Outcome of Sunshine/National Corridor Meetings and a New Re-Zoning Application by BK&M

August 11, 2025

by Donna Hemann

As many of our residents know, the City of Springfield is engaging in a policy research and planning project regarding the Sunshine/National corridors. Recently, UHNA representatives, representatives of other neighborhoods, consultants, and City staff convened to work on this project. We were asked what we want to see along the corridors in terms of new buildings, renovations, types of businesses, traffic safety measures, housing, landscaping and quality of life improvements.

Sections of the corridors were numbered and UHNA's borders fall in section 2. Notably, our section was NOT under discussion for addition of commercial business. In fact, consultants and staff emphasized, numerous times, that discussion about new building, be it residential or commercial, excluded UH and referred only to areas east of National, west of Kimbrough, and north of the Art Museum. UH representatives attended two of the three sessions (three sessions were offered to accommodate people's schedules) and that message was consistent in each session.

In these meetings, our UH representatives were on the same page, advocating for preservation of our 'green corridor' and residential/single-family zoning. We discussed the unique and valuable status of UH as a green connector that encompasses south, east and western anchors of an uninterrupted green corridor stretching all the way to Fassnight Creek and the Fassnight Creek Greenway. Along with our Phelps Grove Park area neighbors, UH properties link to the Water Wise garden, the green space adjacent to Perry Tennis Courts, the 30-acre Phelps Grove Park, and finally Fassnight Creek and the Fassnight Creek Greenway. Eventually the Fassnight Creek Greenway will be extended west to Jordan Creek and Wilson's Creek Greenway trails.

Why is this important? Our geography is the connectivity cornerstone of this part of Springfield, enhancing climate resilience, providing health benefits, reducing flooding, urban heat and noise, and creating significant traffic calming effects for long stretches of surrounding streets. Importantly, the area from Kimbrough and Sunshine to Campbell, which the City added into our neighborhood strictly as part of providing a registered neighborhood association designation but having nothing to do with our actual platted neighborhood, has seen a significant increase in car accidents since that area became inundated with commercial business. In November of last year, in the location the City most recently approved a 7-Brew coffee shop across the street from an elementary school, a 54 year old man was killed in a head-on crash. The necessity to diminish, not increase traffic congestion and chaos along Sunshine/National and now Sunshine/Jefferson/Campbell due to increased commercialization, reflects the value of retaining our residential-green corridor status and is instructive for the direction we should be going.

In our meetings with Ryan Stehn (consultant) and Justin Crighton (City Planning Dept.) and others, we and Phelps Grove representatives advocated for safer ingress/egress into businesses along Sunshine, more and better frontage landscaping/trees on commercial properties, mandated turn areas to access businesses, possible boulevard-type street development with a center strip of green landscape, a possible improved turn lane and park/green space at the north-west corner of Sunshine/National and improved street crossing. In other sections of the corridors that have always been zoned commercial, we discussed revitalization that could entail new buildings with multiple stories, featuring things such as nice restaurants and upscale markets with upstairs dining. We talked about the blighted areas at Sunshine/Fremont and commercial property west of Kimbrough (strip center) and west of Campbell, where mixed use revitalization might occur if the complexities and challenges of traffic could be successfully worked out. Further development in these areas, if it were to occur, again underscores the tremendous value of keeping UH as a traffic calming asset that does not add ingress/egress stress or increase vehicle traffic. We also discussed creating walkable sidewalks along the corridor and enhancing bikeability.

Since our meetings, BK&M, which owns multiple properties surrounding the north-west corner of Sunshine/National, has demolished two and is allowing the others to rapidly decline, has applied again for changing our zoning to commercial. In a recent meeting with UH residents, BK&M representatives, and City Council representatives, President Ralph Duda announced to everyone he would not be developing the properties if he achieves a zoning change. He would sell it. In that meeting, residents made strong cases for residential re-development, emphasizing that the properties could be used for executive rentals for medical staff at the hospitals and travelling nurses. We also talked about creating public/private partnerships for an educational center on the corner, sculptural gardens and art installation. Mr. Duda said he was cash flowing the residences he is currently renting out but he is not interested in preserving residential conditions because they would not be sufficiently profitable to him. As of now, he will be making his case for rezoning before the Planning and Zoning Commission in September.
When we think about the long-term health of where we live, we think of conditions such as crime, traffic, walkability/bikeability and healthy ecosystems. BK&M owns properties not just on the corridor but inside our neighborhood. Their intention is to commercialize them and turn land into parking lots and create an increase in traffic necessary to support anything built there. That increase would be along the congested intersection area and to the north, south, east and west. It would also pour cars into the neighborhood, beginning at E. University.

The New York Times ran an August 5th article by James Barron, "The Greenest Block in Brooklyn." The block was awarded special designation for, among other things, constructing communal herb gardens and artistic benches for this section of Crown Heights, creating a green oasis for residents and visitors, and adding to the overall health of the neighborhood and city. University Heights is similar in its profusion of lush floral, herb and vegetable gardens in the middle of the city! We are a heavily eco-minded neighborhood, and one that also has many residents who are artists or strong art/s supporters. Many of us would like to remain this type of asset to Springfield. We shudder at the idea of "glenstonification" along our borders and worse, inside the neighborhood, which stills feels like a different era with our historic architecture and 100 year old trees. Commercial development has a long history of embodying the domino effect in Springfield. This is the next greatest concern.

Now is the time to again let your voice be heard in regard to this proposed commercialization. It is worth noting that in a recent formal, neighborhood survey, 87% of respondents indicated our single-family residential status is a "most valued" feature of our neighborhood. Letters to our City Manager, City Council, and Planning and Zoning always make an impact. Should this rezoning item remain on the docket there will be a public meeting held by developers which we will announce on our website and Facebook page. Then of course there will be public hearings.

I am amazed, looking at the many dilapidated buildings and empty buildings in commercially zoned areas all around us, that the mindset of some developers is to disregard these for-sale commercial properties and intrude into successful, stable neighborhoods for the purpose of exploiting their assets to extract the highest profit. No reasonable person could believe that it would be desirable to a home owner who had renovated their historic property directly across the street (valued at over $600,000) to face a massive parking lot instead of a pristine 3-story historic home with mature trees, or elderly people living in their final home who are protected from pollution, noise and other hazards of Sunshine street by an abundance of trees, green space, and homes, would prefer having all that taken from them for another dentist office or coffee shop.
I hope UH residents continue to grow wiser and stronger in our resolve to recognize and champion our value as a neighborhood. That will look different to different people, but I hope that each of us who is involved in this issue participates from a place of caring and support for the success we have built together over the past 100 years.