Jackson street project prompts zoning study

In the 10th hour of Wednesday morning on Dallas Street, a shirtless man in shorts let his white poodle out for some air. Across the road, an old man pulled a rake out of his shed, happy he was still healthy enough to get out and do some yard work.

A couple houses down, a middle-aged, bespectacled man was enjoying a cup of coffee on the back porch with a younger fellow, presumably a college-aged son. Across the street, an elderly lady meticulously trimmed a hedge in her front yard.

The neighborhood was as residential as a neighborhood could be.

But that could all change with the improvements being made to West Jackson Boulevard, one block south of Dallas Street. Construction workers are building a four-lane highway through the western part of town.

The improvement will change the look of Jackson. On Tuesday night, the board of aldermen directed the planning and zoning commission to begin a study to determine exactly what zoning changes might be made as the property along the highway attracts developers' interest.

When looking at Jackson's evolution from a rural farm town to a fast-growing community of 12,000 people, perhaps no particular improvement has changed the city the way the widening of East Jackson Boulevard did.

Before the four-lane highway -- the artery between Cape Girardeau and Jackson -- was built east of Highway 25, a turkey farm and a long bed of roses lined U.S. 61. Shortly after the four-lane was built, eating places began popping up. There was an ice cream store, then a hamburger stand. Then an A&W restaurant.

Today, there's a Country Mart, a Save-A-Lot, and a medical office; several banks, gas stations, car dealerships and fast-food places; a Wal-Mart Supercenter and even a psychic's business, just to name a few.

The original widening laid the path for immense commercial development that has helped produce a healthy economic climate in Jackson. It also gave room for Jackson to grow in population, too. Will the new construction have the same affect on Jackson that it did many years ago? It's tough to predict, considering how much the circumstances have changed.

"I think it could eventually have the same impact," said Mayor Paul Sander. "It may take longer because it's not as close to the interstate."

For the current expansion, the Missouri Department of Transportation plans to widen Jackson Boulevard from Highway 25 to the 34-72 junction outside of town.

The main purpose of the current project is to improve traffic congestion in and out of town, as was the primary aim when U.S. 61 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson was widened in phases from the 1960s through the 1980s.

But in those decades, the extra lanes were built through pastures. Today, they're passing through several residential areas. Several homes were demolished. Some homes, which were well off the highway, will soon be just a few feet from the side of the road. There are many more homeowners to deal with this time around.

Tuesday's motion set the wheels turning on what figures to be important decisions that will affect the long-term look, growth and climate of the city.

And the decisions won't be easy.

'It's called progress'

"I see it playing out the way East Jackson Boulevard played out," said Vicki Abernathy, an eight-year member of the planning and zoning commission. "It's all going to be commercial and it's going to be controversial because there are those who don't like change. Fortunately, or unfortunately in some cases, it's called progress. Some want to see the town like it was 50 years ago, but a lot has changed and we need to keep an open mind. When you look at it now, the way it's torn up and how it's going to be, it would be insane to keep it residential."

Some of the property is already commercially zoned. Some of it is even light industrial. But most of it is residential.

Many property owners will look at the road as an opportunity to upgrade their property value when it changes to commercial. Local business and government officials will view the road as an opportunity to expand Jackson's economy and job base. Others will view it as an opportunity to expand their business in front of a busy highway.

Not everyone will agree with those points of view, which is why Jackson building and planning superintendent Janet Sanders knows there is a lot of work to be done before any decisions are made.

"Just because we're studying it doesn't mean the city is going to go and rezone everybody," Sanders said. "You anticipate that once a highway goes four-lane, more property owners will want a change in zoning and we're looking now at how to deal with that. There's going to be people on both sides wanting both ways."

Sanders said city ordinances require surrounding property owners be notified before a change in zoning is decided.

"We'll also take into consideration the surrounding properties," she said. "They'll have a say in it, too."

Fears losing privacy

David Mize, of 844 Dallas St., lives a short block north of the highway in a house he has owned for eight years. Should the zoning change to commercial as it did on the east side of town, he could one day be looking at the back of a business instead of his neighbor's house.

He's especially concerned about what may go in to the immediate west of his house, fearing he'll lose some privacy.

"I already heard there's going to be a used-car lot or something like that," he said. "I wouldn't want a car lot or a convenience store or anything like that."

A few miles toward Cape Girardeau, one Jackson couple is still living with a zoning decision that has trapped them in their current house. Michael and Joyce Baker live at the corner of East Jackson Boulevard and Donna Street, across from Jackson Tire.

When the city rezoned much of the property along the four-lane highway, it left the Baker's property residential because it was the entrance to a residential subdivision.

Now, the Bakers have petitioned the city again -- the couple tried unsuccessfully a few years ago -- for a zoning change. They say they can't sell their house because of the thousands and thousands of cars that pass by every day. Some neighbors have staunchly protested the change because they don't want commercial properties sneaking closer to their homes.

The board of aldermen will decide the Bakers' zoning fate at the Sept. 20 meeting.

"Zoning issues are some of the most difficult decisions to make because there's no right or wrong answer, just opinions," Sander said. "And everybody has one."

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635