Industrial park sites: Shall the twain ever meet?

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Leaders of the four partners considering developing a second partnership industrial park are examining two choices for a location. A site on the east side of town, near the Mulroy Road and Kearney intersection, was identified a few months ago as the best site by the Springfield Business and Development Corporation. In December, City Council voted against pursuing a park on that site and against pursuing extension of the Urban Service Area to incorporate the area. |ret||ret||tab|

Now, the SBDC has said it is considering a second site, which it once thought was unavailable, on the west side of town, in the southwest corner of the West Kearney Street and West Bypass intersection.|ret||ret||tab|

"We were told previously that the site was not for sale. We now know that it is available, and it may turn out to be a good site for us," said Greg Williams, vice president of economic development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the SBDC. |ret||ret||tab|

Williams said the development corporation contacted owners of the land at the west site about nine months ago and received no response, but he was informed about a month ago that the property was for sale. |ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|West vs. East|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

The tract under consideration on the west side of town is a favorite of Mayor Lee Gannaway. A portion of the site is owned by the city, part of the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport's holdings.|ret||ret||tab|

Gannaway prefers the west site because it is inside the Urban Service Area, an area delineated by city and county officials in 1999 with the aim of directing further urban development. Part of the east-side site is outside the area, and Gannaway said he does not think council would vote for an extension.|ret||ret||tab|

The east site is still considered the most desirable by Board of Public Utilities Chairwoman Sharon Faulkner. The board voted to support developing the east site and stands by that vote, Faulkner said. Her concern over the proposed site is whether the west site would be marketable.|ret||ret||tab|

"I believe both sites are marketable, but I would like for someone to look at how quickly the west site might fill up. We've had such good success on the east side of town; we filled that park in five years, so I would want some assurance that the west site would be as easy to market," Faulkner said.|ret||ret||tab|

The Board of Public Utilities has examined both sites, Faulkner said, but has not been asked to reconsider its earlier decision to support the east site.|ret||ret||tab|

Williams said the west site needs further study; Gene Norber of Economic Development Resources of St. Louis has been retained to examine the west site and weigh its merits as a future park site against the east site's.|ret||ret||tab|

"Right now we're looking at the west site as a plan B," Williams said.|ret||ret||tab|

Gannaway said he would prefer the west site "over anything on the east side.""I think the location would be an easier sell because we don't have a large residential neighborhood that the park would adjoin, and I think there are several people on that side of town that would be tickled to death to have development in that area," Gannaway said.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Neighbors in the east|ret||ret||tab|

The east site was the source of neighborhood concerns. The SBDC met with neighbors in November 1999. They expressed worries about increased traffic and damage to Pearson Creek if the new park were developed there. The SBDC has the results of a traffic study and stormwater runoff study ready to share with the residents.|ret||ret||tab|

The traffic study, performed by Mathews & Associates for the SBDC, suggests making several improvements to the roadways, all but one of which are maintained by Greene County. |ret||ret||tab|

However, responsibility for any roadway improvements could fall to the city if the property is annexed, Williams said. The recommendations include improvements to intersections at Kearney and Mulroy, Farm Road 112 and Farm Road 209, and Kearney and Farm Road 209, including additional turning lanes and other improvements.|ret||ret||tab|

The stormwater study, conducted by Palmerton & Parrish Inc., concluded that it is practical to develop the east site with adequate stormwater quantity and quality features and using best-management practices. Short-term, the residents in the downstream Pearson Creek watershed could have some problems with lack of sediment control during construction of the park. The study recommends that the issue of sediment control be addressed during the preparation of site development plans.|ret||ret||tab|

Williams said the neighbors in the area, formally organized as the Pearson Creek Area Conservation Team, will meet to discuss the studies at some point, but that meeting has not yet been set.|ret||ret||tab|

"Our conversations with the Pearson Creek group have been very favorable and amicable to this point," Williams said.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Urban Service Area|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

