Planning and Zoning rejects University Heights development, rezoning still headed to council

In an overwhelming vote, all but one Planning and Zoning Commissioner recommended that Springfield's City Council should deny rezoning to a controversial development at the corner of National Avenue and Sunshine Street.

The move contradicts the recommendation of the city's professional staff, who approved of the project with some reservations. Even though the project was voted down, it will still move on to Springfield's newly seated City Council — which has final authority on all zoning cases.

Before the vote, Commissioner Dan Scott said he expected the development to come back to Planning and Zoning after it goes to council. When the commission has denied their approval in the past, council has opted to remand the issue back to Planning and Zoning rather than take a vote themselves.

"I think this will come back to us. I think we should all expect that. And I want to encourage that," Scott said.

Dubbed "The Heights," the proposed commercial development on the northwest corner of Sunshine and National has been contentious from its inception — marked by heated exchanges and words from those on both sides of the debate. Developers have yet to produce a site plan for the project, but Ralph Duda and his associates at Be Kind & Merciful LLC envision five floors of apartments and assorted storefronts.

More: University Heights development gets public hearing, but no vote, as P&Z commission delays

Planning and Zoning heard nearly four hours of presentation and testimony for the project two weeks ago at their last meeting. City staff and the developer asked for their approval and University Heights neighbors unanimously spoke against the measure. But rather than calling for a vote against the development, many neighborhood advocates urged Planning and Zoning to indefinitely table a vote as a neighborhood lawsuit against the developer works its way through the legal system.

Commissioners did not take that tack. Instead, they voted to recommend denial of the project to City Council.

"The question is not just can we rezone but should we?" asked Commissioner Betty Ridge. "And in this case, I feel we should not."

Ridge argued that such a large development would impede the character of University Heights and its century-old homes.

"I do think the developers have a very interesting concept, I just wish they had planned to put it somewhere else," she said.

Ridge recalled taking classes at the nearby Art Museum as a child and telling her brother to turn off Sunshine at "the pretty houses." It's those houses she wished the developer would save.

Scott noted that "the highest and best use does not necessarily mean the highest and most profit."

Commissioner Bruce Colony said he would be in support of a "small activity center" at the corner of Sunshine and National, but how big the currently planned development will eventually be is uncertain.

"I don't believe it complements the neighborhood. I don't believe the neighborhood is on board and so I can't support it at this time," Colony said.

Commissioner Carl Knuckles said he believes the area "will be developed," but he could not support the current plan because of its "level of vagueness."

Commissioner Natalie Broekhoven echoed these sentiments, saying she could not vote to rezone at "such an intensity" with "nothing more than a speculative idea what could be the highest and best use next door to a crown jewel center city neighborhood."

Commissioner Britton Jobe was the sole member of the body to vote for the development's approval. He noted Mercy Hospital, the highest intensive use imagined in city code, is diagonal to single-family homes, the least intensive use. Jobe believes this development could provide a less "harsh transition" from that high intensity to the University Heights neighborhood.

Even as he voted to reject the project, Commissioner Dan Scott urged the neighborhood to "get beyond the 'no'" and find a way to support some development on the site, though not the plan currently proposed.

"Try to be an example for the rest of the city and get beyond the 'no' and the 'heck no' stage. Because as Springfield continues to age, we need to redevelop but we need to do it responsibly and gingerly. Try to find the middle ground. Try to get to yes, if you can at all, and be an example for the next plan to come before us."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Planning and Zoning rejects University Heights development