By: Gary J. Groman, a.k.a. The Ole Seagull
If ex-alderman David Edie’s request is honored, the decision that the previous board and mayor made to permit a 300 foot skyscraper to be built on one of Branson’s most prominent pieces of land will be reversed. He made his request at the Dec. 10 meeting of the city of Branson’s Board of Aldermen (the board) presided over by Mayor Raeanne Presley and attended by Aldermen Jack Purvis, Sandra Williams, Stan Barker, Bob McDowell, Dick Gass, and Stephen Marshall.
Edies’s request came during the Public Comment portion of the meeting and started off with a reading from the travelogue book entitled “The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America” by Bill Bryson. The reading described the author’s impression of a Hyatt Regency Hotel located in an older area of Savannah, Georgia, as “an instantly depressing sight. Massive and made of shaped concrete it was from the in your face school of architecture so favored by big American hotel chains. There was nothing about it, in scale or appearance that was remotely sympathetic to the old buildings around it. It just said, ‘In your face Savannah.’”
He suggested that the quote described how a lot of people in Branson feel. Edie went on to describe that on Dec. 11, 2006, while he was a member of the board, they were faced with a decision to allow a 300 foot building, “designed from the same school of architecture,” to be built on one of the most prominent locations in Branson. He continued saying, “It was barely allowed, as you all know, by a split vote.”
Edie suggested that had the building been built, there would have been nothing about it that would be “in scale or appearance in any way remotely sympathetic to or in harmony with this city or any of the surrounding area.” He concluded his initial remarks by saying, “I’m here tonight to ask you to revisit ordinance 2006-171 and to revise the paragraph and remove the 300 foot limitation and restore the original building height limit of 100 feet.”
The minutes of the Dec. 11, 2006 meeting of the Branson Board of Aldermen indicate that “an ordinance amending the Land Use Regulations for Planned Development PD-98-007 known as ‘The Point Entertainment Complex’ located at 448 State Highway 248 Branson, Missouri” was discussed at the meeting. They further indicate that there was a tie vote on the issue with Aldermen Gass, Barker, and ex-Alderwoman Martin voting “aye” and Aldermen Purvis and ex-aldermen Edie and Huff voting “Nay.” Ex-Mayor, Lou Schaefer, voted “Aye” and the motion carried permitting the developer to build a 300 foot tall building. Ordinance 2006-171 also repealed, in its entirety, Ordinance 2006-132 which has previously authorized the building of a 12 story building.
At the conclusion of Edie’s comments Alderman Gass, who was one of the aldermen who voted for the 300 foot building said, “I have just one comment Dave. I don’t see that building ever being built. I just don’t know how that could ever be built to that size where it would make money and I think that if you talked to some of the developers around here they realize that. When we voted on that. I think that is a prime location and I agree with you, I don’t think you’ll ever see a building that tall built there even though we voted it in that night.” Edie agreed and said he would be surprised if it were but said he would still like to see the ordinance changed so that no one could do that. Gass said, “That’s a good question.”
There were no further comments or questions by the board or city staff. Without further action by city staff or an elected official to change Ordinance 2006-171 the 300 foot height limit will stand.
Furnished courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent. https://bransoncourier.com/view_article.php?news_ID=41
