The Jefferson City Council passed final plans for a proposed skilled nursing facility and preschool at Tuesday's meeting.
The final planned unit development plan proposed demolishing two single-family houses at 1732 and 1736 Vieth Drive, north of Colonial Hills Road. The plan called for an 8,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility, 1,800-square-foot maintenance building to the west and 6,500-square-foot preschool on the south side of the property. A playground would also be constructed.
A PUD plan allows area residents to see and comment on what is proposed for the area.
The plan was approved 7-2 with 4th Ward Councilman Carlos Graham and 5th Ward Councilman Larry Henry voting against the plan. Ward 3 Councilwoman Erin Wiseman was not at the meeting.
The final PUD plan contained some changes from the preliminary plan, such as extending the buffer yards, planting more trees and moving the playground closer to the preschool.
The plan states increasing the buffer yards and adding evergreen trees along the property will provide more screening from surrounding residences.
The west buffer yard will be 50 feet wide - the preliminary plan proposed a 25-foot buffer yard - and the preschool would be located about 125 feet from the west property line. The south buffer yard would be 30 feet wide and have evergreen trees along the property line; the preliminary plan proposed a 25-foot buffer yard and did not mention trees. The east buffer yard, which was not mentioned in the preliminary plan, will be at least 40 feet and will contain evergreen trees between the hospice facility and Vieth Drive.
Jefferson City Senior Planner Eric Barron said moving the playground closer to the preschool, away from the southern property line, will lessen the noise.
The preschool would have a maximum enrollment of 99 children. Cindy Juckette, co-owner of Jefferson City Manor Skilled Nursing, is in the process of purchasing the land. She does not want to resubmit a PUD plan to the Jefferson City Planning and Zoning Commission, so she designed the building to hold up to the maximum number of children for which she was licensed.
Jefferson City Manor Skilled Nursing is located north of the property. By having the preschool and nursing home close, children and nursing home residents can interact with each other more. Juckette said she thinks allowing inter-generational contact could help children learn more about history and acceptance.
"It teaches kids to look at disabilities, I think, differently because most of our residents are in wheelchairs," she said. "So, when they're 2 or 3 and raised in that environment and (they) go to school (later on), other kids in their school in wheelchairs, they don't see the wheelchairs. It's not a thing, so I think it teaches them more about disabilities not being a thing."
The City Council passed the preliminary PUD plan narrowly in June after the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously passed the plan. The council and commission also passed a rezoning request from property owners Ralph and Debra Rankins, rezoning about 3.25 acres on the west side of Vieth Drive from RS-2 Single Family Residential to a PUD.
Residents expressed stormwater concerns about the preliminary PUD plan. Flash floods last August and September impacted Ward 4 - especially at the intersection of Satinwood Drive and Stadium Boulevard, about a mile down the road from the PUD location. Residents have since called on council members to address stormwater issues.
Project consultant Paul Sampson said the site would be extremely small compared to the rest of the drainage area but the stormwater from the site would be rerouted to the west toward a stormwater detention basin. The basin will also catch run-off from the Jefferson City Manor.
"So, the run-off rates leaving the property after the development will actually be less than peak run-off rates that we currently see on the property," Sampson said.
Henry said he voted against the plan because, even with a stormwater basin, he was concerned about the stormwater issues in the 4th Ward.
"I'm still pretty weary about the stormwater issues because I know the 4th Ward has had a ton of stormwater issues, and I'm still pretty weary about that as it pertains to this particular development," he said. "I understand what city staff had mentioned to us, but I'm one of those who sways on the side of caution when it comes to developments."
During the June public hearing, some residents 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.
Sampson said the city conducted a traffic study on the area and concluded traffic would not increase by a significant amount. He also said children walking to and from the elementary school would miss the key pick-up and drop-off times at the daycare.
A parking lot would be constructed to serve the preschool and nursing facility, and 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.
Juckette said now that the plan is approved, she will talk to a contractor about the buildings and to get an estimated completion date.