More than 200 people filled Arnold City Hall last week, with nearly everyone in the room condemning a proposed road project.
Arnold’s elected officials and staff members sat stoically in the packed chamber room on Aug. 15 as 23 residents spoke against the project. Each resident had three minutes to talk.
The council meeting was the first opportunity people had to publicly address city officials about their plans to construct a 2-mile, two-lane road to be called Arnold Parkway that will connect shopping districts in the north part of the city near Hwy. 141 to the southern part of the city near Richardson and Vogel roads.
The meeting was tense at times with residents calling for elected officials to be removed from office and accusing staff members and elected officials of improper conduct. The residents also demanded answers that never came.
“We are going to vote you guys out,” said Alan Luffy, who lives on Hickory Ridge Trail, in the south part of the city behind where the proposed road would be constructed.
Plans for the road project were made public in an Aug. 8 story in the Arnold-Imperial Leader. However, city officials had notified residential and commercial property owners about the plan as early as May, according to a lawsuit Koch Properties, which owns the Water Tower Place shopping center, has filed against the city in an effort to stop the project.
City officials have said a portion of the shopping plaza will need to be acquired for the road project, which will eliminate at least eight businesses, including the Local House which plans to relocate from its current location on Jeffco Boulevard to that area later this year.
Staff members and elected officials said they could not comment about the project because of the lawsuit.
Arnold officials said the project will cost approximately $75 million and would be funded with revenue from the sale of bonds through the Arnold Retail Corridor Transportation Development District (ARC TDD).
That TDD was established in 2008 to fund infrastructure related to the development of the Arnold Commons retail complex and the redevelopment of the Arnold Crossroads complex. The TDD collects a 1 percent sales tax from businesses in those two retail developments, as well as from some of the businesses in the Water Tower retail complex.
Public outcry
The announcement about the road project sparked instant backlash.
An online petition on change.org called “Halt the Construction of the Arnold Parkway Project” was started on Aug. 9. It had 4,288 signatures as of Monday.
Petitions to hold elections to recall Mayor Ron Counts, Treasurer Dan Kroupa and all eight councilmen were circulated at the Aug. 15 meeting.
Sarah Lurkins, who lives on Hickory Court, is one of the residents who started the recall petitions. The group also created a Facebook page, Citizens Against the Construction of Arnold Parkway, which had 2,221 members as of Monday.
Lurkins said the group collected signatures on Aug. 16 at Arnold City Park and Aug. 17 during the Arnold Farmers Market, which is open every Saturday through Nov. 9 near the entrance of the city park.
“(The proposed road) is extremely dangerous, and the manner in which the TDD has prepared this proposal has been completely illegal as noted in the lawsuit,” she said.
According to state statute, an elected official must have held office for at least six months before a recall election may be held. For a recall election to be held for the mayor and treasurer, 25 percent of registered voters in the city need to sign the petition, and for council members, 25 percent of registered voters from the ward the councilman represents must sign the petition.
The City Council has two representatives from each of its four wards.
The group seeking the recall elections began collecting signatures on Aug. 15, and they have 60 days from that point to collect the required signatures and file the petitions with the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office.
A special election to recall a city official would be held as soon as practical and as may be determined by the election authority of the county, according to state statute.
The Citizens Against the Construction of Arnold Parkway said 4,200 signatures are required to have a recall election for Counts and Kroupa; 903 signatures are needed to have a recall election for each of the Ward 1 councilmen, EJ Fleischmann and Jason Fulbright; 1,070 signatures are needed to have a recall election for each of the Ward 2 councilmen, Brian McArthur and Bill Moritz; 1,109 signatures are needed to have a recall election for each of the Ward 3 councilmen, Mark Hood and Rodney Mullins; and 1,081 signatures are needed to have a recall election for each of the Ward 4 councilmen, Butch Cooley and Gary Plunk.
As of Monday, the Citizens Against the Construction of Arnold Parkway reported collecting 7.27 percent of the needed signatures for Counts, 7.15 percent for Kroupa, 8.24 percent for Fleischmann, 8.47 percent for Fulbright, 5.38 percent for McArthur, 5.27 percent for Moritz, 9.73 percent for Hood, 9.92 percent for Mullins, 4.8 percent for Cooley and 4.89 percent for Plunk.
“I can only pray (to get enough signatures for the petitions),” Lurkins said.
Because of the expected crowd, the city had six police officers at the meeting. Typically, there are two officers at each council meeting, which are held at 7 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month.
City Administrator Bryan Richison said he was not surprised by the public’s reaction.
He also said because a lawsuit has been filed to stop the project, he would not say if the public outcry would halt the project.
