Upscale developer loses bid to have Blue Springs property rezoned for apartments
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Neighbors of a proposed Blue Springs upscale apartment/mixed use retail complex turned out in droves at a Blue Springs City Council meeting Monday to successfully defeat the project.
Homeowners said the high density apartments would have dramatically changed their neighborhood and was consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan for the area north of I-70 at Adams Dairy Parkway and Duncan Road.
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City staff and developers argued the luxury apartments are needed in the city, continuing to push forward the project after it was rejected unanimously last week by the city’s Planning Commission.
“These houses are our homes, these subdivisions are our neighborhoods, these schools are our schools, this is our city,” Jane Conley told the council at the packed city council meeting that also filled the building lobby and an overflow room.
Since 1997, the seven acres have been zoned for office space, but developers asked the city for it to be rezoned to mixed use/planned development. The plan called for construction of 360 high density apartments in ten three and four-story apartment buildings with 21,000 feet of retail space called The Crossings at Adams Dairy.
“From our perspective we are all playing a poker game we all know the rules we sit down we make our bets then an outsider comes in who wants to change the rules,” longtime Blue Springs resident Dominic Rizzi said.
Developers said the apartments would be upscale and the complex would be unlike any other in the city. But neighbors expressed concerns about traffic, safety and overcrowded schools.
“One of the things I’m big on is having development here in Blue Springs, we need to have the businesses come in things like that. It needs to be the right development,” George Ferguson said.
Bryan Rahn, the project’s Director of Development said concessions had already been made reducing the project from 410 apartments, to 360, but offered further changes.
“Do I think I still have a legitimate, viable project at 330 (apartments)? Yes. Does that solve the traffic problem? It does. Does it solve the density, it does.”
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Following more than an hour of public comment with everyone in opposition, Rahn asked for a continuance, to come back with a revised plan in February. The request was denied. No second on the motion to have the property rezone was given, allowing the project to die without a vote.
Questions remain what happens to the property that serves as a buffer between lots of shopping and retail on the south side of the highway and homes to the north? City staff pointed out it’s been zoned for office space for 25 years and no one has ever proposed to build anything there.
