Neighbors plan to file referendum petition with city for Medical Mile apartment building

SBJ File

The site of a proposed four-story multifamily residential development is a vacant paved lot today, shown at the intersection of Walnut Lawn Street and Maryland Avenue.

Residents of neighborhoods surrounding a south Springfield development have gathered petition signatures to attempt to stop it at the polls.

The subject property is 7.6 acres at 3302 S. Maryland Ave. On May 4, Springfield City Council approved a rezoning of the property to make way for The Reserve at Medical Mile at the request of developer Bibi Oaks LLC.

The project is a 182-unit apartment building that ranges from three- to four -stories high and abuts a single-family residential neighborhood to its west. On its east is the commercially and institutionally developed area of the Medical Mile on National Avenue.

The project proposal includes revisions by the developer from a higher-density four-story development with 198 units.

Residents of the High Meadow East neighborhood raised concerns about a lack of transition between the multifamily and single-family parcels. Council voted 7-2 to approve a rezoning, with Councilmembers Brandon Jenson and Craig Hosmer opposed. A successful petition by nearby residents prior to the vote meant that a six-vote majority was needed in order for the measure to pass, and that standard was met.

Jenson previously noted that the city's comprehensive plan, Forward SGF, requires zoning to take transitions between density into consideration.

Arlene Chriswell, a resident of the High Meadow East neighborhood, told Springfield Business Journal today that 1,928 signatures were gathered in a petition drive to overturn the rezoning.

“We needed 1,500, but a dedicated few have put in extra effort from our mostly retired neighborhood,” Chriswell said via email.

She said that she plans to schedule a drop-off of the submissions in consultation with City Clerk Anita Cotter’s office, and she hopes to do so soon.

If signatures are found to be sufficient, outcomes may include a council repeal of its rezoning decision or an election at an unspecified future date allowing voters to decide whether to allow the rezoning to stand, according to past SBJ reporting on such petitions.

A 2025 ballot petition regarding the Galloway Village development called the Chimney Rock subdivision was rejected by Cotter, who said the administrative decision by council was not subject to referendum, and that issue is now the subject of a court case filed by property owner Dan Clark.

The ballot initiative is a model that was successfully deployed by Galloway Village residents in 2022, when a petition drive led to a citywide vote to halt a mixed-use development by Elevation Enterprises LLC across from Sequiota Park. It was a decisive result, with 70.5% of voters quashing the project.

That same developer, under the name Galloway Village LLC, began work on a new project on the site in May.