Jefferson City Council approves East Elm Street project despite pushback from residents
Mitchell Kaminski
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.
The Jefferson City Council voted 7-2 in favor of a 48-unit apartment project on East Elm Street, which has received pushback from nearby residents.
The proposal would be for a Preliminary Planned Unit Development Plan for property at 1740 East Elm St. The project calls for 12 apartment buildings, each containing four, one-bedroom units, that are each two-stories tall.
Concerns raised by about a half-dozen opponents during the public comment portion of the meeting included increased traffic, roadway capacity, stormwater runoff, potential declines in nearby property values, resident demographics and the level of on-site supervision. Several commenters also questioned whether the project would function as low-income housing.
Brian McMillian, one of the project’s developers, told the council that although the area is busy, most future residents would not be driving, so increased traffic should not be an issue. He added the trees and vegetation planned for the site would make the property “barely visible” to nearby residents, addressing concerns about potential negative effects on the neighborhood’s character.
“It’s just a matter of time before one of these individuals gets killed by a car. I live on that road,” one man said during the public meeting in response. “There is a miles per hour speed limit, a little bit less, 30 miles (per hour), I can tell you, I’ve come around late at night and there’s been a deer right in the middle of the road and I barely had time to stop.”
The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the proposal Oct. 9 and voted 6-0 to recommend approval.
The plan proposes one parking space per unit, fewer than the city’s standard requirement of 1.5 spaces per unit for apartment developments. Access would come from two driveway entrances on East Elm Street. According to planning documents, new tree rows along both sides of the development and the preservation of trees at the rear of the property would help buffer the site from surrounding homes.
“They said at the zoning meeting that they did they only anticipated staffing there during the weekdays,” one man said during Monday’s public hearing. We think that’s that’s also a concern if they would have a mental illness episode.”
“I feel like this could be a detriment to our neighborhood if they refuse to take the medications,” another woman added during the hearing. “I appreciate the fact that low-income housing is important, but my husband and I have worked hard to get what we got, and we can’t afford for the property value to go down.”
Andrea Cheung, a CJCA Development representative, said the organization has operated in Jefferson City for 50 years, serving people with mental health challenges, and many of their experienced managers have more than 20 years of experience working in the field.
“After five decades of serving in this community, we’ve seen firsthand how hard it is to find quality one-bedroom units. For people, it’s just almost impossible,” Cheung said during the meeting. “We understand that change always brings anxiety and uncertainty, but we’re really confident that this will be an asset to Jefferson City.”