NEW BUSINESS: LOWE'S STORE PLAN GETS REVIEW BY P&Z

The city's Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday recommended a zoning change that will open the door for a proposed Lowe's Home Center.

Lowe's, which is the second largest chain of home centers in the United States, is proposed for a site southeast of Cape Girardeau's Wal-Mart Supercenter, west of Interstate 55.

The 115,000-square-foot Lowe's would be the second major development for the Cape West Business Park next year. Earlier this year, plans were announced for a 134,500-square-foot Sam's Wholesale Club to be situated directly south of Wal-Mart.

Dan Overbey of Drury Development, which is Cape West's developer, said Lowe's has 306 stores nationwide, and 1991 sales revenue exceeded $3 billion. He said final details of the transaction are pending.

The commission also approved preliminary plats for Cape West's Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Subdivisions.

In other action Wednesday, the commission recommended approval of a request by Keith Deimund and others to rezone a tract of land for a development at the southeast corner of North Sprigg and Bertling Street.

Deimund asked that the tract be divided into sections zoned commercial, multiple-family residential, two-family residential and single-family residential.

Deimund said a convenience store would be a likely development for the commercial tract, with apartment buildings to the north, duplexes directly east and north and a single-family residential subdivision further east.

But some commissioners questioned whether the proposed three-acre commercial section would constitute spot zoning in an area surrounded by residential zoning.

"I love progress, but for the four or five years I've been on the commission, the biggest thing we've tried to curb is spot zoning," said Tom Mogelnicki. "If he wants a building there, he could come back and ask for a special use permit and we might be able to help him out.

"I just don't feel comfortable putting commercial zoning in a residential area."

Other commissioners said it would be impossible for the city to regulate future development on the commercial tract, and the C-2 commercial district zoning Deimund requested would open the door for businesses that wouldn't be appropriate for the area.

The proposed development would coincide with a planned extension of Sprigg Street north to the new Lexington Avenue.

Deimund said he favored a less restrictive zoning for the commercial section so that he wouldn't have to come back to the commission when he decides what to do with the site.

The developer agreed with commissioners Dennis Vollink's suggestion that the site be zoned C-1 instead of C-2, because it's a more restrictive commercial district.

"I'm just concerned about what might be put in a C-2," Vollink said.

When asked if the city would have any objections to C-1 zoning for the tract, City Planner Kent Bratton said, "I certainly think C-1 would be preferable."

The commission also recommended that Twin Lakes Subdivision, which the city is in the process of annexing, retain its single-family residential zoning.