City Beat: Area retailers petition City Council on trailer use

A public hearing was held in the Sept. 18 City Council meeting to discuss the issue of on-site storage in trailers and containers in the parking lots of city retail merchants. The amendment would allow, yet regulate, the use of outside trailers as storage on both a temporary and permanent basis. The current ordinance, on the books since the 1950s, prohibits such use, but it has not been enforced.

Several managers from local retail stores, Wal-Mart, Famous Barr, Sam's Club and Bass Pro, spoke in favor of the amendment, saying that their businesses rely heavily on the trailers for merchandise storage, especially during holiday seasons. They also raised safety issues, stating that eliminating the use of these trailers would increase the flow of tractor-trailer traffic in and out of their parking lots, as well as on city streets. Other citizens who addressed Mayor Lee Gannaway and council asked that the current ordinance remain intact and enforced. A council vote may be taken in the Oct. 9 meeting.

Budget to fund sewer repairs

The lone first-reading bill before council was the Public Works Department's 2000-2001 budget in the amount of $2.5 million. The budget would provide funds from the retained earnings of the sanitary sewer system for repairs made to the James River force main and allow for anticipated replacement costs for additional portions of the force main.

Council unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the city attorney's office to take the necessary action to recover all damages and losses incurred by the city in connection with the failure of the James River force main. It also urged the Attorney General's Office to fully pursue all parties responsible for the failure of the main.

Another resolution bill approved the validity of a remonstrance petition has been filed in opposition to the construction of sanitary sewers in district No. 68D so that the city is unable to proceed with the improvements through payment by special assessments.

City rezones 40 acres

Second-reading bills included three rezoning bills, all of which passed unanimously. The first bill will rezone about 38 acres on the east side of North Westgate, north of Willard Road, from a Greene County M-1 district to a general manufacturing district. The second bill will rezone less than one-tenth of an acre on the east side of South Linden, south of Sunshine Street, from a single-family residential district to a highway commercial district. The last rezoning bill will rezone about 1 1/3 acres on the north side of West Sunset, west of Campbell, from a single-family residential district to a general retail district.

Perennial greenhouses denied

Two other second-reading bills amended general ordinances by unanimous votes. Both bills denied year-round greenhouses at the Albertson's locations at East Battlefield and Moulder Avenue, and East Republic and National Avenue.

Two of the consent agenda first-reading bills proposed special ordinances to approve preliminary plats. The first special ordinance was for the Mid-American subdivision second addition plat, located south of the Barnes Avenue and Kerr Street intersection. The other special ordinance was for Briar Street Baptist Church on the northwest corner of Fremont Avenue and Briar Street. Both bills will give the director of Planning and Development authorization to accept the dedication of land or easements to the city upon a filing and recording of a final plat that substantially conforms to the preliminary plat.