Tag Archives: Parking Lots

DeWeese Family wins ICON Good Neighbor Award for Individual for their urban beautification efforts on Lawrence-MacArthur vacant lot

The DeWeese Family were awarded the Good Neighbor Award for Individual at the 2022 Springfield Inner City Older Neighborhood's Annual Celebration.
Kurt & Diana DeWeese

Historic West Side Vice President Kurt DeWeese and his wife Diana DeWeese (and their daughter Marissa) were awarded the Good Neighbor Award for Individual at the 2022 Springfield Inner City Older Neighborhood’s Annual Celebration for their work to keep the vacant lot on the southeast corner of Lawrence & MacArthur from being commercialized.

Many thanks to ICON for the award!

“Kurt DeWeese is no stranger to the Springfield City Council or to zoning issues, and he has been an outspoken opponent of up-zoning and spot zoning that would damage the character of residential neighborhoods.

“So when he spoke against a zoning change to allow a parking lot on the southeast corner of Lawrence and MacArthur, it was no surprise that his well-researched history and arguments against the rezoning would help the council decide to deny the changes.

“What may have been a surprise to many was what happened next. The DeWeese family purchased the vacant lot, located just two blocks from their home in the Historic West Side Neighborhood Association, keeping it safe from future commercial development.”

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HWSNA Advocacy to Protect and Preserve Our Neighborhood: City Council Denies Parking Lot on South MacArthur, Zoning Commission Denies Privacy Fence, Zoning Requires Privacy Fence Setback

In 2022, The HWSNA has reviewed and provided testimony before the Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission in OPPOSITION to two petitions seeking to erect large non-forming privacy fences on side yards of properties located on street corners. The decisions of the Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission in these 2 cases was FINAL without review by the Springfield City Council.

  1. In January 2022, the Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission denied a petition for a 0%-open privacy fence for 957 Williams Boulevard that was temporarily too close to the property line. The City Code requires any such fence to be 50%-open. The Commission adopted a motion that requires additional setback. The petitioner has since complied with the standard by making the existing fence 50%-open.
  2. In March 2022, the Planning & Zoning Commission allowed a 0-% open fence for 1001 Williams Boulevard, but required that it be setback 8 feet from the property line. The petitioner in this case appears to be installing a total privacy fence within the required setback

The HWSNA also provided testimony for a Zoning Petition for a proposed parking lot.

On March of 2022 the HWSNA testified in OPPOSITION to a petition considered by the Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission to convert vacant property located at 800 South MacArthur Boulevard to a paved parking lot, together with variances to not provide landscaping or lighting.

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