A family reunion of sorts may be in the offing, after the Jefferson County Planning Commission recommended approving a request to rezone a 37.7-acre piece of land between Prairie Hollow Road and Oakcrest Drive in Imperial northwest of Mastodon State Park.
The planning board, which advises the Jefferson County Council on zoning issues in unincorporated areas, voted 5-2 April 11 in favor of the request from Joann Smith of Naples, Fla., to rezone her property from R-40 to R-10.
If approved, it would allow Smith to market her property along with a similarly sized lot to the south owned by her cousin, Mel Kohr of St. Peters.
The rezoning also would allow more homes to be built on the property. Under the R-40 zoning, one house per acre could be built, and under R-10, four houses could be built per acre.
The County Council will take up the issue at a future meeting. Three affirmative votes in at least two meetings will be required to change the zoning.
“This property was part of a farm that has been in my family since the early 1900s,” said Kohr, who spoke for Smith at the hearing before the Planning Commission. “It was my grandfather’s farm, and after he died, it passed to my father and my uncle. My dad’s property was eventually zoned R-7 (which allows five homes per acre) and my uncle’s R-40.
“Since then, both my dad and my uncle have died, and my cousin and I want to sell our land. We don’t have the money, the time or the expertise to develop real estate. We had the land appraised, and we had a couple of bids, one of which was accepted, but the deal fell through when the builder said he couldn’t get enough houses on (my cousin’s) property to make it worthwhile.
“We didn’t even know about the different zonings at the time, but we kept trying to sell it, without any luck, and our real estate agent finally told us that we have a problem with the zoning,” Kohr said.
“We want to make it more marketable so we can sell it,” he said.
The R-10 zoning, he said, would allow him and his cousin to market their properties as a single purchase.
Neighbors, particularly those who live on King Drive north of Smith’s lot, said they aren’t interested in anyone developing the land.
“We live in a subdivision where all of our lots are on an acre or more,” said Thomas Leonard. “We would hate to see four homes an acre next to us. Our property values would go down.”
About two dozen people attended the hearing in opposition to the rezoning request.
Sue Gibson, who said she has lived on Prairie Hollow Road for 42 years, said traffic on the two-lane county road already is problematic without a dense subdivision adding to congestion.
“I would support homes on 1 to 5 acres,” she said. “Already at certain times traffic starts backing up trying to get onto Seckman Road. That would only get worse.”
Marty Franczak, who lives on King Drive, said speeding is a problem in the area.
“Over the last 21 months, I’ve had three cars end up in my front yard,” he said.
John Hendricks, who lives on Prairie Hollow Road, agreed.
“The traffic sometimes goes by my house at 55 mph to 60 mph,” he said. “I have 2.2 acres that I bought for the privacy. It’s been really nice here.”
Kohr said there could be benefits if the property is developed.
“When I was young and growing up here, Prairie Hollow and Seckman were dirt and gravel roads. Now they’re nice paved roads, and that’s because of progress being made. As the population grows, the roads will improve. A developer will have to bring in water and sewer lines, which will help the neighboring areas as well.”
Kohr also said people often trespass on his family’s land, which is vacant and wooded, causing safety concerns.
“There are people who believe that vacant land is public property,” he said. “I’ve walked the property several times, and I’ve seen deer stands, spent shotgun shells, arrows and empty bottles spread all around.
“Kids play on the land as well, which I don’t have a problem with, but it is a concern when people are shooting guns and arrows off in the same place. My worry is that one of these kids are going to get hit by an arrow or by gunshot,” he said. “I cannot be out there every day patrolling this land.”
Planning commissioner Gene Barbagallo, who cast one of the two dissenting votes, said rezoning the property to R-10 is more intense than he would like.
The two lots are surrounded to the north by lots zoned R-40, to the east and west by R-10 zoning and to the south by R-7 zoning, the most dense of the three residential zoning designations.
“The density (of the rezoning request) concerned me,” he said. “I would have liked to have seen more of a transition (from R-7 in the south to R-40 in the north).”
Planning commissioner Ray Hefner also voted against the recommendation to rezone.
“I’m sensitive to the guy wanting to sell his farm, but I also understand the feelings of the people affected,” he said.