At its Sept. 13 meeting, the Planning & Zoning Commission again did not reach the required five votes to accept the recommendations for future development in Galloway (available at springfieldmo.gov/ourgalloway). The item will be tabled until the commission’s October meeting. If the item does not reach five votes in October, it will move forward to City Council with a recommendation of denial by the commission.
At its Aug. 15 meeting, the commission voted unanimously to recommend removing the properties located on the southern corners of Lone Pine and Battle field from the recommendations. A 4-4 vote at that meeting resulted in the item being tabled until September.
The Galloway item is anticipated to come before City Council for public hearing and possible vote in October, which is after this publication’s print deadline.
The council studied the issue at its July 23 Council Lunch Workshop.If the recommendations are approved by council, the use of conditional overlay districts will be considered with future rezoning cases in the area, including:
- Limit uses that are incompatible with the village character of the area, such as storage units, gas stations, drive-through restaurants or other drive-through businesses, car washes, cell towers and uses requiring new manufacturing zoning.
- Limit size, illumination, placement and number of signs, and prohibit digital signage in order to maintain the village aesthetic. Encourage colorful and creative signage.
- Design elements which are compatible with historic development pattern and existing structures.
- Appropriate design elements include articulation of building faces and compatible ratios of glass in windows, doors, and walls. Restrict glazing ratios to no more than 40% of exterior surface.
- Limit building height through bulk plane regulations. Exceptions to these requirements are discouraged.
- Require parking lot placement behind buildings where feasible and require attractive landscaping and tree canopy preservation.
- Limit excessive grading or rock blasting to preserve the rocky, sloped topography which defines the Galloway area, by limiting retaining walls in height and requiring a minimum distance between tiers. Staff recommends no more than 8 feet in wall height and a minimum of 6 feet between tiers for retaining walls.
City Council action on the recommendations will conclude the Our Galloway public engagement process.