Council sends smoking, alcohol issues to April ballot

Springfield City Council on Jan. 24 approved initiative petitions calling for bans on indoor smoking in public places and alcohol in family theaters. The issues will now go before voters in a special election April 5.  

Councilman Scott Bailes abstained from voting on each petition, and Mayor Jim O’Neal and councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky were absent from the meeting.

Before casting his vote of approval, Nick Ibarra voiced concern that a precedent had been set with regard to the initiative petition process.

“I worry that a Pandora’s box has been opened and that this can happen every time we vote something down,” Ibarra said, referring to the 2010 ordinance that called for a smoking ban in businesses but failed after amendments were added to the bill.

Ibarra said he felt initiative petitions were an affront to voters who elected the council members who rejected the ban.

Councilman Robert Stephens disagreed with Ibarra’s take.

“There is this pesky little thing called the First Amendment that secures the right of citizens to petition the government,” Stephens said, adding that his vote to put the issues before voters did not reflect on how he would vote at the ballot box.

Councilman Doug Burlison questioned whether council’s vote was a “dog and pony show” because the city charter requires that council address the petitions either by approving the petitions as written or allowing voters to weigh in on the proposals in a special election.

City Clerk Brenda Cirtin said a “no” vote on the measures moving to the ballot box would have been a violation of the charter given that council had not approved the petitions as written when it tabled both ordinances on Jan. 10.

“(Council members) can approve the petition as presented. They can’t amend it or make any changes to it, or, failing to approve it, it goes to a vote of the people,” Cirtin said. “City Council is the entity that must call special election. … These issues fit that category even though they will be held in conjunction with the general municipal election.”

Hickory Hills Marketplace
Council unanimously approved a pair of ordinances related to development of the 46-acre Hickory Hills Marketplace in east Springfield by Nixa-based Larino Properties LLC.

A protest petition against the plans had been filed Dec. 1 by a nearby resident, but because a majority of the adjacent property owners did not sign it, council only needed a simple majority to pass the ordinances.

That resident did not speak against the plans at the Jan. 10 meeting, but several others spoke in favor of the project including a representative from High Street Baptist Church, which sold 20 acres to Larino Properties.

Developer Paul Larino said he believed the resident’s issue was tied to the amount of green space between the residential property and the marketplace, but recent plans had actually increased that space to 300 feet from 185 feet.

Larino is purchasing the former Hickory Hills school and an adjoining 15.5 acres near Chestnut Expressway and Highway 65 for more than $4.4 million, according to a revised contract signed with the school district on Dec. 9.

The plans include moving Eastgate Road to the east, north of Chestnut Expressway, and making it a five-lane road.

“We are committed to developing the property to serve Springfield and surrounding communities,” Larino said at the Jan. 10 meeting. “There’s been a lot of headaches and hurdles … but, if we are going to do this, let’s do this right,” Larino added.

Larino did not say what tenants might fill the retail development, which could be open as spring 2012, and he did not return calls by press time.

According to City Planner Mike McPherson, the approval of the ordinances allows Larino to start constructing an access road to the planned $8.8 million diverging diamond project at Chestnut Expressway and Highway 65.

Larino said at the Jan. 10 meeting the road improvements were a joint effort between Larino Properties, the city of Springfield, Greene County and the Missouri Department of Transportation.[[In-content Ad]]