Council tables 129 St. Joseph Avenue plan after neighbors raise traffic and lane-title concerns

Council tabled consideration of a general development plan for 129 St. Joseph Avenue after residents voiced opposition and staff raised site-control issues that the applicant must resolve.

The application—described in the meeting read as the general development plan application of Ashley Mosley as authorized agent for Jonathan Austin—proposes a 6,000-square-foot metal building partitioned into four 1,500-square-foot units for heavy commercial use on a 0.42-acre site. The applicant (who identified himself in the meeting as Austin Page and said he intended to store elevator equipment) and an engineer attended and answered questions about traffic and intended uses. Planning staff noted the property is zoned heavy commercial and the applicant has a legal right to commercial use, but council and staff flagged a city lane that the site plan crosses; a council member advised the applicant to petition the city to abandon the lane and obtain title before the site plan is approved.

Residents on St. Joseph Avenue objected to adding another commercial property on a one-way residential street and cited traffic and flooding concerns. Julius Bryant said the neighborhood didn’t want the additional traffic, and Tammy Allen said residents had limited notice when prior rezoning occurred decades ago. Given the outstanding lane/title and neighborhood concerns, council voted to table the application for further work rather than deny it outright.