Jackson to discuss revised zoning

A revised plan for rezoning land along the East Main Street extension will be on the agenda for a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. Monday before the Jackson Board of Aldermen.

In March, more than three dozen residents from east-side neighborhoods attended a hearing of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, many in opposition to proposals that they said extended commercial zoning near the new Interstate 55 interchange too close to their homes. The proposal has been scaled back in response to that opposition, Jackson planning director Janet Sanders said.

Instead of taking commercial designations all the way to Oak Hill Road, for example, the commercial zone would stop at the Williams Creek interceptor sewer easement north of Main Street and along Williams Creek to the south. Farther to the north, she said, the commercial zoning designation would stop 300 feet short of Ridge Road.

In addition to scaling back the commercial sector, the aldermen will also review a proposal to impose restrictions called an "overlay district" to the commercial property.

Those overlay restrictions, approved as a general ordinance earlier this year, must be specifically applied to a geographic area through zoning actions. Just as the area included in the new East Main Street commercial area was altered because of opposition, the ordinance creating overlay district rules was altered from its original proposal. The original proposal banned tall pole signs, now they are allowed in the district. The board also eased proposed restrictions on building materials to allow wood or composite siding buildings, but many of the traffic flow and landscaping rules were retained, Sanders said.

"The people who stayed vocal were the ones who wanted the signs," Sanders said.

The public hearing will also accept comments on plans to rezone a property along the south side of East Main Street between Lacey Street and Shawnee Boulevard from residential to commercial. The property extends to Bainbridge Road, but only the portion north of properties along Travelers Way is slated for rezoning.

Two residents who attended the March hearing said they will be on hand Monday evening to understand the ramifications of the new commercial district boundaries.

Norman Loos, who lives at 385 Oak Hill Road, said he has not seen the final proposal. He opposed the size of the commercial district because he was worried about increased traffic and trash along Oak Hill Road.

On Thursday afternoon, Loos said he wasn't sure whether he would be addressing the board. "It is going to depend on what they are planning on doing," he said. "If they are not doing more than what they are doing now, I am going to be talking."

The key for many landowners was to create a buffer zone between existing residences and the new commercial district. Under the altered proposal, Sanders said, the land along Oak Hill Road will remain R-2, which allows only single-family homes.

The proposal fits what Agnes Boitnott, 265 Oak Hill Road, wanted. Boitnott lives four houses from the intersection of Main Street and Oak Hill Road.

"As long as it is not commercial across the street from us facing Oak Hill Road, if it is behind that, I don't see that would be a problem," Boitnott said.

City planning staff spoke one on one with several people who opposed the earlier plan, Boitnott said. That helped allay fears and provided an opportunity for input on the final plan, she said.

One item that worries her, Boitnott said, is that the intersection of East Main Street and Oak Hill Road is designated to have a four-way stop rather than a traffic light. "We have quite a bit of traffic now on Oak Hill Road, and that was one of our objections to commercial zoning."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 12