Plan for redevelopment around Hobby Lobby delayed by traffic concerns

Traffic issues must be addressed before the Cape Girardeau City Council votes on developer Scott Rhodes' request to rezone the Hobby Lobby shopping area, city planner Ryan Shrimplin said Monday.

Rezoning is required before Rhodes can move ahead with his proposed development, Shrimplin said.

The "Shoppes at South Kingshighway" development would be centered around the Hobby Lobby store at the corner of William Street and Kingshighway, according to development documents filed with the city.

For the third time since March 6, the council held a public hearing on the request to rezone property at 201, 205, 207, 211, 213 and 215 S. Kingshighway from highway commercial (C-2) to planned development (PD). No one appeared at the hearing.

Rather than close the hearing, the council continued the hearing as it has done each time. Continuing the hearing allows development issues to be addressed without advertising for a new hearing, Shrimplin said before the council meeting.

A view of the Hobby Lobby shopping center.

Mayor Harry Rediger said the development will be back on the agenda at the April 17 meeting.

The plan proposed by Rhodes Development Co. and South K Inc. includes construction of a new right-in, right-out driveway on William Street, Shrimplin said. Currently, there is no access to the shopping area from William Street.

Rhodes also has suggested removing all three existing South Kingshighway entrances to the shopping area and replacing them with a single, signalized entrance directly across from Good Hope Street, according to the preliminary plan submitted to city staff.

But Shrimplin said both proposals would require approval from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).

"MoDOT has some concerns with putting a signal light there," Shrimplin said. State highway officials are concerned the proposed traffic signal would be too close to the existing William Street and Kingshighway signalized intersection, he said.

"That is not something they are open to at this point," Shrimplin said.

In addition, MoDOT has expressed concern about adding a right-turn entrance and exit onto William Street, Shrimplin said.

Shrimplin said city and MoDOT staff will meet with the developer and/or his engineer to review the traffic issues.

"It warrants taking a closer look," he said, adding city officials want to make sure the proposed development would not create additional traffic problems in an already congested area.

The developer recently submitted a traffic analysis, but city staff has not had time to review it, Shrimplin said.

Rhodes has proposed demolishing all the old commercial buildings on the site, except for the Hobby Lobby store. They include Nearly Perfect Shoes, Sherwin Williams Personal Finance, China Town Buffet, and the former Pizza Hut and EZ Express Carwash, Shrimplin said.

Building additions have been proposed on the north and south sides of Hobby Lobby.

The 10,000-square-foot north addition, currently under construction, will be occupied by a Dollar Tree store. Shrimplin said that project could proceed because there was sufficient existing parking for the new store.

Planned-development zoning is needed for the overall site to address parking for the remainder of the proposed development, Shrimplin said.

The south addition would consist of three retail spaces consisting of 18,242 square feet, 10,000 square feet and 5,600 square feet, according to a development plan submitted by Koehler Engineering.

In addition, the plan calls for two restaurants to be built.

As currently envisioned, a 72-seat, 3,900-square-foot restaurant would be built on the northeast corner of the shopping center and an 80-seat, 3,630-square-foot restaurant would be built on the southeast corner. No specific restaurants have been mentioned.

Under a planned development, the Cape Girardeau City Council can allow exceptions to the city code. Rhodes has proposed two exceptions dealing with traffic.

The first calls for reducing the number of parking spaces in the shopping area from 624 to 479, a decrease of 145 spaces, according to the development plan.

The second would allow parking spaces to have a depth of 18 feet rather than the 19-foot minimum required under the city code, Shrimplin wrote in an agenda report to the city council.

In exchange for fewer parking spaces, Rhodes has proposed construction of "landscape islands," Shrimplin said. The islands would "serve to break up the massive expanse of pavement currently in the parking lot," the city planner wrote.

City development staff support the proposed exceptions, Shrimplin said. Even with reduced parking spaces, Shrimplin said he believes the site will have sufficient customer parking for the proposed development.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-03641

Pertinent address:

207 S. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.