The Blue Springs Planning Commission on Sept. 8 continued a public hearing on a rezoning and planned-development application for Rampage Athletics after staff discovered the public notice incorrectly described the target zoning and must be reissued.

The hearing drew multiple neighbors who said they opposed changing the property’s zoning from multifamily (MF-14) to a commercial planned development that would allow a broader range of uses. Chantelle Fry, associate planner for the city, summarized staff’s recommendation: “Staff recommends approval of the rezoning of the site to a PD commercial. We also recommend approval of the PD concept plan and also approval of the PD final plan with conditions” listed in the staff report.

Neighbors said they feared the long-term consequences of a commercial zoning designation even with listed exclusions. “I have a lot of concerns…this can affect property value,” resident Sherry Frost said, adding she was “directly behind” the property. Kelly Smith, another nearby resident, said her neighborhood is “probably 90 to 95% senior citizens” and warned that commercial uses could increase crime or traffic. Builder Bob Frost urged the commission to explore alternatives, saying, “If this business would go away, the zoning needs to go away with it, not just continuous perpetual since it was not zoned that way to begin with.” Lyle Shaver, who owns nearby fourplexes, said he supports the current operator’s activities but opposed a broad commercial rezoning as “an extremely broad category.”

Staff and commissioners discussed options short of a straightforward general-business rezoning, including drafting a PD that lists specific allowed uses, or permitting certain higher-impact uses only by conditional use permit, and the possibility of adding a narrowly tailored set of uses appropriate to the residential surroundings. City staff advised against so-called reverter (automatic rezone-back) clauses, saying they are hard to track and can expose the city to legal challenges. The city attorney’s office advised that the notice language must be corrected because the request is to a planned development zoning district rather than straight general business.

Because the public notice did not accurately state the zoning change, the commission declared the hearing cannot be concluded that night and set the item to be renoticed and continued to Oct. 27. A motion to continue the matter for renotice and hearing on Oct. 27 passed without recorded opposition. The commission said staff will send new letters, place a new newspaper ad and property signs describing the request to rezone from MF-14 to planned development.

The commission and staff encouraged the applicant and neighbors to use the extra time to refine the PD language so it can allow Rampage Athletics to operate while limiting more intensive commercial uses that neighbors fear. “We could list specific land uses that we feel are appropriate for the site,” staff said, noting that state law prevents creating a PD that allows only a single use.

The public hearing was closed and re-opened under the new notice schedule; the discussion and continuance mean the commission will revisit the matter on Oct. 27 after renotification.