Several lots on 200 block of East Third Street set to be rezoned R-2, C-1

A number of lots on the 200 block of East 3rd Street appear to be heading toward being rezoned after the Hermann Board of Aldermen voted unanimously in favor of the rezoning requests of several owners following a public hearing on the matter.

At their Monday, Nov. 14, meeting, Board members took up the question of rezoning the lots of eight property owners – including vacant lots owned by the City of Hermann – along East 3rd Street from R-1 single-family residential to R-2 two-family residential.

Although still a residential designation, being rezoned to R-2 two-family residential would allow owners more leeway in how they choose to use their property including the opportunity to operate nightly rentals, provided they are granted proper Conditional Use Permits (CUP).

In addition to the requests for rezoning to R-2, there were also five requests by owners on the 200 block of East 3rd Street asking to be rezoned from R-1 to C-1 general commercial, allowing for even greater freedom of use of the properties should they be rezoned to general commercial.

Emily Kalla, an attorney at Engelmeyer & Pezzani representing a majority of the owners requesting the rezoning, spoke to the Board and explained why they are asking them to approve their request.

Kalla cited changes in the neighborhood since the R-1 zoning was initially put in place by the City, the growth of the tourism industry outside of the immediate downtown area, and the need for their clients to be able to effectively “keep up with the trends in Hermann” to increase their property values.

A goal of the City with zoning has been to keep areas of Hermann uniformly zoned and avoid a patchwork zoning map, leading Mayor Bruce Cox to question one of the lots requesting a change to C-1 since it lies further up the block than the others asking for the same designation.

The other lots seeking C-1 designation lie close to Schiller Street, but the property he questioned, 213 East 3rd, is not.

The owner, Dan Brueggenjohann, was in attendance and addressed the mayor’s question by saying the property has been in his family since 1935 and was originally constructed with a residential home and a two-story commercial building adjacent to the alley that his father and grandfather had run businesses out of. He told the mayor and aldermen a C-1 zoning was in-line with the property’s original purpose and, because the buildings will require significant cost, the potential for renting the space to a business would allow return on investment.

Another concern voiced during public comment was the possible need for adequate parking for the lots rezoned to general commercial, but Planning & Zoning Chairman Dolores Grannemann provided clarification to the Board that C-1 lots in the Historical District aren’t required to provide off-street parking and therefore parking would not be an issue for those lots on 3rd Street.

After public comment and hearing from the owners’ representative Kalla, a motion was made to approve the entirety of the zoning changes as previously recommended by the Planning & Zoning Commission and the motion passed with unanimous consent of the aldermen.

The Board then heard from Stephen Lebrell, the owner of 221 and 222 East 3rd St., the only one of the owners that requested rezoning who was also seeking approval of a CUP for his properties now that the Board agreed to rezone them to R-2.

He stated they were asking for a CUP in order to rent the properties to friends, not to host big parties going so far as to say one of the houses only has one bedroom. He went on to point out the properties are near other bed-and-breakfasts and believes he has already met the requirements for a CUP including providing all necessary parking.

Aldermen approved Lebrell’s request for a CUP, to be renewed annually, in another unanimous vote.

Other business handled by the Board during public hearings included voting to rezone property owned by Aaron Detwiler and Alexandria Lane-Detwiler at 212 East 6th St. from R-1 to R-2, approve the voluntary annexation into the City of Hermann of property owned by the Terry E. Hammer & Peggy A. Hammer trusts on Sand Plant Road and its zoning as R-3 multiple family, and approve several definitional and clarifying changes to zoning code recommended by the Planning & Zoning Commission.