“I think public comment is there to give the public an opportunity to express their thoughts and views to the council,” Richison said. “I think clearly they did that, and that is the purpose of it. I think it is a good thing that the public has an opportunity to do that.”
State Rep. Phil Amato (Arnold, District 113) said he has asked the Missouri State Attorney General’s Office to investigate potential Sunshine Law violations while the city planned the road project.
“The Sunshine Law is there to protect citizens,” said Amato, a former Arnold councilman and a member of the Missouri House of Representative’s Economic Development, Local Government and Transportation Infrastructure committees. “It is imperative to ensure accountability, and if any violations have occurred, they must be addressed to uphold integrity.”
Residents speak out
City officials said 38 homes will need to be purchased in Key West Estates, which is made up of Harrys Lane, Christy Drive, Big Bill Road, Ridge Drive and Lone Star Drive.
“I don’t want to move,” said Otto Nuspl, 93, who has lived with his wife, Phyllis, 88, in a home on Christy Drive for 63 years. “The road is unnecessary. They (Arnold) don’t need our subdivision. They don’t need the road. It is not a public necessity.”
Homeowners have received offers of $170,000 for their homes, with an additional $55,000 to cover moving costs, for a total of $225,000. The offers to purchase the homes are from the Arnold Acquisition Company, which was formed by the TDD to buy property.
Richison said homes at 2144 Christy Drive and 2136 Christy Drive and 2157 Lone Star Drive were purchased for $170,000 each. He also said a home at 1230 Harrys Lane was purchased for $236,000.
“I have been in real estate since I was 21, and I am 65, I know the value of real estate,” said Tamara Huff, who owns a home on Christy Drive. “It is an insult what you are offering people. It is an insult to their intelligence. This is not moral, and it is un-Christian.”
Emily Davis, who lives on Harrys Lane, said she and her 7-year-old daughter would have to move in with her mother if she sold her home.
“I was born and raised in Arnold, and when I bought my home, it was imperative that we stay in Arnold because I wanted my child to have the community that I had,” she said. “Now, we are left with this.”
Ashely Samuels told the council she and her child live with her mother on Christy Drive.
“My sister passed away in 2007, and we chose her resting place very carefully at the top of the hill at Immaculate Conception (Cemetery) where we can see her from our kitchen window,” she said. “That cannot be replaced.”
Samuels asked Richison how the project would benefit her mom and stood silent for about two minutes waiting for an answer.
Richison said he would not comment because of the lawsuit, and the remaining two minutes were filled with jeers from the crowd before Samuels returned to her seat to a round of applause.
Diana Smart Anderson told the council she has lived in her home on Frederitzi Lane for 29 years, and she is worried about the proximity of Arnold Parkway to her property. The proposed road would go between Frederitzi Lane and I-55.
“This parkway will go within 20 feet of my bedroom door,” she said. “I’m disappointed that you (city officials) did not talk to people it is going to affect. It impacts a lot of people in Arnold, and it is something that is not needed. There are plenty of roadways to get from Richardson (Road) to (Hwy.) 141.”
Rick Jones, who lives on Jimmy Drive, was peppering the city officials with questions and demanding answers when Counts asked him, “What kind of show are you trying to put on?”
Laura Huskey, who lives on Seven Trails Drive, started the petition on change.org. She said her home is not directly affected by the road project, but she wanted the city’s elected officials and staff to know what community members think of the project.
“My desire and hope with starting the petition is to allow the City Council to see where the hearts of citizens lie and those who frequent Arnold Commons for their shopping,” Huskey said. “I think our city officials are elected to serve us, and to serve people well, you have to allow transparency at every point when you are talking about a project as massive as the road being built.”
Business reaction
No business owners impacted by the project spoke at the Aug. 15 meeting.
Richison said one commercial property, 2185 Lone Star Drive, has been purchased for $295,000.
To build the road, several commercial properties must be acquired, including CubeSmart Self Storage, 3401 Robinson Road off Richardson Road; the portion of the Water Tower shopping plaza that currently is home to the Fuentes Mexican, Puna Cafe and Sugarfire restaurants, Studio C Dance, Fresenuis Medical Care Arnold Dialysis, GameStop and Trek Bicycle Arnold; and some businesses near Hwy. 141, such as the Bandana’s restaurant, will be torn down for the project.
Tim Huelskamp, who owns the Local House Restaurant and Bar, plans to move from his current location on Jeffco Boulevard into the building that was home to the 54th Street restaurant in affected the portion of Water Tower plaza by October. City officials said that building will need to be purchased and demolished for the road project.
According to Koch Properties’ lawsuit to stop the road project, Richison called Huelskamp on June 27 to “strongly” encourage him not to sign the lease. However, Huelskamp said that call happened after he signed the lease.
