The development calls for six office lots along East Sunshine Street, also called Highway D, and 34 residential lots to the north. (Photo by Steve Pokin)

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OPINION |

Over the weekend, I headed off for new terrain for my run.

Long-time marathoner Robert Dewar (218 completed marathons) suggested a running route that goes east on Catalpa Street, under Highway 65, to Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church, and beyond.

It's a beautiful run, especially during fall. It ran by some of the priciest and most picturesque homes in Greene County.

Catalpa becomes Farm Road 144, which curves south into South Royal Drive (South Farm Road 197) and dead ends at East Sunshine Street, also known as Highway D.

I figured it wouldn't be a Dollar General

That's where I saw the early stages of a 27-acre development — lots of heavy equipment and lots of caterpillar tracks across muddy, cleared ground.

The site is just east of city limits and — as far as development progressing east on Sunshine — in my mind, it marks the current frontier.

Having run past homes worth over $1 million (I checked assessor's records) I wondered what was going in. I didn't think it would be a Dollar General, Kum & Go. or even a motor speedway.

It will be a gated community

Preliminary plans, which have been approved by Greene County, call for six office lots along East Sunshine and 34 residential lots — with the two largest lots (2.1 acres and 2.2 acres) at the northwest corner of the development.

This is a map of the proposed development that is on file with the Greene County Resource Management Department/Planning Division. The yellow part is six office lots along East Sunshine Street, also called Highway D; the green part is 32 residential lots; and the blue part is two additional residential lots that are bigger than the other 32. (Photo by Steve Pokin)

The other 32 lot sizes range in size from just over 10,000 square feet to 29,000 square feet. For comparison purposes, one acre is 43,560 square feet.

It will be a gated community, according to documents on file with the county.

The land has been rezoned to what's called “plot assignment district.”

According to the Greene County website, a plot assignment district is a specialized zoning district that specifies land uses.

Developer is Meadowood Development

The developer is Meadowood Development LLC, in Springfield. The registered agent is Stephanie Stenger Montgomery. When I called the number for the developer I was told I needed to talk to Stuart Stenger.

He called me back; I missed the call and called him back. We did not connect by deadline.

According to online records, Meadowood bought the land in 2020 and 2021.

Land most recently was a pasture

Records with Greene County state the property was pasture land.

When I looked at online records with the Greene County Assessor's office the aerial photo shows a structure on the property that is no longer there.

Utilities will be provided by City Utilities.

This is Answer Man Column No. 24.




Steve Pokin

Steve Pokin writes the Pokin Around and The Answer Man columns for the Hauxeda. He also writes about criminal justice issues. He can be reached at spokin@hauxeda.com. His office line is 417-837-3661. More by Steve Pokin