Overview:
On Jan. 9, the Springfield City Council will consider the case of 27 acres of land on South Innovation Avenue, which runs along the west side of U.S. Highway 65 south of Evans Road.
Mercy is likely to expand its footprint in the very southernmost reaches of Springfield.
On Jan. 9, the Springfield City Council will consider the case of 27 acres of land on South Innovation Avenue, which runs along the west side of U.S. Highway 65 south of Evans Road. The property is on the Greene-Christian County line. The owner and would-be owner are making a pair of requests: to annex into the city of Springfield and to rezone the property from residential use to government and institutional use.
Springfield Planning Manager Bob Hosmer briefed the Planning and Zoning Commission on the rezoning request Dec. 15. He said rezoning the property for institutional use would fit with the city’s comprehensive plan for growth and development.
“The comprehensive plan identifies this area as appropriate for low-density housing,” Hosmer said. “However, based on the current zoning of the area and the lack of residential development in this area, and Highway 65, staff believes this area has changed and recommends that G.I. zoning is appropriate here.”
Greene County Assessor’s Office records show Kenneth and Helen Stoddard and their heirs as the owners of 26.9 acres lying just west of Highway 65. According to planning documents, Mercy’s purchase of the property is pending. The transaction will reportedly not happen without the rezoning.
Springfield Planning and Zoning Commissioner Dan Scott asked about extending right of way access along the west side of Highway 65. Scott anticipates a future where an outer road runs along the highway into Christian County and eventually connects with State Route CC in Ozark.
“It seems like a future extension all the way to CC might be in the cards some day,” Scott said.
“It is probably a good opportunity for some type of street system to either come back around or to go alongside 65, but that will come with some subdivision activity,” Hosmer said.
Engineer Ricky Haase of Olsson Associates spoke on Mercy’s behalf, and shared an idea for a southern extension of Southwood Road, which comes off the Evans Road roundabout. The idea would be that Southwood would continue south from the Mercy Orthopedic Hospital and continue on to connect other Mercy-owned developments to the south.
“There’s definitely going to be a roadway network through here eventually,” Haase said.
Mercy or partner holding companies Tea Properties of Missouri I and Tea Properties of Missouri II, own much of the property along Highway 65 south of Riverbluff Road, the western road off the Evans Road exit from Highway 65. One Eighty-eight LLC owns the property where Innovative Dental’s 30,000-square foot clinic sits.
The far southwest part of the property is in a floodplain as designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The Springfield City Council read a resolution on the intent to annex the property at its meeting Dec. 12. If the property is annexed, it will be one of the very geographically southernmost pieces of land in the city of Springfield based on its location on the Greene-Christian county line.
