City Beat: City Council tables Valley Paint use permit

Since Valley Paint and Supply Co.'s conditional use permit was approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission June 21, things have not gone as expected for the paint distributor.

At the June 25 City Council meeting, Mayor Tom Carlson and council delayed the bill that would issue the permit and allow Valley Paint to relocate to the general manufacturing district at 2457 N. Patterson Ave.

Valley Paint is being forced to relocate because the city purchased its building at 1007 E. Trafficway for the Jordan Valley Park project.

Carlson's motion to postpone the public hearing for two weeks passed 7-2 after council heard public comment from neighbors about the building in question.

Neighbors fear their proximity to the building where flammable liquids for wholesale are stored, they and worry the liquids will release toxic fumes, they said. Three citizens spoke to council, including the president of the Survival Association, Virginia Wood. "It came from a heavy manufacturing district," Wood said, "it needs to be in a heavy manufacturing district."

"This is something for an industrial park, not a residential area," added area resident Virgil Calhoun.

Valley Paint owner and President Gary Allen told council he looked at moving to an industrial park, but he did not qualify because Valley Paint is not a manufacturer and does not have enough employees. "This was just a viable relocation for us," he said.

City Attorney Howard Wright said the company has met all of the city's safety requirements, and the city has told Valley Paint that it needs to be out of its existing location by the end of October. The bill was first read two weeks ago.

Still, the neighbors don't feel they've been given ample time to respond to both government and company officials, and Carlson agreed.

"I think we're pre-judging the case," Carlson said of his decision, "but I would expect to vote on it in two weeks."

Airport will receive federal grants

Council approved a bill to accept a series of grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation for funding runway and taxiway projects at the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport. The grants, totaling $30.2 million, will also be used to install fencing and an instrument landing system at the airport. The remaining project expenses, an estimated $4.8 million, will be funded by airport revenue.

33 acres rezoned

Two of the three second reading bills rezoned a total of 33 acres of land. All three second reading bills passed unanimously.

The first rezoned about 15 acres on the northwest corner of Mulroy Road and Farm Road 116 from a single-family residential district to a government and institutional use district. Eighteen acres on the southeast corner the Southview and Sussex intersection was rezoned from an agricultural district to a single-family residential district.

Partnership Industrial agreement

The final second reading bill authorized an agreement to form a public/private partnership for the development of the Partnership Industrial Park West between the city of Springfield, the Board of Public Utilities, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Springfield Business and Industrial Development Corporation. Council-woman Terri Hacker moved to add "provided the right to provide fiber optic telecommunications shall not be exclusive to City Utilities," but that motion failed by a 7-2 vote and the bill passed unanimously.