Driveway restrictions on hold pending City Council committee review

Springfield City Council last night unanimously passed legislation that will allow appeals on decisions regarding sidewalks and driveways pending review of proposed zoning changes by council’s Community Involvement Committee.

As part of the citywide rezoning and remapping effort, council passed an ordinance on Jan. 12 to make a broad set of changes, one of which would have reduced the number of allowable access points in the form of driveways for properties, including businesses.

At the time, Councilmember Derek Lee raised concerns about the impact of driveway changes and proposed an amendment that would allow a hearing before the Planning & Zoning Commission for driveway changes, but that amendment narrowly failed by a 5-4 vote. The bill changing driveway requirements then passed 7-2.

However, council revisited the issue on March 9 when Lee presented a bill to suspend the code revisions for review. That bill passed on its second reading March 23, despite staff concerns about changes it might impact the citywide remapping and rezoning project.

As previously reported in Springfield Business Journal, the criteria for spaces between driveways on primary arterials, such as Campbell and Glenstone avenues, would have increased from 200 to 440 feet with the ordinance. The required space between driveways on secondary arterials, like Kimbrough and Jefferson avenues, would have increased from 150 to 330 feet, and spacing on collectors, like Mill and Fort avenues, would have increased from 100 to 220 feet.

Members of the business community showed up March 13 to testify before council regarding concerns about the proposed requirements and the consequences reducing access points would have on their businesses.

Shannon Handwerker, vice president of operations for Magers Management Co. LLC, described a situation with a potential tenant for the company’s Battlefield Marketplace shopping center. Because the tenant was in the fitness space instead of retail, a lease would have triggered a change of use for the property, and that would have led to the loss of driveways on the east and west side of the business, the removal of streetlights and the removal of the shopping center’s monument sign to accommodate a new driveway in the middle of the development.

The original legislation would have disallowed some appeals to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on driveway standards, but the new measure allows a temporary written appeals process through the Public Works Department for a decision by the city manager or a deputy while the committee reviews changes to the access management section of code.

The bill passed last night by council requires the city manager to gather data and provide a report to the Community Involvement Committee on the issue by Oct. 13. Temporary appeals will be permitted until Dec. 14 under the measure.