Special-use permit approved for gas station on North Sprigg in Cape Girardeau

Cape Girardeau City Council members voted 4-2 to approve a special-use permit to operate a fueling station in addition to a convenience store at 2090 N. Sprigg St. The ordinance will be added to the consent agenda for formal passage at a future City Council meeting.

Councilmen Robbie Guard and Dan Presson voted against the measure. Councilman Mark Bliss was absent from the meeting.

The decision comes following council members voting unanimously to table the application at their Oct. 3 meeting. At that meeting, numerous members of the council and public voiced concerns about the addition of the convenience store in that area near Legends apartment complex. Legends has been the subject of scrutiny regarding crime in the past. Many of those same concerns were voiced Monday.

In many respects, the debate surrounding the addition of a convenience store in that area of the city was futile. A special-use permit must be approved because of the desire to make the convenience store a gas station as well. The proposed location is a neighborhood commercial district (NC). The city's zoning code requires a special-use permit for vehicle fueling stations, not including service and repair, in an NC district. There is no need for a special-use permit to build a convenience store without gas pumps in that district.

Even without the permit — given that the developer follow city code and obtain proper permits — there was nothing the council could legally do to prevent the establishment of a convenience store in a neighborhood commercial district. A point reiterated by the four members of the council who voted in favor of the granting the permit.

Both Councilwoman Shannon Truxel and Councilman Nate Thomas cast doubt on whether the presence of fuel at the station would increase crime more than simply the presence of the convenience store.

Truxel said the debate was a "teaching moment" for all involved.

"When we have rezoning, when we do a public hearing for rezoning, that's the time to come forward," Truxel said.

Ryan Shrimplin, city planner, said the recommendation was unanimously approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission before public concerns came to light. He said no one was present at the planning and zoning public hearing to voice their concerns.

Guard and Presson cited concerns about general welfare — one of the five criteria used by city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission to evaluate permit applications — before voting against the measure. Presson said he's heard a lot of concerns from constituents, prior to voting "no" at the meeting. If development moves forward, the building would be located in Ward 1, Presson's ward.

Comments at the Oct. 3 meeting focused on issues with crime in the area, something both council members and the public said have increased since the arrival of Legends apartment complex — the most prominent example being a shooting in January. Some took issue with the developer not being local.

The property is owned by the same developer as Legends apartment complex. However, Eric Jakimier, founder of Domus Development LLC. — the Texas-based developer of Legends — said his company has chosen a partner to deed the land to following the approval of the use permit.

"In order to sell it, we need to get the special-use permit," Jakimier said.

Jakimier said the company had been looking for the right partner for the property. Jakimier said he turned down a significantly more lucrative offer from Dollar General to place a store at that location because he didn't feel it would be best for the community.

Jakimier said he was asked to speak at the meeting and spent a majority of his remarks defending Legends against what he characterized as inaccurate perceptions of the property and area. Jakimier could not answer specifics about plans for the convenience store, he said, something specifically requested by city officials, council members and the public at the Oct. 3 meeting. A civil engineer for the developer arrived at the meeting after the matter was already decided by council.

Since April, there have been a reported 18 incidents in the 2000 block of North Sprigg Street, where the proposed convenience store would go.

Guard, among other council members, suggested the developers need to present a plan for how to keep the property safe that could include on-site security, changing store hours and not selling alcohol.

Cpl. Ryan Droege, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said, in an email a few weeks ago, that Legends has adopted the department's Crime-Free Multi-Housing program and will complete certification by the end of the year. The complex also has its own on-site security.