Hearing on downtown development set for Monday

A hearing is scheduled for Monday to allow public comment on the rezoning of land on North Main Street to make way for a luxury townhome complex.

Developers Kenny Pincksten and Jim Riley are planning to call the three-story, five-townhome residential project Riverview Court and have asked the city of Cape Girardeau to change the zoning designation from an M-1 district, which allows light manufacturing and industrial, to R-4 and CBD designations, which are medium density multifamily residential and central business districts.

Behind the property, the zoning is R-1, or single family residential, said Ryan Shrimplin, Cape Girardeau city planner. To the north and south, the zoning is industrial. A plat of the back portion of the property has been submitted to the city for the residential development.

Residential and industrial zones typically are considered to be in conflict, but the properties near Cape Girardeau's historic center are a holdover from times predating municipal zoning, when homes and factories shared space near the riverfront. In some cases, people lived above the factories, Shrimplin said. The CBD zone is a newer designation that allows such mixed use.

Pincksten said the front of the property, near Main Street, will be a commercial and residential building, in line with other buildings on Main Street. All existing buildings on the property will be demolished and new construction would be similar to traditional styles seen downtown. The CBD zoning allows such design considerations as placing a building right next to the sidewalk, instead of setting it back 20 feet, Pincksten said.

"I want my new construction to look like it could have been 200 years old," Pincksten said. "Our first phase is the townhomes and our second phase is some storefronts down there with loft apartments above."

Pincksten said he expected interest in the property from older "empty-nesters," and younger families and 30- to 40-year-olds have turned out to be nostalgic for the area. He said he was attracted to downtown because of its unusual features.

"I'm not developing down there because of the casino; I am developing down there because it's a unique piece of property, with the Mississippi River," Pincksten said. "That downtown is going to be the hottest piece of property in Cape Girardeau, Mo. It's just cool."

Shrimplin said an issue with development is access to sanitary sewer service. Plans are to investigate using a nearby private sewer line.

Anyone may speak at the hearing, which will be at 7 p.m. Monday in the city council chambers, 401 Independence St.

Anyone interested in city zoning issues or the project may contact the planning services division at 339-6327.

salderman@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

321 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.