By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
Public hearings are scheduled at today’s Joplin City Council meeting on a zoning request that drew opposition in a southwest Joplin neighborhood and on a proposal to expand the historic Sunshine Lamp District into the 700 block of Main Street.
A request to rezone property at 2329 S. Willard Ave. from single-family residential to two-family residential for building a duplex for rental property by TCS Holdings comes to the council with a recommendation from the Zoning and Planning Commission to deny it because of neighborhood protest.
Six neighbors attended the zoning meeting and voiced concerns that rental property would devalue adjacent homes if it were not maintained, and that an increase in residents would create heavier traffic in the area.
Six petitions of protest were filed against the request.
Cratten Olson, who represents TCS Holdings, told the commission that the properties would rent for $600 to $700 a month, and that three rental houses are located across the street from the property in question. The zoning panel voted 4-2 to recommended denial of the request.
A public hearing also is scheduled on a proposal to extend the Sunshine Lamp District into the 700 block of Main Street. The city staff is advising that the expansion would help protect investment in the area, in particular by making the buildings eligible to participate in the city’s facade-renewal subsidy.
In addition, the block is a link to the 800 and 900 blocks, where some buildings are potentially eligible for historic designation because of the Chicago style architecture, according to a city memo. The zoning commission voted to recommend that the council agree to the request because business owners in the block endorsed the plan.
The council already has approved a streetscaping project to match work that has been done north of the block on Main Street.
A proposal to sign an agreement with the state to extend streetscaping to Joplin Avenue from Fifth Street to Sixth Street also awaits council action. The city has received $950,000 in grant money to pay for the construction work.
In past informal discussions about where the city should proceed with streetscaping work that already has been done on Main Street from Second Street to Seventh Street, the council had agreed that the block would fit in the plan.
The city has spent about $2.8 million so far on streetscaping downtown with new sidewalks, street parking, lights, and decorative benches and flower planters. The work in the 700 block of Main Street has been budgeted for about $659,000.
Meeting details
The Joplin council will meet in an informal session at 5:15 p.m. today, with its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St.
