Council pushes for shipping-container ban

Cape Girardeau City Council members Monday instructed city staff to draw up a proposed ordinance that would ban the use of shipping containers as building materials for homes and businesses.

The measure would allow their use for public-storage units in commercial or industrial zones with council approval of a special-use permit.

The council’s direction to staff occurred in the study session and mirrored the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission.

Mayor Harry Rediger said the planning and zoning commission would have to hold a public hearing on such a measure next month before the issue could come before the council for a vote.

The council also would have to hold a public hearing before taking action, city officials said.

Developer Quinn Strong, who plans to construct a duplex from shipping containers, voiced opposition to the proposed ban.

City officials have said the ban would not prevent the proposed development but would bar any future development.

Strong asked whether the council would ask voters to decide the issue. The council said no.

But Ward 6 Councilman Wayne Bowen told Strong he could circulate an initiative petition to put the issue on the ballot.

Strong questioned why council members oppose such development.

Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard said his constituents “don’t want them.”

Guard added, “Aesthetically, they are not pleasing to the eye, and we still don’t know about the health risk.”

Guard has expressed concern shipping containers could be polluted by previous cargoes shipped in them as well as from lead paint on the exterior.

But Strong said the council is “doing an injustice” to those who want to make use of the containers as building materials.

Strong previously has argued the containers don’t pose a health risk.

Guard said, “Shipping containers are manufactured to prevent corrosion; they are not manufactured to live in.”

But Strong said containers have been used for military housing.

Like Guard, the mayor said he opposes the use of shipping containers for human occupancy because of neighborhood opposition.

“They just don’t want them dumped in there,” Rediger said.

In other business, the council agreed to share with Southeast Missouri State University the cost of constructing an indoor hitting facility at Capaha Field.

The council also approved a 10-year agreement with Pepsi MidAmerica Corp. to provide exclusive beverage and vending machine snacks at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex.

The cash agreement totals $50,000 for 10 years, with an opportunity for an additional $1,000 annually for a total of $60,000 a year plus commissions, according to parks and recreation director Julia Thompson.

Under the agreement, Pepsi will pay the city $5,000 annually, with an additional $1,000 if syrup-gallon sales reach 2,000 gallons.

In addition, the city will receive a vending commission rate of 20 percent on drinks sold through vending machines.

Pepsi also has agreed to allow a Coke and Diet Coke option in its vending machine at the SportsPlex, Thompson wrote in a report to the council.

The council awarded a more than $1 million contract to Apex Paving Co. for asphalt-overlay work.

The project involves resurfacing sections of more than 20 streets and alleys, as well as several parking lots.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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