The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

Discussion

March 11, 2009

Village board stands pat against gas pumps

By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

Members of the Airport Drive Board of Trustees are standing pat against more gas pumps in the village.

And now one of the developers of the Village Landing at Fir Road and Highway 171 says his preparations to break ground for the shopping center that would feature shops and a convenience store are up in the air.

The village’s zoning code for a C3 planned development does not allow for gasoline pumps. For such pumps to be allowed, the board would have to amend the village code to permit the developers to go before the Board of Adjustments and request a special-use permit to install the pumps.

The trustees, according to the board chairman, recently again voted against amending the code.

Harold Wingert, representing J&J; Development, of Topeka, Kan., said: “We’re in neutral. We are trying to figure out where we do stand. We might be able to proceed, but we’ve got to factor in the economy now.

“If the board does not want a convenience store there, we have to figure out who else might anchor that project. Retailers are being very choosy right now. They’re cautious.”

Mark Rains, chairman of the trustees, said: “When we changed the zoning of the area years ago, we made it C3 because it does not allow gas pumps. We don’t mind the convenience store, but the residents and trustees don’t want the gas pumps.”

Rains said the village has five gasoline outlets within a mile of one another. Residents of the village, he said, did not want the 24-hour station.

“We are willing to forgo the sales-tax revenue because of the dislike of the gas pumps,” Rains said.

The developer, he said, has known from the beginning that fuel pumps would not be allowed in the development.

“But he is very persistent,” he said. “We have voted against this two times.”

Wingert said he thought he could persuade the board members to change their minds and change the code.

Wingert owns about two acres in the development. A Springfield developer, Bob Cummings, owns about 15 acres.

The Missouri Department of Transportation reconfigured the intersection on Highway 171 and added a traffic signal. That project was a concern for residents of Carl Junction and the Briarbrook area.

“Village residents were fine with that,” Rains said. “It cured a lot of problems out there. They can get out of Tabor Woods and turn with safety.

“We have no problems with anything being proposed there except for the gas pumps. We are hoping for a grocery store, a sit-down restaurant and service-type businesses.”

The developers have invested significant money in site preparation.

“They’ve got sewer and water, and a retention pond out there,” Rains said.

Wingert said the village could have benefited from the sales-tax revenue and the possibility of a number of jobs.

“We have been trying to develop what we call a total development plan with walking paths, a greenscape and upscale buildings,” he said. “We also were looking at a site lighting plan that would have diminished what we call light trespassing.

“We were ready to cut our architect and engineer loose on this. We were ready to move. We are not now, though.”

The convenience store would have been a $2 million to $2.5 million investment, he said.

“It was not a tin building with a couple of pumps out front,” Wingert said. “That area could support another convenience store and other tenants. When you make this type of investment, you make sure before you build that the returns will be there.”





Previous prospect



The area was considered as a possible site for a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market for about six years, but that project did not materialize.

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