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Adams Dairy Parkway
The original Adams Dairy Parkway (ADP) was first conceived and put
into motion during Mayor Dale Baumgardner’s administration. The plan
called for mixed development which included housing, retail and
office space. Ten years after the ADP interchange was finished,
Independence put an interchange at Selsa Road (Now Little Blue
Parkway), razed the Crackerneck Golf Course and started turning the
areas north and south of I-70 into the thriving hub that exists
today. The developed areas include housing, retail and office space.
During this time, our city’s focus has changed from mixed use to
encouragement of office park development to the courting of retail.
How much have these indecisions and lack of focus cost us? How much
in taxes have we lost and continue to lose?
It is somewhat ironic that Independence took a golf course and
turned it into the fastest growing and income producing project in
Jackson County and Blue Springs took the best development land,
serviced with water sewer and infrastructure, and built a
money-losing golf course and conference center.
In an effort to save face and show development on Adam’s Dairy, the
city has pushed development away from other areas of town. Why did
the city push Wal-Mart to ADP? It was implied that the reason the
city did not want Wal-Mart by Stone Creek on South 7 Highway was due
to concern for homeowner values. Yet in other areas where Wal-Mart
SuperCenters have been constructed, homeowner values actually
improved.
Coronado Plaza will supposedly be the retail core Blue Springs has
been promised for decades. There may be interest in the land.
Developers may be investigating their options. However, the most of
the type of major retail we might seek for such a development
already exists at Hartman Center and Independence Commons. Where
else have any of these stores located in such close proximity to an
existing location? Why would they cannibalize their existing sales
for those stores? Have we missed the boat because the city wasn’t
aggressive?
Meanwhile, while much of Blue Springs continues to deteriorate, the
city has secured grants and spent tax dollars for fountains,
landscaping and bicycle trails on a virtually empty Parkway. During
this time period, every city that borders with Blue Springs has seen
exceptional growth in business and housing & quality of life.
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