention basin for an unknown, future development is unclear. Stenger estimates the basin would likely occupy three-quarters of an acre, but any developer is only required to create a basin large enough so it doesn’t worsen area drainage concerns, according to Rognstad.
For instance, Rognstad said an apartment development, which meets current zoning, would likely require a smaller detention basin than a strip mall, because there is typically more impervious surface involved in retail-district developments.
Stenger said the church has owned the property since 1988, and it had intentions to build on it, but its leaders recently decided to sell. Because no one has expressed an interest in the property yet, Stenger said he and the owners have worked with city staff to determine the best use for the corner. Both city staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission have recommended the zoning change, where more than 34,000 cars pass by each day, according to the most recent city traffic engineering data.
Stenger suggested council review water runoff issues after a developer submits plans for the property.
“The point at which you address the issue of storm detention is when you know what the developer is going to do,” Stenger said before council. “You don’t know if there is going to be 60 percent hard surface or 80 percent hard surface, and that impacts the size of the detention basin you’d have.
“That’s not a question for tonight. Tonight, (it’s about) what’s an appropriate use for that 5 acres.”
Rushefsky said stormwater detention is relevant in considering the zoning change.
“What’s appropriate, in theory, is one thing. What’s appropriate in practice has a lot to do with what runoff problems exist there,” she said.
Councilman Jeff Seifried said council has the authority to address stormwater detention requirements, but that is a separate matter.
“There are two separate issues. If we want to address stormwater management, that’s a citywide issue, and we’d need to review our policies,” Seifried said.
The rezoning is scheduled for a vote Aug. 4.
Murney commercial broker Neil Stenger presented City Council a mock rendering to demonstrate the stormwater impact of a project at Cox Avenue and Republic Road.
Bond voyageCouncil unanimously approved the sale of $6.9 million in general obligation sewer bonds.
Springfield Finance Director Mary Mannix Decker said $3 million in bond proceeds would be used for extension of the sanitary sewer system to parts of the city that aren’t currently covered, mostly in the northwest.
“In addition to the new money, we’re refunding about $3.9 million in sewer bonds to achieve a lower interest rate. Those bonds were issued in 2001, 2003 and 2005,” she said.
Decker said during the last eight weeks her department has worked with a team of bond attorneys and underwriters at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. to prepare for the bond sale.
Before the vote, Michael Short of Oppenheimer & Co.’s municipal capital markets group in Kansas City said Springfield’s Double A-1 credit rating by Moody’s and historically low interest rates made now the right time for action.
“The offering today was a success by any measure,” Short said, adding the competitive bid process attracted seven potential buyers when it opened July 21. “We had hoped we might receive four or five.”
He said savings on refunding bonds is measured by percentages, and Springfield is poised to maximize its savings.
“If you have 3 percent savings, that is your threshold. That’s when you should start looking at refunding. You are coming out of this today with about 9 percent savings,” Short said.
Decker said JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was selected as the buyer, and the firm is refunding the bonds at a rate just under 2 percent. In all, the city is saving $356,000 through 2021, she said, which beats an earlier low estimate of at least $150,000.
