The Springfield City Council considered a treble of rezoning cases that involve housing and retail development proposals at its Nov. 6 meeting.
The respective rezoning cases would bring a new apartment complex to West Chestnut Expressway, potential new retail along West Bypass and patio homes to the Weller Neighborhood.
With recommendations of approval from city government staff and the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission, all three rezoning applications will be voted on by the City Council on Nov. 20.
Workforce housing in west Springfield
On West Chestnut, a housing development is taking shape. The applicant, Mearl Curtis et al. Revocable Living Trust, seeks to rezone about 3.5 acres of land at 4123 and 4149 W. Chestnut Expy. and 430 N. Meteor Ave. from highway commercial and a manufactured home community district to medium-density multi-family use.
Under the new zoning, the developer looks to build an apartment complex with 60 one and two-bedroom workforce housing units across three two-story buildings and 129 parking spaces — two spaces per unit.
The development will also feature a clubhouse, a dog park and a playground, among other outdoor amenities.
While exact rent prices for the apartments haven’t been identified yet, developer Jeff Beckler said the property managers will use Greene County’s area median income to model what rental rates might look like for an area he said has a “good demand” for housing.
Although neighbors previously expressed concerns about added traffic the development could bring to the neighborhood, particularly due to there already being a lot of industrial traffic and a railroad crossing north of the property, a traffic study for the rezoning shows no required improvements.
Contingent on the rezoning and funding, construction on the development is anticipated to begin in mid-December 2024.
Retail ‘down the road’ for Kay Pointe Place
Carleton Resources, LLC is applying to rezone about 21 acres of property located at 901 S. West Bypass, just north of Grand Street, from single-family residential and highway commercial, to general retail for a potential commercial component of the “Kay Pointe Place” development.
Though the rezoning case only applies to 21 acres of land, Kay Pointe Place will also feature single-family homes, which will be constructed in the first phase of the development, according to Kevin Carleton of Carleton Resources.
Although Carleton said the property is zoned primarily for commercial uses, the rezoning allows for multi-family buildings and nothing non-residential within 110 feet of the nearby neighborhood.
Adjacent to Wilson’s Creek, some of the property is located in a FEMA-designated floodplain, limiting the potential expanse of the development.
Zone 3 Councilmember Brandon Jenson expressed concern that the city government would allow fee payment instead of on-site stormwater detention. The fees would go into a fund to pay for improvements in the larger James River Basin.
Chris Dunnaway, a stormwater engineer with the Springfield Public Works Department, said the fee option is used when city staff determines that stormwater detention wouldn’t have any impact on properties downstream.
“When it starts raining, it takes a long time for the whole watershed, for all that runoff to get to this location, and so it’s usually beneficial to not provide detention and let the runoff from that site kind of get downstream,” Dunnaway said.
The rezoning requires a public street connection for Lombard Street, Kay Pointe Boulevard and Suburban Street, immediately west of Grand, which ends on the east side of West Bypass. Though a traffic study will be required, the proposed development is not anticipated to create a significant increase in traffic.
In addition, the city would maintain easements for potential future trail connections due to its proximity to Rutledge-Wilson Farm Park.
Low-intensity development to bring 22 units to Weller
On the east side of town, JNE Holdings is applying to rezone 1.85 acres at 1218, 1222, 1223, 1226, 1232 and 1238 E. Pacific St. and 1219 and 1225 E. Locust Street from general manufacturing to low-density multi-family.
The development will consist of one and two family housing patio homes just northeast of the National Avenue and Division Street intersection. Because some of the property is landlocked with railroad tracks to the east and no access to right-of-way, it is being combined into a single lot.
