P&Z ADVANCES DRURY PROPOSAL FOR MOTEL NEAR I-55

Drury Development Corp. is moving forward with plans to build a five-story, 118-room Drury Inn at the southwest intersection of Interstate 55 and Route K.

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday recommended unanimously that the city council approve a special use permit for the motel at the corner of Siemers and Campster drives.

In other action, a split commission voted to recommend a special use permit for an animal hospital in the 2900 block of Kage Road, despite the objections of residents from a nearby subdivision.

The proposed Drury Inn will be built north of the Cape Budget Inn. Future plans call for the demolition of most of that motel to make room for parking and a proposed restaurant for the new building.

James Evans requested the permit on behalf of Drury Development. He said the motel will include four meeting rooms, a five-story atrium, a glass elevator and an indoor pool.

The motel would face I-55, with the Wal-Mart Supercenter to the rear, across Siemers Drive. "It would be taking the place of the Texaco that's there now," Evans said.

He didn't say when the company plans to begin construction. The commission approved the request without discussion.

The animal hospital request, however, was a different matter.

Gwenn Freitag, owner of LaCroix Pet Hospital at 2008 N. Kingshighway, requested that property owned by Melvin Schmidt be either rezoned to allow the animal hospital or that a special use permit be granted so that she can build an animal hospital on the site.

But persons who live in a residential area near the tract complained that they wanted no such business situated near their homes.

Ernie Duncan, 2920 Kage, and Mark Hill, 3014 Kage, appeared at the meeting on behalf of the owners of 10 homes in the area who are opposed to the proposal.

"We're concerned whether it will damper the values of homes in the area," Duncan said.

He said he feared the dogs that would be treated at the clinic would be a nuisance and a possible hazard to neighborhood children.

Duncan also said he thought the dogs might attract strays if they were in heat.

"There is a lot of wild game in the area, and the dogs might respond to them as much as anything else," he said. "Basically, everybody in the areas that we talked to was against it."

But Freitag said 80 percent of the animals she treats are spayed or neutered. She also said the animals would be isolated from wild game and children.

"That's more for my protection than for any of the neighbors," she said. "As far as stray animals being attracted to my area, we just haven't seen it."

Freitag also refuted concerns about traffic from the business. She said only a handful of vehicles would be in and out of the hospital daily.

The commission voted 4-2 in favor of a special use permit for the proposal. Commissioners Harry Rediger and Joe Gambill voted against the recommendation.

"While I appreciate the business that is going in, I would tend to be opposed to granting a special-use permit based on the total opposition of the neighbors, both adjacent and in the area," said Rediger. "I would respect their wishes."

But Charles Haubold, chairman of the commission, said that if the animal hospital is nixed, another commercial business on the site might be a greater irritant to the neighborhood.

Commissioner R.J. McKinney agreed. "With that zoning, there could be a lot more neighborhood-disturbing businesses that could go in there," he said.

In other business, the commission recommended the city council approve:

The request of St. Andrew Church to rezone 2424 Kingsway Drive from single-family residential zone to commercial zone to accommodate a parking lot.

The request of Wanda A. Pipkin for a special use permit for a mobile home at 216 Capaha Trail in a single-family residential zone.

20Appointed Haubold and an alternate to be named later to the Housing Assistance Task Force.