Residents oppose rentals on Deatherage

Many residents spoke out against a rezoning effort seeking to build multi-family homes. The West Plains City Council did something a little different in their January meeting, asking for public comment on each bill following the council's discussion of it. Only one of the three bills discussed during the meeting received additional comment -- that being the rezoning effort.
 
Bill 4789 had its first read during the meeting and had a public Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on Jan. 2. The bill is a petition from Avery Grant of West Plains to rezone four lots on Deatherage Avenue and one lot on Rhonda Drive from R1 – single family to R3 – multi-family. In the summary available on the city's website, Building Official and Zoning Admin Dustin Harrison recommends denying the request, stating this rezone is not consistent with the Future Land Use Plan. The council passed the first reading of the bill, and a second reading will be held in February, deciding if it is enacted or not.
 
Maureen DeMarks, a Deatherage Ave. resident, spoke first to the council against the bill. She said she owns her “forever home” on the street and is worried about many issues related to the rezone, and the triplex rentals that Grant wants to build. Her worries included water drainage issues that the street is already having and what new homes and parking lots could do, suspecting a potential increase in water flow. DeMarks noted that more than half of the residential properties in West Plains are currently rentals. She also said she wanted to, “keep real estate values high” and does not want more rental homes in the area. She had a petition that she said was signed by homeowners in the area who are against the rezoning.
 
Next to speak was Avery Grant himself in favor of the bill. Grant said he wants to develop new quality, affordable rentals. Prior to the meeting, he said he found only three rentals under $1,000 that were open in the city. In his proposal, he estimates these units would be more affordable by $200 per month. Grant said he currently lives in a triplex on Burke Avenue and that new homes are not selling in West Plains. He claimed that only eleven newly built homes were purchased in the city in 2024, and those sat on the market for over 220 days. He also said that these properties would help to bring in around $100,000 in tax revenue for the West Plains School District over the next decade.
 
After the city council spoke on the bill, Deatherage residents Nick Ellison and his wife, Stephanie Horn, spoke against Bill 4789. Ellison owns the lot next to Grant. He claimed to have looked into doing the same thing that Grant was proposing and decided against it. Ellison claimed that land on Plainview, a nearby street, can be bought at ten acres for $500,000 or four acres for $250,000, making it cheaper. Ellison said, "We know what rentals do. Some of you possibly own rentals and you know what you get in a rental. I wouldn't want that living next to my house." Horn also spoke against the bill, saying "Nothing against somebody that rents, but normally they don't take as good of care of your place as they would if they owned it."
 
The council approved the second reading of Bill 4787, continuing the standing agreement to supply battery backups for traffic lights in the city that were installed by the Missouri Department of Transportation, MoDOT. There was no public comment on this bill.
 
The council also approved the first reading of Bill 4788. This is another in the long line of bills from the city concerning the Independence Drive Overpass project. This is an agreement between the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and the city for the commission to pay the city $900,000 for the closure of the at-grade railroad crossings at Route 160 (Independence Drive) and Thornbrough Street. The city is to use this money to pay for the engineering costs of the overpass project. This was approved by the council and had no public comments.
 
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