P&Z REJECTS WILLIAM COMMERCIAL REZONING

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday night recommended that a proposal to rezone a large tract of William Street as commercial be rejected.

Several of the commissioners said they previously were convinced the street should be rezoned from residential to commercial between Sprigg Street and Sheridan Drive, but that widespread neighborhood objection to the plan changed their minds.

At a May 8 commission meeting, several residents of the area said they were opposed to the rezoning and asked that the city continue to address rezoning and special use permit requests for the street on an individual basis.

"Before the last meeting, I truly was think about rezoning the entire strip," said Commissioner Tom Mogelnicki. "But after that meeting, I totally changed my mind.

"I know it's a pain to handle individual zoning change requests, but I think that might be the only way we can deal with that street."

Commission Chairman Tom Holshouser said he agreed: "I'll admit I was hell-bent on rezoning, but that meeting changed my mind.

"I'm convinced it's not needed at this time."

In other business, the commission recommended the City Council approve a major development plan submitted by Health Services Corporation of America.

The firm plans to expand its operations at 840 S. Mount Auburn Road by building a corporate headquarters and an office and retail development.

John Garry, the architect for the project, said HSCA plans to strip-lease part of the property and build a medical clinic on the site. Also, some of the property would be developed as a pedestrian plaza, he said.

The site totals more than six acres and would include a 70,000-square-foot main HSCA building; 36,500 square feet of office and professional space; a 9,500-square-foot medical clinic; and possibly an 11,000-square-foot office building or restaurant.

The zoning for the site now is C-2 commercial and HSCA requested the designation be changed to C-4, planned commercial development. The commission recommended the City Council approve the request with the stipulation that parking for the facility comply with C-2 zoning regulations and that entrances to the site be coordinated with entrances to Doctors Park, situated across the street.

Garry said that HSCA plans to begin foundation work immediately, and expects to have the facility finished sometime next year.

"We feel like this will be a high-end development," Garry said. "I think it will be a real asset to Cape Girardeau and this particular end of town."

But representatives of Doctors Park said they were concerned about traffic safety, because of the location of the four entrances for the new development in relation to entrances for the Doctors Park complex. They also voiced concerns about water retention for the HSCA site because much of Doctors Park is situated in the watershed below HSCA.

Garry said HSCA would be willing to work with Doctors Park and the city to assure proper access to the site.

In other business, the commission recommended approval of:

A request by the August Heisler Estate and LaCroix United Methodist Church for a special use permit for a church on the west side of Lexington Ave., west of Abbey Road.

A request by the August Heisler Estate and Christ Presbyterian Church for a special use permit for a church on the south side of Lexington Avenue, east of Abbey Road.

A request by Carlos E. and Emmagene Ratliff for a special use permit for an accounting business at 717 N. Sprigg St., in the basement of a planned new nursing home there.

A request by David Gerlach for a variance to create a cul-de-sac on Saddleridge Drive. The commission voted 5-2 in favor of changing Gerlach's Woodland Place Subdivision plat and allowing the variance, although the City Council earlier said it wanted the street constructed through to Route W.

A proposal to prohibit parking on Mount Auburn Road from Bloomfield to Route K, and north of Route K to Independence.