COUNCIL OKs CHURCH PERMIT IN FIRST READING

The Cape Girardeau City Council approved a special-use permit for construction of a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall on Lexington Avenue.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to grant the permit, requested by Ruth A. and Earl H. Norman and the North Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. The site for the new building is at Lexington and Steven Drive in a single-family residential district.

Earl Norman said a group of volunteers will build the new church over a weekend.

"We'll start it on a Friday and have our meeting Sunday afternoon," he said.

Congregation members hope to have the new church completed by mid-November, Norman said.

Peter Robbin, who owns the home next to the church site on Steven Drive, told council members he is concerned the church will scare off prospective buyers for his property.

He said prospective buyers might not want to live "next door to a parking lot."

Robbin is trying to sell his home on Steven, and asked council members to delay action on the permit "until my house is sold."

"I realize that there are churches in that area, but there aren't really any churches right next to residential areas that don't have some kind of barrier, such as woods or a couple of hundred yards of open space," he said.

Other residents in the surrounding area expressed concern about increased traffic in the area because of the church.

Steven Drive is already congested because of traffic being re-routed off Perryville Road, closed for reconstruction.

Burl Reynolds, who also lives on Steven Drive, said he is concerned about additional traffic because there are several children in the neighborhood and because motorists drive over the posted speed limit.

"At this point we try not to let our children play in the front yard," Reynolds said.

Norman said the congregation has agreed to put up landscaping and special lighting to shield neighboring homes from noise and parking lot lights.

The majority of the traffic will turn onto Lexington, he said, and not onto Steven Drive.

"If we have two cars a meeting that go out onto Steven, it would shock me," Norman said.

Some neighbors spoke for the church. Bo Shantz, who owns property at Lexington and Perryville Road, said the site is suitable for a church.

Shantz's request last year for a special-use permit to operate an insurance office at Lexington and Perryville Road was rejected. Neighbors complained they didn't want a commercial establishment in the neighborhood.

Jess Hopple, who lives on Steven Drive, said the church would make a "quality addition" to the neighborhood."

Mayor Al Spradling III said a church is probably the best option for the lot, which is unsuitable for residential construction.

The city has several churches "right smack in the middle" of subdivisions, Spradling said, adding: "Frankly, that's probably where they belong, given the neighborhood character of churches."

The church will be built on a 1.2-acre lot with exits onto both Lexington and Steven, Norman said. The building will have a seating capacity of 180, with 60 parking places.