Citing issues with buffer yards, SGF Councilman’s lone opposing vote shuts down potential development

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A rezoning proposal that would have brought a senior care facility to southwest Springfield will have to wait before breaking ground.

City Council took up the issue at its August 19 meeting.

When it came time to vote, Mayor Ken McClure and Council Members Callie Carroll and Derek Lee recused themselves from the vote, while Councilwoman Heather Hardinger was not present at the meeting.

In order to pass, the remaining five members had to be unanimous in their vote.

One member wasn’t on board.

Councilman Craig Hosmer says previously promised buffer yards influenced his single dissent.

“We make promises that we’re going to have these requirements for a buffer yard, an area between a residential community and a commercial establishment, but then we don’t enforce that law at all,” Hosmer said. “There are buffer yards all over the city of Springfield, where the plantings have died. The fences are in disrepair, the neighbors complain and nothing’s done about it.”

Issues have risen in the past when it comes to buffer yards, such as the recently built 7Brew that had been in Planning and Zoning purgatory for months before being approved, before neighbors started complaining about loud music and bright lights past the time they said they were promised.

Another issue is the ongoing saga between a developer and neighbors in University Heights, where on top of neighbor opposition, the debate over a successful buffer yard has had its share of the discourse.

Hosmer’s issue isn’t the specifics of buffer yards, but rather the feeling the city doesn’t actually enforce them.

“It’s hard to vote for things when you know we’re not going to enforce them. You know, if you’ve got the laws on the books, enforce the law,” Hosmer said. “If you enforce the law, the first thing that happens is people start self-regulating. They start taking care of their yards, they start taking care of their property, they start taking care of their landscaping. They start taking care of their buffer yards. If there’s no enforcement at all, it’s a free-for-all all. Good people do it, but bad developers, bad neighbors don’t and so what you’re really doing is incentivizing bad behavior in the city.”

Hosmer says there wasn’t any pressure to change his vote, considering Planning and Zoning unanimously recommended approval to city council, and neighbors have spoken in favor.

“I wanted to come and speak tonight on behalf of myself, but also I reside on the board of the Quail Creek Property Owners Association and just wanted to lend my support to this change we’ve had,” Neighbor Melanie Steck said during a July Planning and Zoning meeting. “Personally I’m very excited with the plans of what they plan on putting behind us. Most of the neighbors in our neighborhood are aging and elderly folk, so we welcome more of that. They’re great neighbors, so we think it’s a great development.

Hosmer’s rejection was the only vote in all the avenues proposals have to go through that opposed the rezoning.

He says a lack of enforcement can erode trust between residents and the city.

“If we enforced buffer yards, if we had an enforce noise ordinance, if we’d enforce some of the laws, the neighborhoods wouldn’t be as sensitive about those issues. When they know it’s not going to get enforced, they have every right to be objectionable to those things for their neighborhood, because I think in the long term, it hurts their neighborhood. When you hurt neighborhoods in the long run, you hurt economic development, and you hurt the city generally because people eventually will be moving out of the city if the quality of life continues to go down,” Hosmer said.

Hosmer’s not against development, and rather encourages it, trying to find ways to improve the Queen City, but says following the rules across the board is fair to everyone.

“All I’m looking for is a commitment from the City of Springfield to say we’re going to enforce the laws that we have on the books. It’s the same complaint I’ve had for years. Again, other people on council maybe disagree with me, but the problem is, if you don’t enforce the laws in the city of Springfield, you allow people that are not playing by the same set of rules to compete evenly with people that do play by the same set of rules, and that’s fundamentally unfair.”

The City of Springfield officials say with the rejected vote, the developer, Miller Commerce, will have to restart the process from square one.

OzarksFirst reached out to Miller Commerce but did not hear back at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com.