LOCAL ANGLES: ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT IES IN CAPE

Another development project has been killed in Cape Girardeau, and I wonder why my instincts say something isn't right.

Why is a community development project so inherently rotten that it would be attacked like some form of cancer? Dr. Robert Gardner hired a respectable architectural firm from Des Moines, Iowa, to draw up plans for a development project on the 33-acre tract he purchased over a year ago. I have to admit, the project looked impressive.

Architect Larry Decker turned in a persuasive presentation before the Planning and Zoning Commission last week and seemed to sway a few people who came to the meeting out of curiosity.

Said one individual, "I'm not really for or against this project, but it looks interesting. I think more time and study should be given to it before anybody makes a decision on it."

Not a bad idea. But those opposed to the project didn't seem to want any kind of compromise. It looked like Democracy was going to win out on this night. There were 163 residents who were willing to sign a petition to zap the cancer before it was allowed to grow. Keep the property R-1 or kill it in its tracks, they said. P&Z aggreed and voted it down 8-0.

But this wasn't such an ugly animal to do away with. Rendrag Development devised a plan that called for 38 single-family residential dwellings valued at $100,000 to $150,000 each. Another 20 units were to be four-plex condominiums and 44 were to be townhouses. The remaining 32 units were to be built into eight-unit apartment buildings.

There were even plans for some commercial development to be included in the project in the form of an insurance company and a day care center.

I listened to residents who have owned their homes for more than 20 years cite reasons why this development would ruin the neighborhood they have grown to love.

They didn't need apartment buildings and the additional traffic they would bring to the area west of Perryville Road and south of Lexington Avenue.

A new cluster of apartments would put too heavy a strain on the water and electric capacity. The local grade school couldn't handle more than it was already accommodating.

But wait a minute. Wouldn't a development that would follow the guidelines of a single-famiy residential dwelling project create the same problems of traffic, utilities and school?

Sure it would. The difference is that if it were R-1, it would be a development that would mirror the pattern of the existing neighborhood.

Problem is, however, that developers don't waltz in and out of town with big bags of money and grandiose plans every day.

The company that wanted to build a go-cart track off of Kingshighway likely went elsewhere when Cape Girardeau said no thanks.

It is interesting that we have no problem courting a company that makes money from gambling casinos, yet we discourage development projects that come too close to our back yards.

Gardner pulled the plug on his own project before the city council could have an opportunity to call for an open hearing or further study on the matter. Perhaps he just didn't want to compromise.

My instincts tell me this was not the right thing to do, either. There are a lot of projects going on in Cape. But there are others that never get started and probably should.

Hopefully, a trend hasn't been established that will give the city a new kind of cancer that is difficult to kill.

Bill Heitland is staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.