A Keokuk business will have more time to complete a planned expansion.
The Keokuk Board of Adjustment has approved a one-year extension of the special use permit it awarded to Lexington Square in January 2012.
The permit was needed before the skilled care and rehabilitation center could add on to its facility along Messenger Road.
The addition would allow Lexington Square to increase the number of private rooms available to residents without increasing the number of beds.
The expansion has been on hold, though, because a group of neighbors appealed the Board of Adjustment’s decision in District Court.
The neighbors believe the expansion will have a negative impact on their neighborhood, pointing to noise, traffic, and lighting.
They also question how one member of the Board of Adjustment could vote for the expansion after opposing it as a member of Keokuk’s City Planning Commission.
Lexington Square was able to join into the lawsuit last spring.
Its attorney, Jim Dennis, says the case is now in the hands of a judge. He says it could be several weeks before a final decision is announced.
Community Development Director Pam Broomhall says construction projects requiring a special use permit must be completed within one year, prompting the need for the extension.
No one spoke against the extension.
