VAST REZONING NOT URGED FOR WILLIAM STREET

Several members of the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission said Wednesday they wouldn't recommend commercial rezoning for a large section of William Street.

The commission took no action on a proposal to rezone the street from residential to commercial between Sprigg Street and Sheridan Drive.

But following a public hearing at which several residents said they opposed the plan, several commissioners said they didn't see the need to change their current policy of dealing with requests for commercial uses on an individual, case-by-case basis.

City Planner Kent Bratton said he surveyed all the properties in the 14-block section of William that had been rezoned commercial or were allowed special use permits since the city's zoning laws were adopted in 1968.

Bratton said that out of 24 William Street properties either rezoned or allowed a special commercial use in the past 21 years, only five now are used for commercial purposes. He said 19 of the properties are residential in nature.

"The real (commercial) impact is not there," Bratton said. "What you've got is affordable housing for a lot of people, and we are getting people buying and renovating homes."

Commissioner Charles Haubold said he favored continuing to address commercial-use requests individually as they're presented to the commission.

"My mind is made up at this time and point," he said. "I don't know that we need to do anything other than what we've been doing and take it on a case-by-case basis."

Commissioner Dennis Vollink said he agreed with Haubold. He said when a special use permit request comes before the commission, residents are given the opportunity to voice opposition or support for it at a public hearing.

Commissioners have in the past expressed reluctance to continue addressing individual commercial-use requests, because it results in a "spot zoning" effect in the residential area.

But Commissioner Cleo Mabrey said that as long as the commission continues to weigh each request carefully in the best interests of the neighborhood residents, there shouldn't be a problem.

"If we look at that carefully and do things that don't offend the neighborhood, we'll preserve the residential character of the neighborhood," he said.

Kim McDowell, who lives at the corner of William and Louisiana, said during the public hearing portion of the meeting that she wasn't opposed to commercial uses that involved "neighborhood-type" businesses. She said that even with the current commercial tracts on William, the street remains "more a neighborhood than a commercial area."

McDowell also said she didn't think the street would develop commercially over time, particularly when the new Mississippi River bridge route is built south of William in four to five years.

"I think you're premature," she said of the strip-zoning proposal. "You have to wait and look at the kind of change the new bridge is going to make."

McDowell said that, according to last year's citywide traffic counts, traffic on William Street has declined over the past few years.

Don McBride, 221 South Minnesota, and Steve Trautwein, 127 South Louisiana, both said they were against the strip zoning because it would lower property values along streets that border William, where homes wouldn't be attractive to commercial developers.

"I'd rather see you stick with spot zoning if you have to," said McBride. "There are a lot of pretty homes in this area. I'd hate to see a beauty shop right next to my house.

"Each case must be looked at on an individual basis. To take in that many residential homes in one swap is ridiculous."

But Orville Glick, a real estate broker who owns property on William, said there is a lot of support among William Street residents for the strip-zoning proposal.

He said many residents petitioned the city to rezone the four-lane arterial street 15 years ago.

"Most of the people that signed that petition are still living on William Street because they can't sell their homes, primarily because of that highway," Glick said. "There hasn't been a whole lot of property on William sold since that street went in."

The commission is expected to consider a recommendation on the strip-zoning issue at next month's meeting.