Updated 3 p.m. Dec. 11

A 92-unit apartment and townhouse complex is planned for a riverfront property next to Garden Home Park, off Bay Drive.

The city Zoning Commission will consider a request to rezone the 4.46 acre property from R-1 single-family suburban to M-2 mixed-use transitional for the three-phase project.

The request was initially scheduled for the Dec. 12 zoning board meeting, but given questions raised about the project, the applicant and their design team asked Dec. 11 to postpone their public hearing.

Staff anticipates the hearing will be rescheduled to Jan. 23.

Brock Cherry, city planning director, said Dec. 11 that a formal protest, as detailed in state law, to the project has been submitted from owners located within 150 feet of the rezoning site.

If the rezoning request goes to the City Commission for a final decision, the protest means that two-thirds of commissioners have to vote in favor of the rezone rather than a simple majority. 

The property at at 805 2nd St. S.W. is currently vacant.

It was most recently a mobile home court with about 14 mobile homes.

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The property has “historically served as a transition between the industrial uses to the north and predominately single-family uses to the south,” according to the staff report.

The property owners, Craig and Robert Stainsby, are requesting the zone change to facilitate a property sale to develop the multifamily residential project.

The request does not include the single-family residents at the southeast corner of Bay Drive and 2nd Street. S.W., according to the staff report.

The first phase of the proposed project would be one three-story 36-unit building along the western side of the subject property; the second phase would be one three-story 42-unit building in the center of the property; and the third phase would be seven two-unit townhomes on the eastern portion of the site, near the Missouri River, according to the staff report.

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The second and third phases are in the Special Flood Hazard Area, or 100-year floodplain so the applicant will have to meet requirements of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and city floodplain development regulations, according to staff.

The applicant is also asking for a boundary line adjustment to reconfigure the property to create a 1.27 acre lot for the first phase and a 3.19 acre lot for the second and third phases. The boundary line adjustment is administratively reviewed by city staff and the rezone request applies to the entire property.

Staff wrote in their agenda report that the city’s 2013 growth policy update supports the rezone to facilitate development of apartments and townhomes.

“Specifically, the growth policy lists multiple social policies regarding housing, such as encouraging a variety of housing types and densities so that residents can chose by price or rent, location and place of work. Further, the environmental and physical sections of the growth policy prioritize infill development,” according to the staff report.

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Existing infrastructure surrounds the property and the city maintains Bay Drive and 2nd Street Southwest.

The property is located within the primary impact area of the Missouri River Corridor Plan. The area includes lands  with “strong relationships to the river that are most central to the corridor plan. The plan identifies appropriate riverfront uses that reinforce the vision for the Missouri River corridor. The listed uses within the plan include two-four story rental apartments and town houses,” according to the staff report.

One goal of the plan is to remove barriers, one of which was identified is the lack of mixed-use/multi-use zoning districts or options in local regulations appropriate for riverfront redevelopment, according to the city.

In response to that plan, the city adopted mixed-use transitional zoning along Bay Drive in 2007.

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“Staff concludes that the mixed use zoning was not continued south into this tract during the 2007 code and zoning map update to ensure precisely what will happen during the review of this application – to determine whether or not the boundary between R-1 and M-2 zoning should continue south or maintain its current geographic division. Because this zoning map amendment request meets multiple goals of the Missouri River Corridor Plan and is proposed to replace a past multi-unit development, staff recommends that the boundary be moved south,” according to the staff report.

The proposed project design includes three separate options for vehicle traffic from the site.

One access point will connect to 2nd Street Southwest and two additional access points connecting to Bay Drive, which will travel through a small strip of city owned property between the subject property and the right-of-way of Bay Drive, according to staff.

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City staff have had preliminary conversations with the developers about the previous and future use of that strip of land and if the rezone is request is approved, easements will be needed to allow access and maintenance of that strip of land will be the responsibility of the developer, according to the staff report.

The developers are also planning to establish a bicycle and pedestrian connection for the project by constructing a multi-use trail along the east side of Bay Drive to the current of the River’s Edge Trail, which ends 300 feet north of the rezoning site, according to staff.

Due to neighborhood concerns about traffic, staff conducted its own traffic impact analysis though it’s not required under city code based on the size of the proposed development.

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Staff determined that the projected roadway volumes for the project are within the normal range for the residential local roadway of 2nd Street Southwest and 10th Avenue Southwest, and a non-residential local roadway of Huffman Avenue and Bay Drive.

According to staff’s analysis, the total estimated increase in daily trips generated by the development is 527 average daily and the total estimated increase in evening peak hour trips generated by the development is 34 average.

The developers have also proposed items that go beyond the M-2 zoning district requirements, to include installing a mix of fencing and landscaping around the project perimeter to increase the buffer to the nearby residential neighborhood; extending the River’s Edge Trail, increased setbacks and improving the stormwater pond in Garden Home Park, according to the staff report and applicant’s documents.

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The developer’s team presented at the Nov. 8 Neighborhood Council 2 meeting but those in attendance said that not enough of the neighborhood was aware of the project so the council voted to discuss the project at a special meeting on Dec. 6. Staff will provide a report of that meeting at the Dec. 12 zoning commission meeting.

Several area residents submitted written comments to staff in opposition to the project over concerns about traffic, the effect of too many people living on the river, drainage, stormwater and that apartments will decrease their property values.

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If the area residents organize a formal protest against the rezone, the change would need a favorable vote of two-thirds of the present and voting City Commissioners if a protest is signed by the owners of 25 percent or more of the area of the lots in any proposed change; or those lots 150 feet from a lot included in the proposed change, according to state law and the staff report.

Staff from multiple city departments have been involved in the rezone application and will also review building permit applications if the rezone is approved and the project moves forward.

The cost of utility connections, all site improvements and the off-site trail connection will be paid by the applicant.