Jackson seeking zoning compromise

Jackson's plans for commercial zoning along the East Main Street extension to Interstate 55 began as an attempt to settle how the area would look before builders started putting their stamp on the landscape.

But the magnitude of the proposal -- which sets aside an area that runs for about a mile along I-55 and about three-quarters of a mile west along Main Street for business development -- is generating questions and some opposition from surrounding homeowners.

City officials will join together today to mark the beginning of the project to pave East Main Street. The wide concrete street is expected to be completed by September. The new I-55 interchange is also under construction, with completion anticipated sometime in early 2008.

Concerns raised by homeowners at the edges of the proposed commercial zone are being used to redraw the boundaries and will be incorporated in additional regulations that will direct the appearance of the commercial zone, said Janet Sanders, building and planning administrator.

"This is the first time we have control over what an interchange looks like," Sanders said.

At a public hearing conducted last week by the Jackson Planning and Zoning Commission, more than three dozen people, most of whom live immediately next to the proposed commercial zone, showed up to listen and to voice their opinions.

Norman Loos, who lives on the west side of Oak Hill Drive, would look out onto the commercial zone from his front door. He attended the meeting and said the vast majority of those on hand do not like the current proposal.

Loos said he's concerned about trash, traffic and trucks. "They should move it closer to the interstate," Loos said. "I don't think there would be many people opposed to that."

A revised plan for the area will be ready for a commission study session April 4, Sanders said. That would set the stage for a commission vote at its April 11 meeting, to be followed by a public hearing before the Jackson Board of Aldermen in May, she said.

Whether commissioners will be ready to vote by then is uncertain, said member Ken Ruff. Commissioners will conduct on-site visits in teams to look over the landscape for themselves, he said, "We want to walk the walk, kick the dirt and see what the issues are firsthand," he said. "When we get on the soil, we are going to get a hands-on picture rather than looking at a map."

The idea mentioned most often is a buffer zone between homeowners already in place and the new commercial development. "It is in the western area, the western side where it would be abutting residential areas that is the concern," Ruff said. "There wasn't anyone who said there shouldn't be a commercial district."

Going for consistent look

Jackson officials are also working to "overlay" aesthetic rules for building materials, landscaping, green space and signs to give development a consistent appearance, "We don't want it to look like East Jackson Boulevard looks," Ruff said. "There was no planning in years past, and we are looking out ahead."

The types of businesses allowed under the proposed zoning run the gamut from gas stations and restaurants to hotels, offices and large retail establishments, Sanders said. The zoning does not allow manufacturing industries or large warehouse operations, she said.

The revised plan, which is still being prepared, will likely move the commercial zoning back about the width of a single building lot from current development, Sanders said. Duplexes and offices could be used as additional buffers, she said.

By establishing the zoning early, attracting business will be easier, city administrator Jim Roach said. Currently it can take up to three months for a business seeking a zoning change to learn whether it will be granted, he said. "The advantage to developers is that they will be able to develop quickly," Roach said.

Once zoning is in place, the city has little control over which businesses build in the area as long as they meet the established zoning rules. That worries Loos and his neighbors, Loos said. "If they put some kind of junky place in there, it will lower our property values. I am 71 years old, and I really don't want to move."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126