He also said he spoke with the property manager of the Water Tower shopping plaza, the Desco Group, and was told if the lawsuit does not stop the project, he would have at least two years in the building.
Huelskamp said because he may only be able to lease the building for two years, the plaza owners are covering some of his renovation costs, and he will receive financial compensation if the building is taken by the city in the next five years.
“That will make sure the Local House will not go under,” he said.
Huelskamp said if he loses the building, he will likely have to move the Local House out of Arnold because there is not another building that is right for his business.
He also said city officials said they will help him find a new location in Arnold.
“My restaurant is a staple in Arnold, and it belongs in Arnold,” he said. “It would hurt me to have to take it outside (of Arnold). I am going to make a business decision, and that is what it is going to be, a business decision.
“If there is a spot where I can come up with another 5,000-plus-square-foot building that has 100 parking spots with good visibility, I would stay (in Arnold). At the end of the day, what is going to happen is going to happen.”
Business owners and community members gather at a meeting held to discuss the proposed Arnold Parkway.
Arnold shopping plaza owners file lawsuit against city
The owners of Water Tower Place Shopping Center have filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court to stop the city of Arnold from building the proposed Arnold Parkway – a road that would connect the city’s northern and southern retail districts.
The shopping center is on Michigan Avenue off Jeffco Boulevard, and Arnold officials have said a large section of the plaza will need to be acquired to build the road.
Koch Properties, which owns Water Tower Place, has hired Lance LeComb of LeComb Consulting to serve as a spokesman, and he encouraged the shopping center’s commercial tenants to join the lawsuit against Arnold during an Aug. 15 meeting at Studio C Dance. The dance studio, 2210 Michigan Ave., is one of at least eight businesses in the section of the plaza Arnold officials say they need to acquire to build the road.
Christy Schnable, one of Studio C’s directors, said on Monday that the dance studio would not comment on the lawsuit or road project at that time.
Also at the meeting, LeComb advised residents of Key West Estates subdivision, which is just north of the shopping plaza, to form their own group to fight the project.
“We want to walk out of here with concrete steps to take to stop this stupid road,” LeComb said.
About 60 people attended that meeting, which was held just hours before about 200 people turned out for an Arnold City Council meeting at City Hall to denounce the project.
Plans for the road project were made public in an Aug. 8 story in the Arnold-Imperial Leader. However, city officials had notified residential and commercial property owners about the plan as early as May, according to the lawsuit filed Aug. 12.
On Monday, Arnold city attorney Bob Sweeney said he could not comment about the lawsuit.
Arnold officials want to build the Arnold Parkway – a 2-mile, two-lane road – to connect Hwy. 141 and Richardson Road. They said the road would cost approximately $75 million and would be funded with revenue from the sale of bonds through the Arnold Retail Corridor Transportation Development District (ARC TDD).
That TDD was established in 2008 to fund infrastructure related to the development of the Arnold Commons retail complex and the redevelopment of the Arnold Crossroads complex. The TDD collects a 1-percent sales tax from people who shop at businesses in those two retail developments, as well as from some of the businesses in the Water Tower Place retail complex.
The lawsuit says the city of Arnold has acted in secret for the past three years to develop the road plan and acquire property for the project, which the Water Tower Place owners say is ill-defined and ill-justified.
The lawsuit also claims that Arnold officials have failed to show the need for the road’s construction.
Arnold also will need to acquire 38 homes in the Key West Estates subdivision made up of Harrys Lane, Christy Drive, Big Bill Road, Ridge Drive and Lone Star Drive, as well as some homes that have been converted to commercial properties in the area, city officials said.
They also said the Bandana’s restaurant, 1220 Big Bill Blvd. near Hwy. 141, and CubeSmart Self Storage, 3401 Robinson Road off Richardson Road, will need to be purchased and torn down.
In addition to the homeowners and commercial tenants from the area targeted for acquisition, Stacey Kamps, a representative from Koch Properties, was on hand, as was attorney Caroline Hermeling of the Husch Blackwell law firm, which is handling the lawsuit.
Mark Schoene of the Desco Group, a commercial real estate development company that manages the Water Tower Place center, was there, along with Carl Day of Pace Properties, another commercial real estate development company that has had dealings in the city.
Also on hand was attorney Dave Roland of the Freedom Center of Missouri who has experience researching and litigating cases involving governmental entities using eminent domain to acquire properties for public use.
LeComb and others who spoke at the meeting called the road project “stupid” and “unnecessary.”
Hermeling advised the homeowners to get commercial appraisals for any properties the city is trying to acquire because those appraisals will be higher.
