JOPLIN, Mo. — Those who had opposed a proposal by the Joplin School District to vacate a portion of 24th Street instead spoke in favor of it Monday because of revisions that were made since it was presented last week.

As a result, the Joplin Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to forward it to the City Council with a recommendation to approve the plan.

The school district had two requests in connection with its plan to construct a new high school to the south of the pre-tornado site.

One, to close portions of Iowa and Missouri avenues between 20th and 24th streets, and 22nd Street from Grand Avenue to Iowa Avenue, advanced without opposition.

The other, to vacate 24th Street from Grand Avenue to Indiana Avenue as well as vacating portions of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio avenues along 24th Street, had drawn opposition at a public hearing held last week by the school district.

On Monday, though, two residents who had expressed concerns said they had changed their minds because the school district offered to construct a new street that would provide access to Indiana Avenue.

Paul Barr, financial officer for the school district, told the zoning commissioners that the plan had been modified to include construction of a new version of 24th Street at the edge of the school district property from Ohio Avenue east to Indiana Avenue that would allow residents a second way to get in and out of their neighborhood.

Phil Stinnett, a former Joplin mayor who said he spoke as taxpayer, last week criticized the school district’s plan to close 24th Street, saying it would push more traffic onto an already busy 26th Street. It also would close the only east-west through street between 20th and 26th streets, he said.

“I’m here today in support of the issue, quite frankly, because the school district addressed the issues” that he spoke of last week, Stinnett told the zoning commissioners. “They have provided another roadway that, while not configured like the old 24th Street, will not feed traffic problems on 26th Street.”

Charlotte Duke, 2508 S. Ohio Ave., opposed the proposal last week, saying she could not get onto 26th Street at certain times of the day when school is in session because of the volume of traffic. She spoke in favor of the revised plan. “I do feel they have answered my problem” with a new route to the east, she said Monday.

A third resident, Jim Fleischaker, 2402 S. Indiana Ave., said he supports the revised plan if the district will do a study to look at traffic and traffic controls on 26th Street and along Indiana Avenue.

The zoning commission voted 6-0, with one member absent, to advance both requests to the council with a recommendation for approval.



OTHER BUSINESS

In other business, a number of residents spoke against a request for a special-use permit to allow two parking lots in a neighborhood at 36th Street between Garrison and Alabama avenues. The developer, Branson Harris of Rogers, Ark., was not present and had filed a request to table his application until he could have meetings to discuss the plans with the residents.

Because the meeting was a public hearing, the zoning commission went ahead with testimony. No one spoke in favor of the request. But 11 written protests were filed, and eight people spoke against the plan.

One, Trevor Keller, 2143 E. 36th St., said the two parking lots are proposed to serve 128 apartments that Harris wants to build. There would be 259 parking spaces. Keller said the neighborhood is single-family residential or duplexes with families that walk in the area. Only two streets serve the neighborhood, and the volume of traffic if Harris proceeds would make it dangerous, he said. The 16 two-story buildings that Harris proposes would be unsightly, he said, and crime would increase.

Residents said Harris had plenty of time to hold neighborhood meetings, if he wished, and that he had not returned telephone calls from them seeking information about the project.

The commission voted 6-0 to pass the request on to the council with a recommendation to deny it.

Two sets of proposals that represent commercial rezoning of areas that were residential before the May 22 tornado drew different recommendations.

The commissioners voted to advance a request for rezoning of four lots on 22nd Street between Range Line Road and Highview Avenue to the council with a recommendation for C-3-PD zoning. Owner Fred Parrett said the lots are nearly surrounded by commercial properties, and two adjoining property owners supported his request. No one spoke against it.

The council last week turned down a request to rezone four lots on Highview Avenue between 20th and 22nd streets because of concerns about how to buffer redevelopment from houses across the street that have been rebuilt.

Two proposals for commercial rezoning only a few blocks west on 20th Street failed to win a nod from the commission.

The commission voted 6-0 to recommend denial of commercial zoning designations for properties at 2602 and 2616 E. 20th St. Those lots had been residential before the tornado. Two residents spoke in opposition.

Denial also was recommended for zoning at 32nd Street and Country Club Road that would allow a convenience store. Neighboring homeowners had protested.

The panel recommended approval of:

• A site plan for reconstruction of an apartment complex at 2034 S. Connecticut Ave.

• Commercial rezoning at 1931 S. St. Louis Ave. for a beauty salon.

• Commercial non-retail rezoning at 519-521 W. 32nd St. for construction of medical offices.

• A street vacation request regarding land on the north side 20th Street near Florida Avenue for a church office. A street was never constructed there.