Despite continued neighborhood opposition, the Jefferson City Council approved three bills Monday related to a controversial development off of Hayselton Drive.
The City Council chambers were standing room only Monday night as the council heard testimony for more than three hours before voting to approve three bills associated with the planned development.
The council approved requests filed by River Bluff Condominiums and the Paul Chinn Trust to rezone 14.69 acres from Planned Unit Development to RS-3 Single Family Residential, which was approved 7-3; amend the city code to prohibit parking on one side of the new, planned street, which was approved 6-4; and approve a final subdivision plat of 10.9 acres consisting of nine lots, seven of which would be available for single-family homes, which was approved 6-4.
Each vote saw 2nd Ward Councilman J. Rick Mihalevich, 3rd Ward Councilman Ken Hussey and 4th Ward Councilman Glen Costales voting in opposition. On the last two bills, 2nd Ward Councilwoman Laura Ward also voted in opposition.
The development will include single-family homes in a subdivision called River Bluff Estates accessed solely from the 1600 block of Hayselton Drive, which is why many residents have remained opposed to the development.
It was the third time in the last six years the proposal has come before the city, though it has changed slightly over the years.
It was first brought forward in 2005, reappearing in December 2010 when, despite more than 20 residents speaking out against the plan, the commission approved the subdivision plan.
The request was then withdrawn by the landowners in February, just before it reached the City Council, to allow additional time to meet with neighborhood representatives concerning the proposed development.
In January 2012, the proposal was again brought back and approved by the commission before being withdrawn the next month, again because of neighborhood concerns - mainly the access road residents say would be placed on a hairpin curve that is already dangerous.
Each time the development is proposed, residents have expressed the same concerns with the proposed entrance, which would involve building a street to meet Hayselton Drive on a tight, hairpin curve many residents have said would be unsafe. The original proposed access from West Main Street has been abandoned as too expensive, and the Hayselton access has been substituted in each of the proposals since 2010.
On Monday night, 18 spoke in opposition to the development during the public hearing prior to the council vote.
Mindy French, a resident on the 1500 block of Hayselton Drive, said it's difficult to see oncoming cars as she exits her driveway, which is located inside the hairpin curve, adding most homes have to use the street to park multiple cars.
"Driving through this entire area is like a maze of swerving vehicles trying to dodge one another," French said.
French said it was disheartening to even see the proposal be considered, and that the neighborhood was being "thrown under the bus" to benefit a developer who decided the original plan to access the development off West Main Street was too expensive.
Third Ward Councilman Bob Scrivner pushed back on several claims from residents, including that the curve itself is dangerous. Noting the lack of recorded accidents in the area, Scrivner asked, "is it dangerous just because it looks dangerous?"
Before voting Monday, Mihalevich said though he has respect for the developer, the council must be careful when discounting the voices of the neighborhood. Costales agreed, saying he had heard the residents and would not support the development moving forward.
"Your voice matters," Ward said to the filled room just before the council took its vote on the three Hayselton Drive-related bills.