City Beat: Council member objects to CID board member for shopping center

A tax incentive was approved by Springfield City Council at its meeting Nov. 17, though one member objected to the makeup of its community improvement district board of directors.

Council approved a community improvement district for Sunshine Towne Center, the future home of the city’s second Target store (excluded from the CID) and several other businesses, including the city’s second Olive Garden location, open since June.

The vote was not unanimous. Councilmember Brandon Jenson objected to the composition of the CID board, resulting in an 8-1 tally.

Jenson praised the project at a corner that has long needed to be developed, and he said the proposed board did meet technical requirements. However, he singled out one member, whom he didn’t name, as having had to enter two separate consent orders with the Missouri Ethics Commission for what Jenson said were for failure to report revenues and expenditures and failure to file timely reports.

The MEC fined the nonprofit organization Truth in Politics, which weighs in on local political races, for violations of campaign finance laws, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Jenson cited MEC case numbers – 22-0039 and 24-0016 – revealing that his concern was with the inclusion of Curtis Jared, president of Truth in Politics, on the CID board.

“While these may not have been intentional violations of state law, I do have concern about placing additional public dollars under the stewardship of such an individual, regardless of their role in the project,” Jenson said.

Jared is one of the developers of Sunshine Towne Center through Springfield West Partners LLC. His company, Jared Enterprises Inc., develops commercial properties throughout the region, including a number of properties in Springfield.

The other people named to the Sunshine Towne Center CID board in the council bill are David Havens, Andrew John Chavez and Kerry Rovig.

The CID agreement that was approved by council last year imposes a 1% sales and use tax on retail sales in the 11-acre district. That previous CID agreement would reimburse the developer up to $2.2 million for the cost of various public improvements in the project.

The measure that was newly approved by council Nov. 17 adds $780,000 for additional improvements that were beyond the project’s initial scope.

Legislative and council priorities
Council approved a list of legislative priorities for calendar year 2026 and of its own council priorities for 2025.

The legislative priorities guide city staff and officials, as well as its statehouse lobbyist, Will Marrs of Governmental Services Group Inc., in advocating for the city.

Legislative priorities include six general and nine specific ones.

Top among general priorities is retaining local control, including opposing legislation that reduces or removes local authority, results in a new net cost and related tax burden to the city and its residents or moves or introduces partisanship into municipal elections.

Council also asks that legislation with statewide impact not be used to address localized concerns.

The other four general priorities are promotion of public safety, economic vitality, fiscal sustainability and quality of place.

Among specific legislative priorities, council asks the legislature to amend or repeal 2022 legislation that creates zoning inequities and limits the city’s ability to protect neighborhoods from incompatible uses.

Council also supports full funding of all projects and requests from the Ozarks Transportation Organization’s multiyear transportation improvement program. Additionally, the city supports land bank legislation for Springfield.

Other specific legislative priorities are promoting public safety; limiting payday loans; ensuring state-provided mental health services; declaring video lottery terminals illegal; ensuring vehicle owners register their vehicles; and banning or regulating over-the-counter sales of hemp-based marijuana products.

In addition to its state legislative priorities, council passed five priorities to guide its own operation. They cover operational excellence, public safety transformation, economic vitality, housing strategy and development processes.

Though council approval of both lists of priorities was unanimous, Councilmember Monica Horton questioned the elimination of quality of place – often referred to as the city’s north star – from the council priority list.

She said she could live with leaving quality of place off the list if it means that council has accomplished this mission, but she said she worries it could mean further disinvestment in quality – something that still requires focus, especially on the north and west sides of the city.

“The way that I have come to understand quality of place is the ultimate definition of a truly livable, great city,” Horton said. “If council has already taken the necessary steps to codify quality of place in city code for developers, rehabbers, contractors and residents, then I’ve made my peace with leaving it out of the priority list we are here to approve tonight.”

Councilmember Bruce Adib-Yazdi said council was prioritizing the items the group felt able to tackle over the next year or so, and quality of place is already included in the city’s comprehensive plan and its new zoning code.

“I, for one, will not forget it,” he said.

Marker and statues
Council passed a resolution on first reading to use $24,000 from the Zone 1 Minor Neighborhood Improvement Program – referred to in the measure as pothole funds – from the city’s quarter-cent capital improvement sales tax for an African American history marker at Bartley-Decatur Neighborhood Center in the Midtown neighborhood and a Route 66 centennial sculpture on Historic Route 66 on the west side of the city.

The Bartley-Decatur historical marker would be the 11th location along the city’s African American Heritage Trail, and the Route 66 sculpture would be near the intersection of College Street and Scenic Avenue.

On Dec. 2, council will vote on whether to accept the dedication of right-of-way from Missouri State University for construction of the Birthplace of Route 66 Plaza and another Route 66 sculpture.

The plaza would be at the southwest quadrant of Jefferson Avenue and Park Central East, and the sculpture would memorialize the Colonial Hotel that once stood at this location. It was from this hotel that local officials sent a telegram to Washington, D.C., to suggest the name Route 66.

The nation will celebrate the centennial of Route 66 in 2026.

Other action items

• The failure of a ballot measure seeking 3% city lodging tax to fund a convention and events center was declared by council resolution. About 52% of voters rejected the measure in the election held Nov. 4, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.
• Three rezonings were given the nod: a quarter acre at 426 N. Warren Ave. to limited business from residential townhouse for a parking lot at the Paul Mueller Co.; 3 acres at 2565 N. Kansas Expressway to highway commercial from general retail for outdoor storage at the request of Morris Loan & Investment Corp.; and just under 1 acre at 2404 E. Sunshine St. to general retail from a planned development for unspecified commercial or retail use at the request of Deckard & Ward LLC.
• Council OK’d a $115,000 agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and TransCore ITS LLC for hardware and software to be used in the city’s traffic management center.
• Council held first reading of a measure to issue special obligation refinancing bonds for sewer system improvements in the amount of $24.1 million. A vote is anticipated Dec. 15.