RED LOBSTER TO BE BUILT ON WEST END

The next west-end restaurant for Cape Girardeau, near the intersection of Route K and Interstate 55, apparently will be a long-awaited Red Lobster.

The city's Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday approved a record plat for Park West Hospitality Center, which parcels a tract for the development.

The site for the Red Lobster is between Route K and the Victorian Inn. Construction is expected to start this fall.

Bob Hahn of Mid-America Hotels Corp. presented the plan to the city Planning and Zoning Commission.

He said that after spending weeks looking for a site, Red Lobster recently signed a contract to place the restaurant near I-55 and Route K.

"Red Lobster is anxious to come to Cape Girardeau," Hahn added.

Access to the restaurant will be from the Holiday Inn entrance road from Route K that connects with the Victorian Inn entrance. Access also will be available from Mount Auburn Road.

In other business Wednesday, commissioners unanimously recommended the City Council approve a request from Howard and Frances Tooke and William and Karen Sides to rezone property along the east side of Giboney Avenue. The zoning change will allow Sides to move his metal-recycling and salvage business to the site.

Sides Metal Recycling now is situated near the intersection of Independence and Kingshighway. The proposed new site for the facility is in the area that used to be known as "Milltown," in southeast Cape Girardeau.

"My ability to sell (the property) depends on whether you rezone it," said Tooke.

Tooke said Sides has outgrown his Independence Street facility, and the move to Giboney would be good. Tooke, a former Cape Girardeau mayor, owns Leming Saw Mill just east of the proposed recycling center site.

"Very few homes will be affected by it, and I think it will be a help to that neighborhood down there," Tooke said. "It's mostly a jungle now with no real use."

Commissioner R.J. McKinney concurred. "I think what's proposed here is a big improvement over what's there now," he said.

Tooke said an ancillary benefit is that the current Independence Street site will be available for development more suitable to that area.

The Independence Street site is surrounded by commercial offices, retail businesses and, across the street, a restaurant. The site also is situated just west of Cape Girardeau Central High School.

"It would relieve traffic congestion at Sides' present location, and would allow that site to be redeveloped in a manner more compatible with that neighborhood," Tooke said.

If the council approves the proposal, Sides would build a combination office-warehouse building and a scale for trucks.

The commission approved the request with the stipulation that a solid fence be built on the property's north and west sides, where it faces residential areas.

The commission also recommended approval of a request by Thomas L. Meyer and Gilbert Winschel to rezone 133 S. Ellis from multiple family to general commercial district.