Cityscape: Council, developers and residents at odds

Greetings!

Welcome to our very first monthly beat page – a space where SBJ reporters can offer monthly analysis of news from the topics and industries we cover, with interesting extras from recent news stories.

I write about city government, and I also compile the From the Ground Up weekly construction feature. In business coverage, I’m especially interested in exploring work/life issues.

I’m a poet and a former college writing instructor with two kids, Copernicus and Keats. My husband, Mike Czyzniejewski, is a fiction writer and professor.

But enough about me. News is so much juicier.

Competing Interests

Development has been in the news a lot of late, with the most contentious proposed projects happening in residential neighborhoods. Here are some I've been following, along with my lingering questions:

Historic homes at Sunshine Street and National Avenue: Developer BK&M LLC purchased property at the city’s second-busiest intersection, then held a public meeting for residents of the University Heights neighborhood.

Developers sought rezoning but offered no plan, as they said they wanted to first hear ideas from neighbors.

Some residents argued developers wouldn’t purchase property without having a pretty good idea of what they’d like to do with it. Susan Istenes, the city’s director of planning, told me the normal expectation is for developers to present their site plans and elevations, traffic circulation and proposed land uses. BK&M came to the meeting empty-handed while characterizing themselves as open-minded.

 My question: Would neighbors have been as resistant to a thoroughly articulated plan?

Vacant lot at Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue: The goal was to put a three-lane 7 Brew Coffee drive-thru across from Sunshine Elementary School in the residential neighborhood of Seminole/Holland. Springfield City Council approved a request to rezone the parcel from residential to limited business, but it denied a conditional use permit for drive-thru operation.

Councilperson Richard Ollis made the argument that Sunshine Street is commercial from end to end, and the small strip between National and Jefferson avenues should be, too. Neighbors who live in century-old homes seemed to feel the existing zoning status is the more established precedent.

The plan by developers Reding Management LLC and Redec LLC had been rejected once by the Planning & Zoning Commission, so they resubmitted with one change: the addition of trees as a buffer between the light, sound and traffic of the operation and the neighborhood homes.

My question: If developers made another tweak and approached council again, could they gain the permit they need through attrition?

Grant Avenue Parkway: This $26 million project will put a tree-lined parkway between Wonders of Wildlife and downtown. One of the first steps the city took with the help of its consultants was to form a special zoning district, the Grant Avenue Parkway District, designed to keep the route both pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

With a proposal from GDL Enterprises LLC to develop the Loose Goose, a coffee shop with a drive-thru window and package liquor sales, along with some gathering-place features, that special zoning district flew south. Just like that, council approved a rezoning to planned development for the very first retail establishment, albeit with the support of the West Central and Fassnight neighborhood associations.

My question: Will the city stick to its plan for the Parkway, or is any retail development fair game?

What are your questions for developers and officials? I would love to hear from you.

I heard …

I recently talked with Matt Morrow, president and CEO of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, and he brought up the topic of collaboration.

Morrow said at one time, nearby communities would wrestle for the same opportunities, but these days, the model is more cooperative.

The Springfield Regional Economic Partnership includes 10 counties. Springfield, Branson, Nixa, Willard, Marshfield – no matter the community, all bring strengths to the table, Morrow said.

“They understand their identities and they cheer for each other,” he said. “It’s been really cool to kind of watch how they coordinate with each other.”

One to watch

A third of a mile east of the contested corner at Sunshine and National is a property that has been on the commercial rental market since Mr. Smith’s Fast Lube consolidated operations onto Battlefield Road in 2018. Renovated into Jaclyn Square, the 3,000-square-foot building at 1403 E. Sunshine St. awaits tenants on the busy corridor.

With all the attention paid to neighborhood properties at Sunshine’s corners with National and Jefferson, surely someone will take a look at Jaclyn Square, with commercial vacancies next door at the former Thai Basil restaurant and continuing down the block. Or is Sunshine just too fast a route for retail locations with shallow lots?

Contact Karen Craigo
Phone: 417-340-3224
Email: kcraigo@sbj.net
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