These Springfield developments gained Planning & Zoning approval despite neighbor concerns

An apartment building north of the Grand Street Walmart, self-storage units in east Springfield and proposed hotel on the southside came closer to reality after gaining the support of Springfield's Planning & Zoning Commission recently.

The development plans, which all require rezoning, were heard and approved by the commission at its Thursday meeting. All now make their way to City Council, which is expected to consider them at public hearings Oct. 2.

Here are the details:

New apartments in West Central north of Grand Street

An application to rezone 1.08 acres on Grand Street and Market Avenue for new apartment buildings in the West Central neighborhood was approved by the commission despite traffic and parking concerns.

The plan submitted by owner GDL Enterprises, LLC, includes a 30-unit, three-story apartment building across four currently undeveloped lots. The property abuts a City Utilities substation on the west and residential neighborhoods on the north and the east. Across the street, at Grand and Campbell Avenue, sits the Walmart Neighborhood Market that was a point of contention when the development first went before the city ten years ago.

The plan for the property includes the preservation of existing trees and a privacy fence along the northwest side of the property that borders single-family residential homes. The proposed development's parking lot opens north onto West Belmont Street.

The development requires 50 parking spaces per city guidelines. However, with the use of 10 bike parking spots, the required number can be reduced by five spots. In their plans, GDL have laid out 46 parking spots, which concerned Commissioner Eric Pauley.

Pauley was the only one who voted against the approval of the rezoning — Commissioners Carl Knuckles and Chris Lebeck were absent. Pauley raised concerns regarding the impact the development would have on traffic and parking in the nearby single-family neighborhoods.

He said he went out to look at the property recently, noticing that Market Street and West Belmont Street do not allow parking on the street.

"I have a concern ... if there is not enough parking available for that particular location that this is going to push that back out into the neighborhood," Pauley said. "While, yes, again it is marked as being no parking, we know how well sometimes that works."

Pauley also raised concerns about the intersection at Grand and Market. While there has recently been an island on Grand installed to reduce the number of left turns from Grand into the Walmart, Pauley said he has observed people making a U-turn around the island to get to the store. Due to ongoing road work on Grant, and Campbell only allowing for northbound one-way traffic north of Grand, he said a lot more traffic will be pushed into neighborhoods for those traveling south.

According to city documents, neighbors shared similar concerns about the development. Some neighbors listed concerns about on-street parking, while one other called for solutions to the traffic safety concerns at the intersection. No one addressed the commission during public comment for the case. Representatives for the developers noted in the documents that "traffic will be considered as part of the development."

City staff in their report also raised concerns about the amenity requirements. While the plan includes an outdoor living space made for relaxation, reading and gathering, this is not among the accepted forms of outdoor amenities listed by the city. The staff noted that the commission can count this as an amenity if they choose to, as they have done with dog parks in the past.

GDL Enterprises owns 104 properties in town, according to the Greene County Assessor's records. Most of these are in the West Central and Fassnight neighborhoods. GDL Enterprises is also behind the 'Loose Goose' development on the southwest corner of Grand and Grant streets. The project will include a drive-thru coffee shop, food trucks, yard games with green space, an outdoor walk-up bar and six pickleball courts, according to previous News-Leader reporting.

Self-storage facility on East Chestnut Expressway

On the very east edge of city limits, a strip of "orphaned" land could soon be used for self-storage units. Located at 3601 E. Chestnut Expressway, the narrow strip of land abuts unincorporated Greene County on the east and the Menards shopping center on the west. The property looks to be rezoned from Planned Development to Highway Commercial, which is how Menards is zoned. Highway Commercial allows for storage facilities while planned development does not.

The 6-acre property is narrow and stretches far north. The north far end of the property does not have utilities and also cannot be subdivided in order to add in a street, leaving self-storage as the only viable use for the piece of land, according to Geoffrey Butler from BRP Architects who represented the applicants.

He said there is also a stream buffer running through the property to counter stormwater runoff from Menards which takes up about 60 feet of the middle of the lot. Because of all these factors, there is still a lot to figure out as the project moves forward.

More: Springfield Cooper Park, Killian sports complexes expand renovation plans with ARPA funds

According to city documents, the application prompted multiple concerns by nearby neighbors regarding the preservation of native vegetation, the aesthetic nature of the development and the future name of the facility. Neighbors were concerned that including 'Moongate' in the name of the facility would imply the neighborhood's affiliation with the facility.

As the rezoning case appeared in front of the commission, most of these concerns were addressed — trees would be preserved, the facility would only be one story-high and a wooden fence would be installed on the east side of the property west of the tree line. The name of the storage facility was not mentioned. Butler said the owners would be sensitive to the comments received.

The commission unanimously approved the rezoning.

New hotel in south Springfield

A new hotel may be coming to south Springfield. Located at 1266 E. Lark St., the new development would be near apartment complexes, Mercy Pediatric Clinic and a Hilton hotel.

Currently, the plot is undeveloped and has been so since 1987. The land now is in the hands of St. James Hotel Properties, LLC, which according to the Missouri Secretary of State business database is owned by Gordon Elliott of Elliott Lodging LTD, which operates a number of hotels and apartment buildings in Springfield.

The development received no concerns from the city staff, the commission or nearby neighbors; most nearby properties are not residential.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: New developments gain zoning approval, despite some neighbor concerns