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Farmington hosts governor Friday

City council work through long agenda at Monday meeting

By DOUG SMITH
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Jan 29, 2008 - 11:41:34 CST

FARMINGTON — City council members presented a united front as they spent just more than an hour working through a three-page agenda during their regular monthly meeting Monday evening. The group approved a change in business license requirements, implemented advisory groups for the airport and building codes, and learned that Missouri Governor Matt Blunt will be in town on Friday.

“If we’re going to grow Farmington, we can’t do the things we did 10 years ago,” said developer Andrew Braxton. His statement, while referring to a particular building restriction, was indicative of several measures discussed throughout the course of the meeting.

There was talk of capitalizing on the growing wine industry in the region by making Farmington a community closely related to those interest. It was said the city has a timely opportunity to step up to the plate and help tourism grow as viticulture — the science, production and study of grapes — continues to grow at a pace in St. Francois and surrounding counties faster than nearly anywhere else in the nation.

The council meeting started with the usual committee reports and call for public participation. The crowd was much smaller than in recent months, and when Mayor Jeannie Roberts asked if anyone from the audience wished to address the council, no one spoke up.

City Administrator Greg Beavers informed the council that the city had received a $54,000 rebate from AmerenUE as a payment for an earlier facilities charge overcharge. He also said he had recently learned that the Missouri Department of Transportation had released $1 million to be used to construct a parallel taxiway at the city’s airport. He added that design work on the new airport terminal building should be done in the new few days.

There were 15 bills and four resolutions up for consideration. The council approved all the bills by a unanimous 8-0 vote with the exception of a new bill which was on the agenda for only a first reading and discussion, and not a vote.

While all bills were approved without dissent, there was some discussion about a couple topics. One piece of legislation up for a vote, Bill 04012008, was to grant “Planned Unit Development” approval to Peak Land Company, LLC, for phase two of the Villas at Cherry Creek development off Route H.

Braxton was asking for a change in the traditional space requirement between buildings. Current city building restrictions call for a minimum of 18 feet between residential buildings. Braxton was asking to be allowed to build with a minimum of 10 feet between individual free-standing villas.

Councilman L.J. Miller questioned the reasoning of placing buildings so close together. Councilman Dennis Smith questioned whether the smaller spaces would be safe for firefighters in the case of a fire.

Braxton answered by saying he did not intend to add any more buildings to his development than planned, but wanted the flexibility of locating buildings closer together as the project progressed. He said he would have rewritten his request to say a 15-foot minimum if possible before the meeting, but the bill had already been introduced and could not be changed at this point. He assured the council he would not build more than 51 buildings in the phase of the development.

Another developer spoke up and said he would be asking for a similar variance from building restrictions in coming months to allow for a planned development. Both men eluded to the fact that building restrictions in Jefferson County and other counties across the state allowed for the closer buildings in Planned Unit Developments. Such a development is designed and built by the developer with the buildings being uniform and belonging entirely to the homeowner — both the exterior and interior — while the lawns and common spaces around the homes remain in the ownership of the developer. This eliminates the traditional “lot” lines, and does not work with building codes requiring setbacks from property lines.

The council eventually approved Braxton’s request.

Gov. Matt Blunt will be in Farmington on Friday as part of his “Capital For A Day” program. The governor and his cabinet members will “run the state” from city hall on Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day the entourage will tour Mineral Area College and other regional facilities, then set up shop in Long Memorial Hall starting at 1 p.m.

Third District Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, worked in recent weeks to get Farmington on the list for the remote “capital” visits. More details of the day will be made available by the governor’s office as the week progresses.

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