She said the property needed for the project encompasses 167 acres with some on both the east and west sides of I-55.
LeComb said even if the city has the legal authority to acquire the properties, the property owners in the targeted area should work together to make sure they all get a fair deal.
Roland told those at the meeting that lawsuits sometimes can’t be won in court but can be won by getting the public behind the cause, making it a political issue that is “impossible” for the governmental entity to continue pursuing.
“One of the most important things is getting the public on our side,” he said.
The lawsuit
Koch Properties claims in its suit that Arnold cannot use TDD funds to purchase or acquire property for the road, that the TDD should have been dissolved after bonds that funded the infrastructure work were paid off last year and that the city has interfered with Water Tower’s attempts to lease buildings in the shopping plaza.
In its lawsuit, Koch Properties asks the court to stop the city from moving forward with the road project and seeks reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses.
“Given the secretive manner in which the city is going about this project, we had no choice but to file a lawsuit given the continued unlawful actions by the TDD, the threat of condemnation, and the city’s unlawful interference with Water Tower’s leasing efforts,” LeComb said in a written statement.
The lawsuit names ARC TDD, city of Arnold, Arnold Acquisition Company, Arnold Triangle Transportation Development District, Arnold City Administrator Bryan Richison, Ward 4 Councilman Gary Plunk, Community Development Director David Bookless, City Treasurer Dan Kroupa and Mayor Ron Counts as defendants. It lists Richison, Plunk, Counts, Kroupa and Bookless as ARC TDD board members.
Water Tower owners say in the suit that Arnold secretly created the Arnold Acquisition Company to purchase property for the project, adding that the acquisition company has purchased four homes and a commercial property below market value.
Arnold city officials said they have been working on plans for the road project for about three years, adding that the new road would offer an alternative route to travel north to south in the city and provide easier access to shopping areas.
Richison said some properties needed for the project already have been acquired, including homes at 2144 Christy Drive, 2136 Christy Drive and 2157 Lone Star Drive, which were purchased for $170,000 each through the acquisition company. He also said a home at 1230 Harrys Lane was purchased for $236,000.
He said a commercial property at 2185 Lone Star Drive has been purchased for $295,000.
Richison said the city is close to purchasing three more homes for $225,000 each and expects to finalize the deals in early September.
To get the road built, Arnold officials said the city, through the TDD, still needs to acquire CubeSmart Self Storage, 3401 Robinson Road off Richardson Road; the portion of the Water Tower shopping plaza that currently is home to the Fuentes Mexican, Puna Cafe and Sugarfire restaurants, Studio C Dance, Fresenuis Medical Care Arnold Dialysis, GameStop and Trek Bicycle Arnold; 38 homes in the Key West Estates subdivision behind the shopping plaza and near Hwy. 141; and some businesses near the subdivision, such as the Bandana’s restaurant.
Arnold officials said the city would prefer to purchase the properties, but it may use eminent domain to acquire the necessary land for the road.
Water Tower’s lawsuit says the TDD is not allowed to use eminent domain to acquire land, and it contends that because the original bond of about $28 million to fund infrastructure for the Arnold Commons and Arnold Crossroads developments has been paid off, the city should dissolve the TDD.
City officials said the approximately $20 million bond was paid off last year, 15 years before it was set to expire. They also said the TDD may remain in place and collect the 1-percent sales tax through 2048.
The lawsuit says the Water Tower owners do not believe the sales tax collected in the TDD will produce enough revenue to cover the road project’s cost.
In the lawsuit, Koch properties claims that because more than 75 percent of the proposed road is outside the TDD, the city cannot use TDD revenue to complete the project.
The suit says the city, through the acquisition company, offered on April 2 to buy a portion of the Water Tower shopping plaza for a price “well below the fair market value.”
Koch Properties also said in the suit that the city sent the owners a condemnation notice on May 16, which read, “We continue to be open to negotiating with you and are hopeful that an agreement can be reached that is satisfactory to all parties. However, if the District (ARC TDD) cannot reach a binding agreement with you, the District will exercise its right to file a petition for eminent domain in the Circuit Court for Jefferson County, Missouri, to acquire your Property.”
Water Tower representatives met with Arnold officials on June 17 to discuss the road project and the city’s need to acquire part of the 30-acre shopping plaza, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says Bookless contacted the Water Tower property manager in June about the Local House restaurant owner Tim Huelskamp’s plan to lease the former 54th Street restaurant building, and Richison called and advised the Local House owner on June 27 not to sign the lease.
Huelskamp announced on July 23 plans to move from his current location at 3946 Jeffco Blvd. to 2236 Michigan Ave., the former 54th Street location, before the end of this year.