Joplin council advances zoning requests

Apr. 8—Several zoning requests, including four for property in the Wildwood Ranch development, were given first-round approval by the Joplin City Council at a recent meeting.

The zoning requests will be advanced for final readings at the council's next meeting.

One of the requests in Wildwood Ranch was that developer Ashok Patel to voluntarily annex property located at West 32nd Street, approximately 3,500 feet west of John Duffy Drive, to construct a new subdivision. Another is rezoning of some of the property Patel plans to develop in that area from single-family residential to two-family residential in order to build houses on 50-foot lots, which is narrower than the current requirement.

In a third request, Patel requests a change in zoning for part of the Duffy Drive property from residential to mixed use commercial zoning and, in a fourth request, annexation of that property. The mixed-use developments would have commercial space on the main floor and residential above, the council was told.

Another request that advanced is the rezoning of commercial property at 6701 E. 26th St. to industrial. The request was made to redevelop the property for a truck and trailer operation. Real estate broker Luke Gibson, who represents the owner, said the property would be used for a warehouse, office and a truck mechanic shop for repairing trailers as well as a wash bay for trucks.

A request to rezone single-family residential property to a C-1 light commercial planned commercial district at 2501 E. 20th St. for offices of Rapha House International was advanced.

Also advanced was a zoning change for property at 507 N. Wall Ave. from a single-family house to two-family.

Jerry Hill, the owner, said the house used to be a duplex, and he wants to return it to that use.

Hill said the house has been abandoned and not lived in for a decade. He bought the house two years ago. He said the floor plans for it showed that it once was a duplex with one unit on the main floor and a second unit encompassing the second floor and attic. He said he plans to remodel the house and return to its original configuration.

Asked by council member Kate Spencer why he Hill wanted the change by council, the city's planning director, Troy Bolander, said that in the city's old neighborhoods there are properties whose uses do not match current zoning codes and when a property sits vacant for long it reverts to single-family zoning.

The council also approved a contract with Richard and Tony Williams to buy 30,300 square feet of land at 115 E. 34th St. that has been owned by the city and declared as surplus property. Leslie Haase, the city's finance director, said the city set a minimum bid on the property of $80,000 and they were only bidders at $80,100.

A demolition contract was authorized for fire-damaged property at 1309 Jackson Ave. that was declared a dangerous building by the city's Building Board of Appeals. The winning bid for the work was $4,200.

The council also voted to go into closed session on privileged communication with a city attorney regarding a legal matter and to discuss a real estate matter.