LAND DEVELOPMENT AT ISSUE WHEN COUNCIL MEETS TONIGHT

Round two of the battle between property owners and Rendrag Development Corporation will take place in the Cape Girardeau City Council chambers tonight.

Dr. Robert Gardner, who is financing Rendrag Development, saw his attempt to rezone a 33-acre tract of land from a single-family to a multiple-family residential district rejected last week by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission by way of an 8-0.

Rendrag Development presented a plan to rezone property west of Perryville Road and south of Lexington Avenue. The development would include 134 units, 38 that would be single family dwellings valued at $100,000 to $150,000. Another 20 units would be four-plex condominiums and 44 would be townhouses. The remaining 32 units would be built eight-unit apartment buildings.

The original plan drew stiff opposition from a group armed with a petition signed by 163 property owners who are adamant about limiting development of the property to single-family homes.

Gardner pledged to draw an alternate plan to keep his project alive. The city council must decide if it wants to reject the project or hold a public hearing on the matter. If the council rejects the project, Gardner has 10 days from the filing date to apply for a public hearing or make an oral request at a regular or special meeting.

"If the council chooses to set a public hearing on its own motion, publication requirements could be met for the Aug. 15 council meeting," said City Planner Kent Bratton. "If the council files the disapproval recommendations, we will notify the applicant in writing of the council's action and the 10-day requirement to request a hearing if the applicant wishes to pursue the application further."

In another zoning matter, the city council must decide whether to hold a public hearing on a plan to rezone 10 lots in Lexington Place subdivision from single-family to two-family residential.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the request be denied, because the initial plan was part of a compromise worked out between the developer, Keith Deimund, and area property owners.

"I don't think we should approve this request because there was already one amendment made to the original rezoning request," said commissioner Harry Rediger.