Safe street crossings appear to be the key concern tied to an apartment construction project the Springfield City Council is weighing.
Developers from GDL Enterprises want to build 30 apartments at the northwest corner of the intersection of Grand Street and South Market Avenue. The property is north and slightly west of a Walmart Neighborhood Market store near the corner of Grand and South Campbell Avenue.
The buildings will be three stories tall, and stand about 38 feet. Residents would enter and exit the apartment property from the north, off of West Belmont Street. The buildings would be placed along Market Avenue, with the parking lot sitting west of the buildings.
The Springfield City Council on Oct. 2 debated a rezoning request that would allow multi-family residential development on the one-acre property. The council will consider the rezoning bill tied to the project for final approval at its next meeting Oct. 16.
City Councilmember Brandon Jenson said the proposal fits nicely with a larger vision for the $25 million Grant Avenue Parkway development. Jenson said the common public space found in the project plan meets the intent of the city’s larger plan to revitalize the West Central Neighborhood with the Grant Avenue Parkway project.
“This is pretty much the exact type of development that’s anticipated and that we’re hoping for along the Grant Avenue Parkway,” Jenson said. “I know the neighborhood is particularly excited to see this development, as well.”
A big box store stands on the other side of Grand Street from the proposed apartment complex. It attracts West Central residents, families and college students on a regular basis.
“The Walmart Neighborhood Market just to the south is the only grocery store that serves the entire neighborhood,” Jenson said.
Where there is Walmart, there are walkers
Members of the Springfield City Council seemed to be all right with the construction of an apartment complex on the property. Jenson’s concern lies with how residents would walk across the street to buy groceries. The Walmart store is already a walking destination for people who live nearby, and an apartment complex would increase the number of people walking back and forth to shop.
“I just know there’s right now a lot of pedestrian demand across that intersection, and it’s 650 feet either direction to cross the road,” Jenson said, referring to nearby crosswalks at Campbell Avenue and at Grant Avenue. Market Street is another north-south street between Grant and Campbell. A person who used the crosswalks as designed would have to walk on the north side of Grand from Market to Campbell on Grant, and then walk along the south side of Grand back to the store’s entrance.
A person going from Market Street to the Walmart store, Jenson said, is likely to take their chances and jaywalk across Grand to go directly to the store and avoid the extra walking, even with the risk of being hit by a car.
“It’s really hard to justify adding 1,200 additional linear feet of walking,” Jenson said.
Springfield Assistant Director of Public Works Martin Gugel said there will be a study of the Grand Street corridor from from Kansas Expressway to the Missouri State University campus
“One of the things we’ll be asking our consultant to look at is this area in particular,” Gugel said. “We want to study it within the context of everything else going on, including this proposed development.”
Gugel added that a future sidewalk and trail project is very likely along Grand Street in the area of the Walmart Neighborhood Market.
“Ideally, we want to put something in place that’s not torn out soon thereafter,” Gugel said.
‘Outdoor living area’ required special attention
“There is an outdoor living area that is shown on the site plan, and that is their proposed amenity,” Neal said. “As part of the multi-family design guidelines, an amenity is required for a multi-family development of this size.”
The outdoor living area, according to planning documents, would be for “gathering, reading, relaxing and gardening.” An outdoor living area of this style is not listed in the City of Springfield’s guidelines for development, but Neal recommended the City Council accept the plan.
Springfield City Utilities owns property at 529 West Grand, which is on the north side of Grand and west of the proposed apartment buildings. A power substation is built on the property. The 0.66-acre property is part of a separate-but-related zoning case and city council bill. The substation property will be rezoned from residential townhouse district to government and institutional zoning. This is so that once apartments are built to the east of the substation, Springfield City Utilities would not be required to place a buffer yard on its property between the substation and the eastern property line.
