Owensville Planning and Zoning Commissioners on Monday forwarded two separate rezoning requests to the city’s Board of Aldermen for public hearings and final action.

P&Z members voted unanimously on a request from Robert and Brienna Thompson, House Springs, Mo., who are seeking to rezone their empty 1008 Cedar Street lot north of an alley running between Cherry and Plum from residential single family (R-1) to residential multi-family (R-2) to build a duplex. The property butts up against a unit in the senior housing complex to the east.

The Thompsons intend to live in one of the units and rent out the other, they told P&Z members. The couple’s request will require a public hearing which will need to be advertised 14 days prior to a scheduled Board of Aldermen meeting. No hearing has been scheduled at this point but one could be held in early December, possibly Dec. 4.

Once approved for the rezoning, they will need to seek a variance from the city’s appointed Board of Adjustments to seek an allowance on set back requirements which their proposed structure would not meet. That process will also required a public notice to be advertised and neighboring property owners notified about the hearing.

Aldermen will also be tasked with final approval of a rezoning request from Dale “Grassy” Gruenloh on a 1-acre tract of land along Kosark Road which he hopes to develop into a 6-unit duplex-style building under one roof.

P&Z member Noel Arnold shared her concerns about a multiple-family dwelling in an R-1, single family neighborhood and the additional traffic on Kosark. Gruenloh told commissioners he planned to have two-bedroom units with a maximum of four occupants and off-street parking for each unit.

Arnold’s concerns were dismissed by Mayor John Kamler who sits with P&Z as an elected official. The biggest complaints he receives as mayor, he said, is about the lack of available rental housing in town.

“The biggest complaint I hear is there’s not enough housing,” said Kamler.

He also noted that although traffic in the area becomes “intense” during food delivery and distribution from the Helping Hands Outreach Center, there is a strong need for more housing.

Gruenloh told P&Z members he did not plan to offer subsidized housing rental which is included in the covenant on his Gruenloh Estates subdivision north of the proposed building site. Arnold asked for, and received a yes or no roll call vote after Steve Hobein’s motion to forward the request to aldermen for a public hearing and vote up or down.

Pat Sexton seconded the motion which was approved on a 4-1 vote. P&Z Chairman Tom Lahmeyer noted he did not vote unless there would be a tie. Kamler and Ward 2 Alderman Denise Bohl cast yes votes as voting members along with P&Z Commissioners.