GOVERNMENT: ZONING BOARD OKs STORE PERMIT

Thinking their best competition likely is their own company, a local convenience store plans to increase its presence along North Sprigg Street.

P&J Marketing LLC and Jeffrey J. Maurer plan to open a gas station and convenience store just blocks away from an existing store at 1037 N. Sprigg St.

A special-use permit for the operation was approved Wednesday by members of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission.

The company operates several Rhodes 101 convenience stores in the area and would continue to operate its existing store, but with scaled back hours.

The proposed store would open in the 1100 block of North Sprigg and is almost directly across from the Show Me Center. The site offers plenty of foot traffic with its proximity to the university, said Maurer.

"I guess you think your best competition is yourself?" asked Tom Holshouser.

The new store would be a benefit to the neighborhood because it would be a secure, clean site, Maurer said.

Substation approved

The commission also approved a special-use permit for AmerenUE for operation of an electrical distribution substation.

AmerenUE has to move its existing substation near City Hall along Independence four blocks west, so the lot is available to the General Services Administration for a new federal courthouse. The GSA plans to buy six lots in the Happy Hollow area for the courthouse project.

AmerenUE has to vacate its present lot by next year to meet the government's timeline. That requires moving an existing substation and transformers to a lot on the northwest corner of Independence and Ellis streets.

The new site is a good location and would mean the least amount of disruption to customers, said Barbara Skitt, a real-estate representative with AmerenUE.

No one opposed either application; only five people attended the meeting.