Letter to the Editor: East Cherry project falls flat with neighbors

Dear Editor,

The Rountree Neighborhood Association Board of Directors found it interesting that while extolling the virtues of blight and tax abatement for center city revitalization in a Springfield Business Journal column published Oct. 20, author Shawn Whitney did not cite the current controversial project he represents. So, we want to offer an opposing perspective to use of these tools for the proposed East Cherry Flats student housing development in the historic Rountree neighborhood.

In this case, Mr. Whitney’s client has proposed building a four-story, 96-bed apartment complex on less than an acre to market to Missouri State University students. After 10 years of owning several properties on the tract and providing only enough minimal maintenance to keep them, using his own word, “habitable,” the developer is seeking a blight designation and accompanying tax abatement that will save him up to $385,000 over 10 years.

The long-term economic benefit to the community is negligible: some temporary construction jobs and some potential sales tax should the developer purchase building materials or furnishings within the city. As the Kimbrough Avenue-Grand Street area and downtown projects attest, Springfield is awash in new multifamily, aka student-designated, housing. Meanwhile, one of Springfield’s iconic historic neighborhoods faces an outsized student housing building across the street from single-family homes; increased parking problems with the project’s unrealistic number of parking spaces; additional traffic congestion along Cherry Street; and additional stormwater runoff into a neighborhood beset by basement flooding problems. The developer also wants a variance to build it closer to the street, which would negate the Rountree Urban Conservation District guidelines.

While the RNA board stands in opposition and more than 400 residents have signed a petition opposing these abatement and variance requests, that does not mean we oppose the use of the blight/abatement tool to drive economic growth. It has helped create long-term industrial jobs and boosted large, risky projects that are bringing life to center city. But citizen discontent is growing over projects like this one that benefit mainly the developers who allow their properties to deteriorate and then ask for public assistance to redevelop the land. Springfield is running the risk of overall blight backlash similar to what Columbia has experienced during its attempts to apply the tool more liberally.

For our part, we know Mr. Whitney’s client can legally build this project as he desires, because the land is already zoned properly. The RNA is addressing this issue for the future through a request to review high-density, multifamily zoning in our urban conservation neighborhood.

We also find it interesting that the developer already has the project out for bid. One logical inference is that he plans to proceed on it with or without the tax abatement.

At City Council’s Nov. 10 meeting, we hope members will recognize that not all blight is created equal and encourage East Cherry Flats to move forward in the free market for commercial real estate without a government subsidy.

—Diana Day, Rountree Neighborhood Association Board of Directors