City Beat: Council member brings up, then reconsiders, BK&M rezoning measure

Councilmember Brandon Jenson revived the dormant issue of a commercial development at Sunshine Street and National Avenue and then dropped it with an apology at the Dec. 16 meeting of Springfield City Council.

At its Oct. 21 meeting, council voted down a rezoning requested by developer BK&M LLC for the busy corner, now classified single-family residential and the subject of a court appeal that seeks to keep it that way.

According to city code, a six-month wait is required before a new rezoning measure can be brought before council by the developer, but a member of council can reintroduce it.

“I felt as though there was an opportunity for the neighborhood to have some really meaningful gains and identify a path forward for this project,” Jenson said at the Dec. 16 meeting.

In withdrawing his sponsorship of the bill, Jenson said he made a mistake in how he communicated with neighborhood residents.

“I very clearly made a mistake in how I brought this forward,” he said. “This has been a very harsh reminder of the lesson that anything you do for me without me is against me, and to the folks here tonight, I sincerely apologize for that.”

The measure brought by Jenson would have allowed the rezoning process to restart with a set of proposed changes. Among these were the addition of residential development on the site, major off-site traffic calming measures and significant site design alterations.

Jenson said he heard multiple concerns from neighborhood residents and community members after his decision to reintroduce the issue the before the six-month waiting period. One was that he would be rewarding a bad developer. He said he takes issue with that kind of language.

“Ultimately, I view it as my responsibility as a City Council person to review every proposal with a neutral analysis as to the parties that are involved and simply look at it and engage its alignment with the comprehensive plan and with the codes that we have in place,” he said.

Council voted to table the bill until its Jan. 13 meeting. Unless a new sponsor emerges from among the other council members, it will not be brought back for a vote, according to council procedures.

Ralph Duda, president of BK&M, said in a statement to Springfield Business Journal – included in this issue on page 29 as a letter to the editor – that he believes the measure should be permitted to come back to the table early to curtail his company’s future expenses, like repairs to existing property, taxes, insurance and mortgage costs.

He said two other commercial developments were rezoned at the intersection within the last seven years and went through without much difficulty.

Interim city manager
Deputy City Manager Collin Quigley was approved as the interim city manager, beginning Jan. 12.

Current City Manager Jason Gage submitted his resignation to council Oct. 11, giving three months’ notice before his last day on Jan. 11.

Quigley is a veteran of the city manager’s office, hired in as assistant city manager in 2007 and promoted to deputy city manager in 2018.

Darla Morrison, the city’s human resources director, told council Quigley’s appointment would provide needed continuity of leadership.

According to a news release from the city, Quigley does not intend to apply for the permanent city manager position. A nationwide search is underway and is being conducted by City Council and the Texas-based executive search firm Strategic Government Resources.

The vacancy announcement is expected to be posted in early January, with initial screening of candidates in February and March.

Annexations
The city took steps toward its Forward SGF comprehensive plan goal of achieving planned, sustainable growth through annexation with three annexation resolutions introduced. They will be up for a vote on Jan. 13.

Most of the areas being considered for annexation have existing annexation agreements with Springfield, required in exchange for sanitary sewer services, and council has begun the systematic process of acting on those agreements. For one 25.7-acre parcel, annexation was requested by the property owners.

The properties are as follows:

• In southwest Springfield, 39.5 acres of private property located on the 4000 block and 4069 W. Republic Road, including properties on South Timbercreek, South Johnathan, South York, West Wilderness and West Farm Road 168.

• In four separate locations within the city, 49.4 acres of private property located in the 2900-3000 blocks of West Republic Road, the 3900 block of East State Highway D, the 3100-3200 blocks of West Battlefield Road; the 3500-3600 blocks of West Sunshine Street and the 1700 block of South West Bypass.

• In southeast Springfield, 25.7 acres of property located at 6116 S. Farm Road 175.

Councilmember Derek Lee raised a concern about property on State Highway D and South Ranch Drive where he is aware of a construction project that is underway.

“They’re actively putting up walls under a building permit with Greene County inspectors under a Greene County permit,” he said.

City Principal Planner Alana Owen said existing county permits will continue to be active in the county.

“We would work closely just to make sure that there aren’t any hiccups to that,” she said, noting annexation would not cause issues.

Lee, an engineer, asked if the county had agreed to continue to inspect projects that were now in the city of Springfield.

Steve Childers, the city’s director of planning and development, said such situations are rare and are worked out on a case-by-case basis.

“We move forward just as if they’ve been issued a permit,” he said, noting the county and the city have similar processes.

Lee said he would like more information prior to voting.

“It seems like it may be premature to annex it,” he said. “I would respectfully suggest that we work it out before we annex it instead of trying to figure it out after the fact.”

Rezonings
Council heard first readings of three rezoning measures as follows:

• 16.5 acres at 315 E. Weaver Road, requested by Ward Weaver Property LLC, to highway commercial from single-family residential. Property owner Michael Fessenden, who has operated the Myron Royce Gardens plant nursery and greenhouses since 1995, would like to open a retail garden center on the site.

• 1.3 acres at 1910 W. Division St. and 1455 N. Wabash Ave., requested by David Rensch, to highway commercial from general manufacturing. The applicant intends to sell the property for a Dollar General store that would replace an existing Dollar General nearby.

• 3 acres at 1914 E. Blaine St., requested by AVS Sunset LLC, to industrial commercial from general manufacturing. The applicant intends to operate a car sales business on the property.

The rezonings are also slated to be on the Jan. 13 council agenda.

Other action items
• Council plans to vote Jan. 13 on a cost-share agreement for roadway improvements with Springfield Underground Inc. The agreement is for the not-to-exceed price of $2.3 million to coordinate participation in construction improvements to LeCompte Road from Division Street north to the BNSF Railroad tracks, an extension of Eastgate Avenue north of Division Street and a shared-use path along Eastgate Avenue and LeCompte Road. City Director of Public Works Dan Smith said a similar agreement was passed by council in 2022, but this agreement adds scope to the project with additional grant funds to pay for it. “This is a much better project than what we brought forward in 2022,” he said.

• Council entered into an interagency agreement with the Department of Public Works to obligate $4.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for Historic City Hall renovations. It also reallocated $100,000 from the Department of Planning and Housing to Housing and Urban Development, thus freeing up $50,000 from the HUD consolidated plan to fund a Sunshine Street corridor plan.

• The city manager was authorized to apply for up to $5 million in grant funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fund a new drop-off recycling center. The center would include traditional recycling drop-off options and would pilot new, hard-to-recycle materials, such as the string lights currently being accepted by the city. In less than a month, the program has diverted more than 1,000 pounds of nonworking string lights.

• A liquor license authorizing sales of liquor by the drink at retail was approved for Amezquita LLC, doing business as La Cabana, 631 S. Kimbrough Ave.

• The city issues $8 million in multifamily housing revenue bonds by its Industrial Development Authority for the acquisition and construction of the Sankofa Apartments at 411 W. Commercial St. by Sankofa 411 LLC.

• A stormwater infrastructure construction agreement with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources was approved for Scenic Avenue, extending from Olive Street in the north to Sunshine Street in the south. Total cost is approximately $7.8 million.