Revision submitted for Willard housing development rezoning request

The developer behind the Auburn Meadows subdivision, planned for a 93-acre site in Willard, has requested a second appearance before the Greene County Planning Board.

The Greene County Commission was scheduled to rule on the rezoning request for the subdivision at its May 4 public meeting, following a recommendation of denial by the seven-member Planning Board on April 21. The vote to deny was 6-1 with only Aaron Wyssmann supporting the project.

It is up to the commission whether it will grant the remand request, and that decision has not yet been made, said county spokesperson Robert Jehle.

The applicant for the project, Willard80 LLC, has requested that the commission remand the matter back to the Planning Board after a revision to its plan. The new plan reduces the overall footprint of the project to a smaller portion of the site, according to an announcement from the Greene County Commission’s Public Information Office.

In the announcement, Jehle said the commission has historically remanded cases back to the Planning Board when there has been a substantial change to an application.

The proposed development would be on a parcel near the intersection of Missouri Highways AB and EE in the Willard area, and the application is to rezone the property from R-1, suburban residence district, to UR-1, urban residence district, which are Greene County zoning designations.

“After hearing from residents with concerns over density, traffic, draining and school overcrowding at an April 21 public hearing, the Planning Board voted to recommend denial,” Jehle said via email.

He added that if the commission grants the remand, the Planning Board’s next meeting is set for 7 p.m. May 19 in room 212 of the Historic Greene County Courthouse. If the remand is granted, the board will hear public testimony in the reduced-area rezoning request and issue a new recommendation of approval or denial to the commission.

Under the standard rezoning process, the commission would hold its own public hearing on June 1 before voting to approve or deny it.

Willard80’s registered agent is Derek Lee, according to the company’s amended filing with the Missouri Secretary of State’s office. Lee is a Springfield City Council member and the owner of Lee Engineering & Associates LLC.