McManus Construction’s proposed move to the former Tee Time Family Fun Center is on hold, and 6th District County Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-Oakville, may send the project back to the county Planning Commission.
As of the Call’s press time, Trakas had not scheduled a County Council Committee of the Whole meeting on Rob McManus’ request to rezone the Tee Time site he owns with amended C-8 commercial zoning.
McManus hopes to move his construction company and snow-removal equipment business SnowPro from 4100 Seibert Ave. in Affton to the former Tee Time property at 4631 Lemay Ferry Road, next to Mattis Road and Interstate 55, which he purchased earlier this year.
But after a meeting between Trakas and McManus last week, the councilman wants to send the project back to the planning panel, which could further delay the move.
The reason Trakas gave is that McManus will be storing salt at the site, and that word is not specifically mentioned in the ordinance approved by the commission. The ordinance does mention salt spreaders.
“He didn’t want a construction company in his backyard, that backfired on him,” McManus said. “He’s tried you can’t have that much traffic on Lemay Ferry, that backfired on him, now he’s on to ‘You just can’t have salt.'”
After dozens of south county residents spoke at the council to ask Trakas to approve the move, the councilman introduced legislation for the McManus zoning May 2. He referred it two weeks later to the Committee of the Whole, which has never been used for zoning projects.
The committee meetings, comprised of all seven members, typically allow council members to examine issues more in-depth than the weekly council meetings.
Instead, Trakas is asking the planning panel to take another look at the rezoning because he has learned in the last few weeks through “various sources” that Snow Pro distributes salt, calcium chloride and other materials to other snow-removal companies.
The company’s rezoning application did not mention “chemical storage and wholesale and retail sale of salt and chemicals,” or fuel storage, Trakas said in a written statement he sent to the Call. The report from the Planning Commission states, “No materials or fuel would be stored on site.”
“In large thanks to those willing to come forward and validate the concerns I had, the process of good government in District 6 is working,” Trakas said in the statement. “No matter the final outcome of this zoning request, all intended uses for the Tee Time property are now in the open and not hidden behind words on an application.”
Due to the site’s location near a creek, Trakas believes that the county, Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources will have to weigh in on the plan and require plans for pollution prevention.
