The conflict over a proposed development at the northwest corner of National Avenue and Sunshine Street is a step closer to being resolved.
Greene County Circuit Judge Derek Ankrom ruled in favor of Be Kind & Merciful, LLC (BK&M) on June 14, a year and a half after a group of University Heights residents sued the development group in an effort to stop the proposed rezoning and redevelopment of the lots at National and Sunshine.
The neighbors’ suit relied on nearly century-old restrictive covenants that prohibited anything other than private homes made of brick, stone or stucco on lots across Springfield's University Heights neighborhood, among other restrictions. Ankrom ruled against three of the four restrictions at issue, only allowing a covenant concerning garagettes — an “apartment either converted from a garage or next to or over a garage” — to be enforced.
In his ruling, Ankrom determined the deed restrictions have been waived by “widespread and continuous failure to enforce such covenants,” citing violations by the plaintiffs themselves.
“This lawsuit is not about what is best for the University Heights neighborhood; it is not about whether the homes in University Heights remain beautiful and full of history; and it is not about whether any development proposed by BK&M is a wise use of the land that it has purchased,” Ankrom wrote in his ruling, recalling arguments made by the plaintiffs in a Jan. 18 bench trial.
“These issues are all, understandably, important to the parties, but they are not for the Court to decide,” Ankrom wrote. “Instead, this lawsuit is solely about (a) whether the plaintiffs are legally entitled to enforce certain deed-based restrictive covenants against BK&M, and (b) whether BK&M is presently, legally bound by such restrictive covenants, such that it is prohibited from erecting one or more structures that would otherwise violate those restrictive covenants.”
After the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission recommended against the developer’s rezoning request for a second time, BK&M submitted an application for a planned development — a food hall featuring pickleball courts, an indoor playground and underground parking.
The process was put on hold as BK&M awaited the court’s ruling.
Find previous Hauxeda coverage of the lawsuit and rezoning case here.
