West Newsmagazine 9-26-18

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A LONG AND WINDING ROAD
Prop D seeks to add 10 cents to state fuel tax over next four years
By BRIAN FLINCHPAUGH
Since the last increase in the state fuel
tax was approved by the Missouri General
Assembly in 1992, funding for state roads
and bridges has become a bit of a victim of
life’s circumstances.
That year, legislators agreed to a six-centsper-gallon
increase that was phased in until
it reached 17 cents per gallon in 1996. But
times changed. The tax increase didn’t take
inflation into account – the present 17-centsper-gallon
fuel tax has the buying power of
7 cents in 1996, state officials say.
People also started driving less and their
vehicles became more fuel-efficient. So,
two decades later, the Missouri Department
of Transportation, charged with major road
and bridge improvements, found it wasn’t
receiving enough money for many new
roads and bridges. The department has
been largely reducing to maintain the state’s
transportation infrastructure.
It was time to try to make up for lost
ground.
By BONNIE KRUEGER
A proposed gas station with 12 gas
pumps and a 4,500-square-foot, 24-hour
convenience store along the Manchester
Road corridor is being met with resistance
by an area commercial property owner and
historic preservationists.
Initially, Chris Suntrup, on behalf of
Suntrup William N Trustee, owner, submitted
a special use permit request with the
city’s Planning & Zoning commission for
a gasoline service station to be located at
14401 Manchester Road.
The property in question is part of the
C-1 Commercial Zoning District. P&Z
unanimously approved a recommendation
of the permit request at its Aug. 13 meeting.
The city’s Board of Aldermen held
a public hearing and first reading of the
request at its Sept. 4 meeting. However, a
second reading and vote on the measure,
scheduled for Sept. 17, were delayed until
at least Oct. 1.
At the public hearing before the board
on Sept. 4, Randy Green, of Innovated
Companies, spoke on behalf of Suntrup
and stated that they had worked with
the city and the Missouri Department of
Transportation [MoDOT] to create a site
development plan to meet all specified
requirements.
Suntrup owns three properties at the
Flash forward to this May. After an enormous
amount of debate and two ballot
measures, including a sales tax increase
proposal in 2014 that failed badly, legislators
have put a state fuel tax – Proposition
D – on the Nov. 6 statewide ballot.
If passed, the state’s gas tax would
increase 2.5 cents per year over the next four
years, bringing the total tax to 27 cents after
July 1, 2022.
A complicated equation
Today, finding the money to fix crumbling
roads and tottering bridges and building
new ones has become a complicated issue
with many players involved.
Transportation funding is not just about
making sure an old bridge doesn’t collapse
and fall into the river; it’s also about supporting
current and future economic development
and weaving highways and bridges
into a “multi-modal” transportation system
that calls for integrating highway traffic
with ports and railroads.
Likewise, what voters will face in the
Henry Avenue Historic District includes the
former West County EMS & Firehouse as well
as Ken Aston’s Dependahl home [shown].
corner of Manchester Road at Henry
Avenue, including the vacated site of the
former West County EMS & Fire station
and two office buildings, with only partial
occupancy. All three structures would be
demolished for the proposed gas station
and store.
Preservation specialist Karen Bode
Baxter spoke in opposition of the project
on Sept. 4. Bode Baxter was instrumental
in having the National Register of Historic
Places certify a portion of Henry Avenue as
a Historic District in 2002.
The Henry Avenue Historic District
begins just past Callan Street and ends at
Boroughwood Circle, which is approximately
one-third of a mile.
voting booth is complicated.
Proposition D specifically states that
it is going to fund the Missouri Highway
Patrol and hints at transportation improvements
but doesn’t mention MoDOT. It also
includes some goodies that aren’t related to
transportation or public safety at all. Legislative
rules prompted the fuel tax to be
piggy-backed with legislation that would be
passed to avoid new bills being written.
The exact ballot language states: “Shall
Missouri law be amended to fund Missouri
state law enforcement by increasing
the motor fuel tax by two and a half cents
per gallon annually for four years beginning
July 1, 2019, exempt Special Olympic,
Paralympic and Olympic prizes from state
taxes, and to establish the Emergency State
Freight Bottleneck fund.”
The fiscal summary for the ballot measure
states: “If passed, this measure will generate
$288 million annually to the State Road
Fund to provide funding for Missouri state
law enforcement and $123 million annually
to local governments for road construction
Bode Baxter explained that her opposition
to the project is that the historic
district includes portions of the roadway,
specifically its “dog-leg turn, and not just
the properties themselves. However, a traffic
study was conducted for the project and
MoDOT gave preliminary approval to the
site plan, which includes widening the road
to four lanes to accommodate turn lanes
and access to the gas station. Additional
roadwork would make driveway connections
from Andersohn Drive as a secondary
way for traffic to access the station without
using Manchester Road. If the project
is approved, to avoid traffic congestion or
“stacking,” and to mitigate traffic concerns,
motorists would not have left-turn access
to the gas station from Henry Avenue.
Bode Baxter said the roadwork would
disturb the historic site. She further
explained that by widening the road and
giving access to the gas station through
Andersohn Drive, the dog-legged portion
of the road converts to a T, which changes
the visual character of the road.
P&Z Director Melanie Rippetoe
explained that this area, including the historic
district properties, is zoned by city
code as a commercial district, despite the
historic elements and that the changes
to the roads would not impede on actual
parameters of the Historic District.
Ken Aston, who has been the owner of
September 26, 2018
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
I NEWS I 11
on maintenance.”
Scott Charton, a spokesperson for SaferMO.com,
a group supporting the proposition,
said lawmakers had to work with state
See PROP D, page 17
Proposed gas station near Henry Avenue Historic District meets resistance
the Dependahl Farmstead and log home
at 211 Henry Ave. for 20 years, also is
opposed. Aston is the great-grandson of
Louis Dependahl, who built the 2.5-story
Queen Anne Victorian farmhouse in 1910.
Aston acknowledges that the property in
question is commercially zoned, but feels
its use as a gas station and convenience
store is unsightly and is counterintuitive to
the ambiance of the Historic District.
“I’m not opposed to other uses, but a
24-hour gas and convenience store selling
liquor is of particular concern,” Aston
told West Newsmagazine. In an email sent
to residents, Aston wrote: “According
to Zillow, gas stations with convenience
stores significantly reduce your home
value. Zillow states, ‘Gas stations will be
the direct result of increases in robberies,
accidents and traffic.’ Furthermore, statistics
show that gas station employees in the
U.S. are ranked No. 2 for the likelihood
of being murdered on the job, following
closely behind taxi drivers, at No. 1.’”
Per city code, only commercial properties
within 185 feet of the proposed site
were notified of the public hearing, Aston
said. A total of 12 letters were mailed, with
five of them sent to the Suntrup properties.
“Isn’t it a civic responsibility to notify
residential property owners who will be
See MANCHESTER, page 14