Commission recommends rezoning site along Old Hopper Road

A Cape Girardeau developer's plan to build duplexes on an 18.5-acre site bordering Old Hopper Road won the backing Wednesday of the city's planning and zoning commission despite neighborhood concerns.

The commission voted 7 to 0 with two abstentions to recommend the City Council rezone the property from R-1, single family residential district, to R-3, high density, single-family residential district.

In an application to the city, developer Brandon Williams said he wants to build "mainly" duplexes on the site.

The rest of the nearly 56-acre tract, located west of Old Hopper Road and south of Hopper Road, would remain R-1, according to the application.

Williams wrote single-family, detached homes are proposed to be built in that 37-acre area.

Some neighborhood residents said Williams and the city had kept them in the dark about the project.

Still, most of the neighborhood residents who spoke at the meeting did not object to the rezoning itself.

But Edward Bauerle, who lives near the property and opposes the rezoning, told the commission "there is a massive mistrust of what is going to happen" with the development.

Bauerle said he and his neighbors don't know if Williams will develop a retirement community as mentioned or do something else with the R-3 site.

The development essentially mirrors his earlier proposal, which also was approved by the commission.

But the Cape Girardeau City Council in July refused to rezone the site along Old Hopper Road for development of duplexes or townhomes after neighbors said it would lead to traffic congestion and pose a safety problem.

After the council rejected the R-3 rezoning request, Williams posted a sign on the R-1 zoned site indicating he planned to build federal Housing and Urban Development-approved rental homes.

Neighbors immediately objected to the idea, voicing complaints on social media and to city officials.

Williams subsequently took down the sign and submitted the new rezoning application.

Bauerle told the commission it appeared the developer, in putting up the sign, "threatened" the neighborhood in order to get what he wanted.

Commissioner Bruce Skinner abstained, citing the fact he lives near the property. But Skinner echoed concerns raised by Bauerle about the developer's signage.

Bauerle said the controversy grew out of a lack of communication. "This turned into a nightmare because of the way it was handled," he said.

City staff recommended approval of the rezoning. City planner Ryan Shrimplin said in a staff report to the advisory commission the proposed R-3 district is "reasonable and in reasonable conformity with the existing uses and value of the immediately surrounding properties."

Commission chairman Jeff Glenn said the city cannot control what a developer builds as long as such construction is allowed in a particular zoning district.

Bauerle said if rental housing was developed it would devalue neighboring properties. But city officials have said rental homes are allowed in an R-1 zone.

Neighborhood resident Cheryl Essner said she "never would have had a problem" with development of a retirement community. But she said the developer did not tell residents his plans from the start.

The city government should have policies to protect neighborhood residents from unsuitable developments, she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641