EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – The City Council rezoned land on Meadowlark Lane from an apartment district to a business district April 4 at the Hall of Waters, as requested by the Earl J. McElwee Trust.

Located by the Royal Care Center on the perimeter of McCullough Industrial Park, the empty parcel received a “Service Business District” classification when zoned 34 years ago, “according to zoning maps,” planning consultant Doug Hermes stated in a March 29 memo to city leaders. But “at some point” between 1988 and 2022, the land become reclassified as a “planned medium density apartment district,” Hermes wrote.

Approval followed a 3-0-1 vote March 28 by the Planning and Zoning Commission, as Economic Development Director Melinda Mehaffy told city leaders. A public hearing preceded the vote, “with no comments from the public” given, meeting minutes state.