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City Beat: Council OK’s west-side commercial property

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Springfield City Council gave a green light for more than 12 acres of new commercial space expected to hit the market soon along Sunshine Street on the city’s far west side.

With a unanimous vote, council on Feb. 12 rezoned vacant acreage at 5389 W. Sunshine St. to highway commercial from county light manufacturing at the request of property owner CMH Homes Inc., which operates Clayton Homes of Springfield.

The Tennessee-based company once sold mobile homes at the site. Clayton Homes General Manager Justin Fitzgerald said the land now sits empty, but he’s unaware of corporate plans for the property.

A representative from CMH Homes in Maryville, Tennessee, could not be reached to comment on property plans by press time. During council’s Jan. 29 meeting, however, Geoffrey Butler of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. told council members the lot is now considered surplus.

Representing CMH Homes, Butler said the city annexed the roughly 12.7 acres in 2005, at which time city staff recommended rezoning it to general retail. The use didn’t sit well with CMH Homes, he said, as the company felt limiting the land to retail development ultimately downgraded its value.

Under Greene County jurisdiction, Butler said light industrial zoning allowed all land uses up to and including industrial development. He told council that, after the city’s annexation, CMH Homes applied to rezone the land to industrial-commercial use, which opened more development options.

Butler said city staff disagreed with the request, so CMH Homes simply withdrew its application. The land since kept its light industrial zoning, until now.

“Well, 12 years later, (CMH Homes) finally decided this is surplus property,” Butler told council on Jan. 29 “They don’t need it. They want to sell it. ... County (light industrial) zoning, you can’t build on it, so they have to rezone it.”

He said city highway-commercial zoning – the land sits just northeast of the West Sunshine Street and James River Freeway intersection – likely makes for the best option for development in the area.

Butler also noted CMH Homes hosted a neighborhood meeting for the new zoning request, and attending property owners of adjacent industrial, retail and residential land favored rezoning the parcel as a way to increase their respective property values. He said CMH Homes does not have a buyer on board.

Pepperdine plan
Also during its Feb. 12 meeting, council unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for Community Partnership of the Ozarks to use the former Pepperdine Elementary building as headquarters to battle homelessness.

Community Partnership President and CEO Janet Dankert said the nonprofit plans to buy the 1518 E. Dale St. property from Springfield Public Schools for $100,000 and inject $1 million in city-committed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding for renovations of the 24,000-square-foot building.

Dankert said the United Way of the Ozarks priority partner plans to have the new homeless-to-homeowner initiative up and running by November.

Stalled rezoning
In other rezoning business, council tabled a request by Christian County Disciples of Christ to rezone nearly 3 acres at 1850 S. Blackman Road for office space. The land currently carries county residential zoning.

Neighboring property owners publicly spoke against the church’s proposal. With one individual tearing up, the neighbors protested the height of buildings potentially allowed at the site, the lack of a site plan and increased potential for area flooding, among other concerns.

Commercial real estate broker Ken Schwab, who said he potentially would develop the land, countered the claims, noting that increased property taxes after development could fund remedies for the issues – if they occurred. Council will reconsider the proposed rezoning during its March 12 meeting.

Short-term stays
Despite lengthy public testimony two weeks prior, council tabled a proposed three-tier system for short-term rentals licensing to govern bookings via websites run by Airbnb, VRBO and others.

The proposed regulations would legitimize the currently illegal rentals – those of less than 30 days in residential properties – into three classifications based on residency, the frequency of rented space and approved land use, among a slew of other regulations. Council will revisit the issue March 12.

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