The Urban Service Area, a boundary for development drawn after lengthy discussions among city, county and utility officials, is a significant factor in the second park's development. Gannaway said he does not think the council will pass an extension for the boundary which would enable the park to be developed in the east. The extension would also require the Greene County Commission's approval.|ret||ret||tab|

City Utilities' General Manager Robert Roundtree said that the urban service line is illogical and does not make good sense.|ret||ret||tab|

"The urban services line is something of a red herring, and there's no reason why it shouldn't be adjusted to include the east site," Roundtree said.|ret||ret||tab|

Roundtree further stated that the proximity of Springfield and Strafford to one another indicated that urban sprawl is already occuring.|ret||ret||tab|

"When two communities are six-tenths of a mile apart, arguing about urban sprawl seems a bit ridiculous," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Keeping industry east|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

While Gannaway hopes for a balance of east and west, with large industrial parks on each side of the city, Roundtree and others hope to keep the momentum for industrial development going on the east side.|ret||ret||tab|

"I can't fathom a reason for wanting to leave the east side of town. Why would we want to start anew in another area of town? ... It's obvious for us as a utility that the west site would be more expensive for us to develop than the east site," Roundtree said.|ret||ret||tab|

Williams said the east site is still preferred and that the SBDC retains options to purchase the land there.|ret||ret||tab|

Faulkner said the utility has based its assumptions on a second park's being east."For several years at the utility we have assumed that a second site would be in the vicinity of the first site, and a lot of utility infrastructure has been configured based on that assumption. It's a little bit of a flip for us to now consider the west site. We assumed that eastern area of town would probably be the area developed," Faulkner said.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Forging west|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

Gannaway likes the idea of a west-side park to improve first impressions made on the drive from the airport into Springfield, and to spur economic development in that area.|ret||ret||tab|

"If you looked at that east site before they got the park going, it looked a lot like the west does now. It was not always that nice out there; that has come along as the park went in," Gannaway said.|ret||ret||tab|

Rob Hancik, airport aviation director, has a positive attitude toward an industrial park being built near his runway.|ret||ret||tab|

"We think it could be positive for northwest Springfield and a very compatible development with the airport. It will be good for us and we plan to actively participate," Hancik said.|ret||ret||tab|

The airport and the area around it is already in the enterprise zone; the zone would have to be extended to include the east site. Hancik also said the airport's foreign trade zone easily could be extended so that tenants in the park could receive some of that program's benefits.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Other sites and other towns|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

Strafford sits waiting for contact from someone about the proposed east side park. Its city administrator, Ron Carriger, said the town would annex the east site "if someone asked us to."|ret||ret||tab|

"We would probably have no objection to annexing it in, but so far, nobody's approached us," Carriger said.|ret||ret||tab|

Strafford has a sewer line running near the property and other infrastructure "wouldn't be a problem," Carriger said.|ret||ret||tab|

If Stafford is not invited to participate in this park, Carriger said, the town may develop its own. Strafford officials started meeting Jan. 12 to consider.|ret||ret||tab|

"We've got a lot to discuss on that, but we are looking at what we might do. We've got all kinds of vacant land," Carriger said.|ret||ret||tab|

City Utilities is considering where future parks may go. At a meeting of its Plans and Policies Committee in December, Karl Plumpe of CU outlined an area CU owns near Southwest Power Plant that could be used as an industrial park.|ret||ret||tab|

"We think that site will be good in the future, when James River is connected to I-44, so we're looking at the end of 2003," Plumpe said. The utility has 200-300 developable acres there, he added, and it is a viable site for a future park, but is not being considered for the second partnership industrial park.|ret||ret||tab|

"The east site is still the preferred site, although the west is an alternative, but it's really a distant second to the east site as far as we're concerned. The Southwest Power Plant property is something we could look to in the future, but not right now," Plumpe said.|ret||ret||tab|

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