University Heights developer returns with new plan for property at Sunshine and National

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — After taking the original plan back to the drawing board, Be Kind & Merciful, LLC (BK&M) returned with new plans in front of Springfield’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

The developer has been seeking approval to rezone the corner of Sunshine and National from single-family homes to general retail for two years and wants neighbors to get on board.

The new plans for the development were created with neighbors in mind but those who live in the neighborhood are still unsatisfied.

“I never imagined once I retired and wished to live peacefully, that I would be faced with defending my home over and over again in front of you, city council, etc., etc.,” said Don Dunbar, a University Heights resident. “But that’s where we are, and that’s how I feel about this.”

For the past two years, BK&M leader Ralph Duda has wanted to rezone the corner of the University Heights neighborhood to build a food hall and pickleball courts.

He has also been hit with two years of conflict and disagreement from neighbors like Dunbar.

“I ask you, as a resident, as someone who has seen enough of war and enough of fighting, I really am looking for a place to live in peace. I thought I had found it in the middle of this beautiful neighborhood,” Dunbar said. “We have great neighbors. We have people who are out walking in and walking their dogs. We have kids riding their bikes.”

In June, a Greene County judge ruled against University Heights neighbors who took BK&M to court over deed restrictions that said the lots can only be used for private residential use.

Shortly after the ruling, Duda told OzarksFirst he would be working on a new plan for the area, which was revealed tonight.

“You know, they asked us to remove around daycares. They asked us to remove food trucks, remove bed and breakfasts, so they remove a few other uses. We were able to remove those uses,” said Chris Wynn, a civil engineer that represented BK&M at the planning and zoning meeting.

“You know, some people didn’t like the idea of green, giant trees and we put in the idea of a concrete wall or stone wall with a stone facade, eight foot tall, with the required landscape buffer. You know with every time we come in front of the commission, we have more and more concessions,” Wynn said.

Barbara Robinson was one of several other speakers who lives in University Heights and says these new plans are better than the original idea, but it just won’t mesh into the neighborhood.

“This proposed development is indeed detrimental to this residential neighborhood and it has already had adverse effects on the neighborhood,” Robinson said. “Please do not recommend this proposed rezoning.”

The project was not recommended for approval at Thursday’s meeting, with a vote of 2-6-1, with Commissioner Christopher Lebeck recusing himself because he owns a home in the neighborhood.

City Council will consider the project during its meeting on Sept. 23.

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