P&Z DENIES REZONING REQUEST ON LEXINGTON

In an effort to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood, a request by Holigan Family Investments Inc. to rezone an area near Lexington Avenue and North Sprigg Street was denied by the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission last night.

The public hearing dealing with the proposed change from Residential-1 to Residential-2 status drew nearly 15 residents of the area to the council chambers to voice their opposition to the plan. Most of those who opposed said they have homes on at least one acre of land and lowering the requirements for the developers would conflict with the neighborhood.

R-2 requires a minimum of 7,000 square feet of land per home. R-1 requires 10,000 square feet.

Holigan's initial plat, which was designed for R-2 zoning, was for 157 homes to be built on an area between 46 and 41.5 acres. That plat was rejected with the board's refusal to rezone the area and committee members estimate the developers will lose between 10 and 15 percent of those proposed homes when the new plat is designed.

Holigan does have the option of going to Monday's city council meeting with its request.

In other committee business:

-- A 3.83-acre section of land situated between churches at 1800 Cape La Croix Rd., was rezoned from R-1 to C-1 to allow Commerce Bank to purchase the land and situate a building there. The land was deeded to the bank by one of the churches under specific guidelines that restricted almost every business but banks and office buildings from owning the land. The measure was approved by the committee in part because of those tight restrictions.

-- A 52x150-foot section of land adjacent to 620 Emerald St. was rezoned to C-1 to allow the owners of the land to expand their building to include a driveway.

-- Gennettia and Gordon Galbreath's request for a special use permit that would allow them to move a double-wide manufactured home onto a lot at 133 E. Cape Rock Dr. was approved by the committee by a 7-4 vote. Those opposed were concerned that the house would depreciate the value of the surrounding homes. The measure passed because those residents neighboring the lot wrote in letters endorsing the measure.