The Planning and Zoning Commission had different ideas than the Planning Department Thursday night, diverging from staff’s recommendation and voting against a proposed rezoning on Grindstone Parkway across from the Walmart center.
The request by Red Oak Investment Company, owned in part by Hugh Stephenson and his son Ted Stephenson as well as Robert Smith, was for about 25 acres of agricultural land to be rezoned for planned commercial, allowing 200,000 square feet of commercial development. The owners say they want to rezone the property to make it easier to market it to a potential buyer. The company’s attorney, Bruce Beckett, said there are no interested buyers ready to imminently purchase the property.
The commission seemed to have no problem with a commercial use on the site. Their beef was with a proposed intersection between the Nifong Connector and Rock Quarry Road. The intersection and traffic signal would be built at Grindstone Plaza Drive, which now just has a left turn lane for eastbound traffic.
Commissioners said their concern was that another intersection on Grindstone Parkway would further congest traffic on the road, which was designed to be an expressway.
“It’s a parkway,” said commissioner Ann Peters. “The intent is to move traffic quickly. What they’re proposing to do here has the potential to do what has happened on (West) Stadium.”
Commissioner David Brodsky pointed to a 2003 development agreement for the Walmart across the street with THF Grindstone (affiliated with Stan Kroenke and Otto Maly) that said the intersection shall remain as it is now, what’s known as a “three-quarters” intersection. And he asked why MoDOT, which did not support an intersection when the Walmart case was heard in 2003 but does now, had changed its thinking.
“Whoever makes those decisions down there shifted their thinking,” was Beckett’s reply.
The room’s atmosphere was noticeably tense at times. Chairman Jeff Barrow cut off Beckett during his opening statements after he went over the allotted six minutes. “I expected a professional presentation,” he said.
A little background:
Red Oak sold the land where the Walmart is across the street to the developers, so there’s some connections there. (Beckett said THF was not interested in buying the Red Oak tract).
There’s also some obvious frustration from Barrow, who was on the Planning and Zoning Commission when the Walmart case was heard. He even said during the meeting that he voted against the original Walmart plan “as many times as I could.” “The (Rock Quarry) Special Area Plan was violated right off the bat,” he said, referring to the 2002 planning document for the area. (The Planning Director then, John Hancock, now works for Maly.)
Getting back to now:
The Grindstone Transportation Development District, run by the Walmart developers, has offered to help pay for the new proposed traffic signal. The Walmart developers tried to get one when they first developed the site, but MoDOT wouldn’t go for it because of its proximity with nearby signals. Maly and others affiliated with Grindstone have said that the absence of a traffic signal at Grindstone Plaza Drive hurts that side of their development.
Now, MoDOT says they’ll support a signal on the condition that a major collector road is built opposite Grindstone Plaza Drive. That no doubt plays a part in the willingness of the applicant to build a road through their property. A collector will no doubt help make the property accessible and attractive, and a signal will benefit a future development and the Grindstone Walmart.
Without the signal, as a visibly frustrated Beckett put it after the meeting, “It’ll be a lot harder to market.” Asked whether a commercial development is still viable on the site, he said “Nothing else is viable.”
But the issue for commissioners was whether it is appropriate to benefit a private development at the expense of the general driving public. Brodsky asked the planning staff what standard practice was for spacing intersections and was told .5 miles to 1 mile. “Why is staff deviating from standard practices?” he asked, referring to the .3-mile space between the proposed intersection and Rock Quarry Road.
Staff argued that the changing development conditions in the area warrant another signal. The plan reviewer, Steve MacIntyre, said after the meeting that a signal is appropriate there to support commercial development. “Twenty-five acres is not viable without the signal.” He said the commission’s support of the commercial zoning but opposition to a signal “seemed a bit of a contradiction.”
Commissioner Ray Puri said another signal on Grindstone “will be a disaster.”
In his closing remarks on the application, Brodsky seemed confused that staff supported the application — “Staff seems to be going along with it for some reason.”
“I for one don’t think minimum or satisfactory (traffic flow) is what citizens want,” Brodsky said.
Commissioner Helen Anthony’s big concern was violating the 2003 development agreement for the Walmart tract. “We have to honor our development agreements,” she said.
Planner Pat Zenner pointed out that the agreement was for a different plot of land and would have to be amended.
Commissioner Stephen Reichlin argued that he thought development agreements were “living documents,” which drew some stunned looks from other commissioners.
In the end, after almost three hours of debate, only Matt Vander Tuig and Stephen Reichlin supported the request.
But Commissioner Doug Wheeler, though he said he wanted to support the commercial zoning, warned that the city hasn’t seen the end of the proposed intersection.
“I’m worried MoDOT’s gonna make us swallow an intersection because of the influence, maybe not of the member here, but because of the developers across the road.”
Categories: Business, City Politics, State Politics.
