Springfield City Council last night passed an annexation and six rezoning measures, including four connected to Mercy Springfield Communities.
Just one of the seven proposals drew comments at the council meeting, as well as a vote of opposition: the rezoning of 10.6 acres at 3410 S. Campbell Ave. and 202 E. Walnut Lawn St., where Youngblood Auto Group seeks to expand east and build a garage at the site of a former Mercy fitness center.
Council voted to suspend the rules on public comment and heard concerns about the zoning change from two neighbors before voting 8-1 in favor of the move to a highway-commercial district with a conditional overlay from a planned development.
Ken Roetto, a former insurance professional living in the area, said with over 10 acres being rezoned, he fears other businesses could buy portions of the land, or all of it later, and expose neighbors to more traffic.
“What we’re fighting is that we have an unknown highway-commercial proposal. We don’t know what (you are) voting on,” he said.
One of three speakers, Derek Lee of Lee Engineering Inc. representing Youngblood Auto, said the rezoning wouldn’t likely increase the traffic burden on neighbors east of Campbell.
“The existing zoning allows a very high traffic use right now,” Lee said. “The comment keeps being made, ‘highway commercial,’ but it’s a very restrictive highway-commercial. There’s a relatively small amount of retail and restaurant that could be put in.”
The planned development allowed the 120,000-square-foot fitness center to be built on the property. Under the approved zoning change, 14,000 square feet of retail is permitted, half of which could be for a restaurant. The conditional overlay also requires a 25-foot buffer yard to the east with a four-foot tall barrier.
Councilman Mike Schilling cast the lone opposing vote.
Other approved rezoning measures include a Mercy property also near Walnut Lawn and Campbell, at 216 E. Walnut Lawn, which changed 0.9 acres to an office district from a residential townhouse district. It’s one of three properties Mercy is seeking to sell, including 3.3 acres at 1329 E. Lark St., which is between National and Fremont avenues, south of Republic Road. That property’s zoning was changed last night to a general retail district from a planned development. Mercy also had a 12-acre rezoning approved that includes its rehabilitation hospital. That move was made following the city’s annexation of the property last year.
Council approved two other zoning proposals at last night’s meeting and an annexation: 4 acres at 1300-1332 E. Republic Road to highway commercial from the same 30-year-old planned development that included Mercy’s East Lark property; 5.5 acres at 1209 E. Holiday St. to general retail from an office district; and an annexation of roughly 2 acres of private property at 4229 S. Scenic Ave.
Geoffrey Butler of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc., who represented the South Scenic property owner at the Jan. 11 public hearing, said after that meeting there were no plans beyond listing it for sale.
