Vieth Drive preschool, nursing facility OK'd

The Jefferson City Council narrowly passed a rezoning proposal for the construction of a new preschool and skilled nursing facility that would serve hospice patients.

In a 6-4 vote Monday, the council approved a request from property owners Debra and Ralph Rankin to rezone 3.25 acres on the west side of Vieth Drive, north of Colonial Hills Road, from RS-2 Single Family Residential to Planned Unit Development (PUD). Along with the rezoning request was a preliminary PUD plan to demolish two single-family houses to create a preschool, skilled nursing facility and maintenance building.

The 6,500-square-foot preschool will be on the south side of the property. On the east side of the property, the plan calls for construction of a 8,000-square-food skilled nursing facility with a 1,800-square-foot maintenance building to the west.

Earlier this month, Jefferson City Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously passed both the rezoning request and preliminary PUD plan.

Cindy Juckette, part owner of Jefferson City Manor Skilled Nursing, which is located north of the property, entered a contract to purchase the property from the Rankins contingent upon the approval of the rezoning request. She said she wants the preschool and nursing facility to be close to each other so children can interact with the nursing home residents.

A parking lot would be created to serve the preschool and skilled nursing facility. Access to the parking lot would be through a reconstructed driveway on the south side of the property and a shared driveway with Jefferson City Manor to the north.

The preschool would have a maximum enrollment of 99 children.

Since the property was zoned as RS-2 Single Family Residential, a preschool or nursing facility couldn't be constructed on it.

Council members Carlos Graham, Larry Henry, Mark Schreiber and Laura Ward voted against the bill.

A PUD plan allows area residents to see and comment on what is being planned for the area.

In a public hearing during Monday's meeting, some residents said they were worried about children's safety because of an increase in traffic and students walking to Cedar Hill Elementary School crossing the driveway entrance to the proposed preschool and nursing facility. Graham said the main reason he voted against the project was the safety concerns, and former councilman Glen Costales agreed.

"With the increased traffic and more kids walking to school, people don't always see them, and kids don't always follow the rules," Costales, who also lives in that neighborhood, said. "We have to watch out for them, and I think we're going to put some of them at risk."

Residents also said they were worried about the stormwater issues in that area. Costales said he wished the council had not passed the plan because some major issues like the stormwater problem have not been addressed yet.

Juckette said she wants to address residents' concerns, but some of the problems are pre-existing.

"The problems are already there, and it's not because of what I want to do that's going to cause the problems, so I think people need to separate that a little bit," she said.

Juckette will submit a final PUD plan to Planning and Zoning, and if approved, it will be presented to City Council.

Demolition of city-owned East McCarty properties

Also during Monday night's meeting, the City Council passed a motion to extend the demolition moratorium on city-owned properties in the East McCarty neighborhood by 90 days.

In March, the council approved a measure to halt the demolition process of properties the city and Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department own along the Lafayette Street/U.S. 50 interchange. Three properties were in the 600 block of East McCarty Street, two in the 400 block of Lafayette Street and one in the 600 block of School Street.

The freeze was to last three months.

Jefferson City resident Jane Beetem said she wants to create a plan for the city to redevelop the houses instead of demolishing them. She said, currently, the city will not allow residents to spend more than 50 percent of the estimated value of the property, which limits the residents.

"It discourages reinvestment in that area," Beetem said.

She added if she can have the neighborhood designated as a local historic conservation district under city code, there would be exemptions under federal regulations to allow the city to lift the 50-percent rule.

The State Historic Preservation Office originally reviewed photographs of the properties, and Beetem said the architecture could not distinguish the properties enough. So, they were considered ineligible to be listed on the national register for historic places. However, after more research on the history of the neighborhood, she said the preservation office would consider them eligible.