Seeking consistency

Jackson planners developing zoning rules for the East Main Street commercial district want a subdued, landscaped area with well-regulated traffic.

If approved as written, the regulations would ban tattoo parlors, pawn shops and itinerant retailers. Buildings would be made of stone, brick or stucco -- no wood or vinyl siding -- and no neon or banner signs would be allowed. Free-standing signs for a single business could be no more than 6 feet tall. Dumpsters, electric service boxes and loading docks must be hidden.

Parking lots would be separated from the road with landscaped islands, which would also be required to break up expanses of asphalt larger than a half-acre. Developers would be encouraged to establish internal roadways, to not block access to neighboring businesses across parking lots and the number of entrances and exits would be limited as well.

The proposals aren't new ideas -- they have been used elsewhere to direct the appearance of large new developments. But they are new to Southeast Missouri.

"We are trying to bring consistency to the area without going overboard," said Janet Sanders, building and planning administrator. "We're not telling them to use a certain color brick or a certain color roof. But we are making a level playing field. This is out at the interstate area where the biggest sign wins as far as attracting people off the interstate. That is not the focus we want for that area."

The proposed regulations are for what's known as an overlay district. The rules are in addition to the restrictions imposed by the particular zoning for the area and can be adapted to any commercial or industrial district. But Jackson is developing the rules specifically for the empty land that will be opened for development by construction of the East Main Street extension and Interstate 55 interchange north of Center Junction.

The Jackson Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the proposal in March, and the proposal has undergone significant revisions since that meeting. Sanders said she hopes to bring back the final version of the rules in the form of a zoning ordinance for the commission at its May 9 meeting.

A public hearing and action by the Jackson Board of Aldermen would follow if the commission recommends passage.

The idea to put a distinctive stamp on the development along East Main Street came from zoning commissioners, Sanders said. After doing research, she found that many cities have successfully directed development through overlay districts.

She named the developed districts of Chesterfield, Mo., in western St. Louis County, as a model. City leaders there have given an area known as Chesterfield commons a controlled, uncluttered look.

"We are not trying to upscale ourselves out of business," Sanders said. "We want to reduce the sign clutter and then just give a somewhat consistent look to the area."

While the proposal has already had a public hearing, Sanders said she hasn't discussed the proposal with business leaders in town such as the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. "We are still kind of in the early stages," she said.

Marybeth Williams, executive director of the chamber, said she wasn't ready to comment on the proposals. "There is a lot of discussion going on right now and I don't want to be quoted in the paper right now," Williams said Friday. "I just want to wait and see what happens."

Sanders wants to finish the overlay district ordinance before asking the planning and zoning commission to send a commercial zoning change to the aldermen. The commercial area was initially presented as including the entire stretch of the East Main Street extension from Oak Hill Road to I-55 and running along the interstate for about a half-mile on either side of the new road. But resistance from homeowners is forcing Sanders to redraw the maps to put a buffer zone between existing homes and the commercial area.

The plan for timing the rezoning envision enacting the overlay district ordinance, then presenting a rezoning map to the aldermen is early summer, Sanders said. The aldermen will hold a public hearing before voting on any recommendations of the zoning commission.

The timetable is subject to change, Sanders said, because the timetable for finishing East Main Street allows for careful deliberations. The portion being constructed by the city will be finished this fall, with the stretch being built by the Missouri Department of Transportation expected to be completed in early 2008.

"Once we get the ordinance fleshed out, we will go through all the 'what-ifs,'" she said. "We will tear it apart and see if it is going to backfire on us."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126