Cape council to vote on rezoning request for apartment development

The Cape Girardeau City Council will vote today on a request to rezone a longtime mobile-home park, clearing the way for development of an apartment complex.

The council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the issue before voting on the rezoning request.

Property owner Brad Schlosser is removing the mobile homes at the Star Vue Mobile Home Park at 1927 N. Kingshighway and plans to build a 40-unit apartment complex, city officials said.

City planner Ryan Shrimplin said the land is zoned for mobile homes. Schlosser has requested the site be rezoned as an R-4, or medium density multifamily residential, district.

Cape Girardeau’s planning and zoning commission first reviewed the rezoning request in August. Several property owners from an adjacent subdivision opposed the zoning change.

Opponents expressed concern the R-4 maximum building height and minimum setback rules would “create an adverse effect on their use and enjoyment of their properties,” Shrimplin wrote in an agenda report to the city council.

On Oct. 11, the planning and zoning commission approved the rezoning request after Schlosser and the adjacent property owners reached an agreement, Shrimplin said.

The agreement calls for Schlosser to execute a private deed restriction that requires a lower maximum building height and a larger minimum setback than what is required in an R-4 zone, the city planner said.

None of the adjacent property owners attended the Oct. 11 planning commission meeting, Shrimplin said.

In July, Schlosser wrote a letter to city officials explaining he is seeking to develop “workforce housing.” The goal, he said, was to develop “affordable rental housing.”

In paperwork submitted to the city earlier this year, Schlosser proposed to construct 28 two-bedroom units and 12 three-bedroom units.

Shrimplin said the rezoning request is in “reasonable conformity with the existing uses and value of the immediately surrounding properties.”

Shrimplin wrote the site would serve as a “transitional zone between the commercial development along Kingshighway and the single-family residential neighborhoods to the southwest.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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