Following years of back-and-forth and litigation, the St. Louis Bombers Rugby Club will make Sunset Hills their home after all.
At the meeting May 14, the board voted unanimously to approve an amended development plan for the Bombers, which included striking the traffic study requirement and a ban on the use of a PA system.
The vote comes after the city and the Bombers reached an agreement in court that will allow the rugby club to build its facility at 13450 W. Watson Road, the location of the former Sunset Hills Golf Course, now Steven J. Bander Park.
The Bombers first approached the city in 2018 with the proposal for a 12-acre rugby facility comprised of three to four rugby fields, known as pitches. The development and construction of the facility are funded by the Bombers and would be used by not only the team but other youth rugby leagues, school teams and university teams.
Much of the contention around the proposal at the time centered around concerns about increased traffic, and noise and lighting from the facility disrupting the surrounding residential areas. Some members of the Board of Aldermen at the time sought the requirement of a traffic study by the Bombers for the proposal to proceed, as well as a ban on a PA system.
In 2019, the aldermen approved a 25-year lease granting the Bombers over a dozen acres in the park. A condition of the amended development plan, approved later that year, required a traffic study of the West Watson/Gravois intersection to achieve a rating better than “D” on an “A” to “F” scale, with “F” being the worst. However, a following study that same year revealed that the intersection was already failing before accounting for any additional traffic from the Bombers’ development, making a “D” rating unattainable.
Things came to a head when Mayor Pat Fribis vetoed an ordinance that would have lifted the traffic study requirement. Despite the Board of Aldermen’s initial vote in favor of the ordinance, Fribis cited safety concerns for residents.
The city later sought to work with the Bombers to mutually terminate the lease for the proposed facility after the aldermen failed to override the mayor’s veto in 2021. However, the matter eventually ended up in court, where the city and club came to an agreement to nix the traffic study requirement and PA system ban.
As part of the bill approved May 14, the PA system will only be used for emergencies. All other original provisions of the proposal remain the same.
Before the vote was taken, Ward 4 Alderman Fred Daues requested that Gerald Brown of the city’s parks department and Bryson Baker from the Public Works Department keep the board appraised monthly on the progress of the Bomber’s leasehold.
“Be that a photo … that we see once a month or an update on what the Bombers are currently doing. I think it’s important that we keep a steady eye on the Bombers in making sure that they uphold their portion of the lease,” Daues said. “I’m not against approving this bill at all … But because something is out of sight, it should never be out of mind.”