Neosho Mayor Howard Birdsong summed up the situation between the City of Neosho and HD Properties concerning the apartment complex near Crowder College in the Neosho Industrial Park like this, “This may be the best solution in a real bad situation.”

Birdsong said this during the Neosho City Council meeting Tuesday night where, on a divided vote, the board gave first round approval to resume construction of the apartment complex.

The apartments are located on a 4 1/2 acre parcel of property at the corner of Lyon and Doniphan Drive. The land is owned by HD Properties, a Bentonville, Ark., developer, which plans to build several multi-unit apartment complexes.

The “real bad situation” Birdsong refers to is that the property in question was zoned for heavy industrial use, not residential.

A map error by a former city employee and a permit being issued sparked the controversy.

That was the first error.

Then, HD Properties started to build three of its apartment buildings while the zoning issue was in question, forcing the city to issue a work stop order.

That was the second error.

Now, all parties involved will pay a price for this “really bad situation.”

It’s evident the city will go ahead and change the zoning of the property to C-0 non-retail business. If it doesn’t, the city could face ongoing legal issues with the developer.

The developer is also paying approximately $100,000 as part of a compromise with the city to attempt to buffer the property from neighboring industries. This includes an earthen berm, planting trees, and installing a six-foot chain link fence.

The winner in all of this might be Crowder College, which may be able to attract more students with housing right across the street.

It’s unfortunate this mistake is costing all parties involved, and also those who in the past may have wanted to develop land in the industrial park for other uses but haven’t been able to get the zoning changed as HD Properties did.

As humans, we learn with our errors, so let’s hope this issue is a singular one — and that the property in the Neosho Industrial Park stays just that — for industry.

DAILY  NEWS