Neighbors fear flooding from proposed residential development

A proposed residential development along Hawthorne Road in Cape Girardeau has sparked opposition from neighbors who worry stormwater runoff could flood their backyards.

Developer Gary Arnold insists properties along Sharon Drive, which backs up to the development site, sit at a higher elevation.

"I can't see how we can possibly flood anybody," he said Wednesday.

At a public hearing before the Cape Girardeau City Council earlier this week, civil engineer Chris Koehler, who performed the engineering work for the development, said a "significant" amount of fill dirt has been placed on the 5.4-acre site to raise it out of the floodplain.

That concerns neighbors who believe paving the once-empty field and building houses and duplexes on the site will push more water into their yards.

Arnold has requested the property be rezoned from single-family residential district to a planned development district.

In addition, he has requested the council approve the preliminary redevelopment plan for Shadow Wood Villas, the proposed residential community.

The 20-unit development at 2930 Hawthorne Road would consist of four single-family homes and 16 duplex units, with each building set on a separate lot. The lots would be arranged around two cul-de-sacs.

A stormwater detention basin would be built on the site, Arnold said.

In addition, the plan envisions a 20-foot-wide buffer area along the development's perimeter.

City planner Ryan Shrimplin said the buffer area is less than the 30-foot minimum required in the zoning code.

But in a written report to the council, he noted city staff favors granting a variance because the development would be limited to single-family and two-family dwellings, and other developments in the city are subject to a 20-foot-wide buffer zone.

Tom O'Loughlin, an attorney representing four families on Sharon Drive, asked the council for time to secure an independent engineering analysis of the flooding potential from the proposed development.

The council agreed to delay action on the development request for at least 30 days.

During the public hearing, Ward 5 Councilman Mark Lanzotti told the neighbors, "You have a right to be concerned. To me, it seems like a good time for a pause."

O'Loughlin said the neighborhood has experienced stormwater runoff problems before.

The new development would make it worse, he insisted.

"I suspect it is going to be disastrous in future floods," he said. "If we get a 5- to 10-inch rain, these people's homes would be extremely damaged."

O'Loughlin said development opponents believe the planned detention basin won't be adequate to handle stormwater.

But Arnold said the stormwater would run into the detention basin, then carried by pipes to the city storm sewer system under Hawthorne Road and ultimately empty into Cape LaCroix Creek.

O'Loughlin countered the development's plan to drain the stormwater through two concrete pipes rather than a single pipe would catch sticks, mud and other debris, blocking the flow of water.

He also suggested the city's storm sewer pipe in that area isn't large enough to handle all the runoff.

"All the water can't get up under the road," he said.

O'Loughlin described the development site as a "small, creek-bottom area" not suitable for such a development.

While initial site work has been done to raise the elevation to or above the base flood elevation, Arnold said the Federal Emergency Management Agency must agree to remove the property from the floodplain map for the development to proceed.

The city's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the project, despite the neighborhood opposition.

Arnold said he began planning this development in May and had hoped to begin construction this winter.

But with the regulatory delays, Arnold estimated construction might not start until April.

"This is getting very frustrating to me," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

2930 Hawthorne Road