The Ozark Run Scenic Byway will more than likely bypass Jefferson County.
Scenic Missouri, a nonprofit group, is applying to the Missouri Department of Transportation to designate 375 miles across 11 Missouri counties as a scenic byway through the Ozarks.
The byway was proposed to start at I-270 and Hwy. 21 in south St. Louis County and proceed south on Hwy. 21 through Jefferson County south to Ellington, then zigging and zagging until reaching its end at Hwy. 65 north of Branson.
As part of the application process, Scenic Missouri has made presentations to cities and counties along the route to solicit support.
After hearing a presentation by the group’s Eric Hermanson on Aug. 24, the Jefferson County Council voted 5-2 on Sept. 26 to pass a resolution of nonsupport for the byway.
The resolution cites concerns that the byway would give the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, which oversees MoDOT, “overreaching powers” to claim property by eminent domain for scenic easements, controlled access and landscaping for “as far as the eye can see,” and notes that on some portions of Hwy. 21, the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis can be seen to the north and properties for miles around can also be seen in every direction.
Allowing the scenic byway designation, the resolution states, could result in the county losing control of planning and zoning controls for an unspecified distance off Hwy. 21 because of the “as far as the eye can see” definition, and that by restricting the county’s ability to control planning and zoning along the route, the byway could impede growth and development.
The resolution cites that allowing the byway would pave the way for “far-reaching government oversight without local control.”
Hermanson said he’s been taken aback by the reception he’s received among residents of counties along the route, and not only in Jefferson County.
“I’m not surprised, I guess, but I’m still disappointed,” by the county’s resolution, Hermanson said. “The concerns about private property rights are simply not true. If the scenic byway was approved in Jefferson County, signs would go up and a handful of tourists would come, and that’s it.”
He said public hearings in counties further south have been verbally combative.
“I’ve been accused of being paid under the table by the Sierra Club,” he said. “I’ve been told that a scenic byway is just a reason for the government to come in and take your land so it can sell it to China.”
Hermanson said he expects that the three counties on the route just south of Jefferson – Washington, Iron and Reynolds – will come out in favor of the byway.
“We’ll have a 100-mile continuous stretch that will start at Washington State Park, go past Taum Sauk Mountain and end near Clearwater Lake,” he said.
Hermanson said he will work to push the shorter route “across the finish line” with state approval.
“We’ve got other chambers of commerce and county officials who are interested in the byway, and we’ll talk with them about possibly extending it once we’re past the finish line,” he said.
About 50 people attended the Aug. 24 presentation in Jefferson County and many opposed the plan.
Hermanson, who gave that presentation, said the only support the state would provide the byway would be signs added on highway marker posts along the route to keep motorists on track. He also said no construction is involved.
Byways forego interstate highways in favor of existing twisting, turning, tree-lined, state-maintained roads that also may have historic and recreational attractions along the way, or a few miles off the designated route.
The primary restriction, he said, is that new off-site billboards are not allowed along a byway. Billboards advertising a business on its own property are allowed, he said.
In his presentation, Hermanson said byways often provide an economic boost by attracting tourists to the area who might not otherwise travel the route.
The city of Hillsboro held a similar meeting Aug. 18, and Mayor Buddy Russell said the idea was met with a “mixed” reaction.
“I personally had no problem with the idea, but I understand people’s concerns about it,” he said.
Russell said the city’s Board of Aldermen has taken no action concerning the byway, nor does he expect it to.
“The matter is moot anyway,” Hermanson said of Hillsboro.
De Soto officials sent a letter supporting the concept, although official approval was not necessary because almost all the land along Hwy. 21 in that city is zoned commercial, which means the billboard restriction would have been unworkable there, as it would have been through 11 other municipalities along the original route, Hermanson said.
Signs would have been posted through De Soto anyway, he said.
In casting his dissenting vote, County Councilman Scott Seek (District 5, Festus) said he believed the positives from a scenic byway far outweigh the possible disadvantages.
“We are being asked to make a decision that could be positive to Jefferson County tourism,” he said. “I don’t believe a byway would give MoDOT powers that it doesn’t already have.”
Council member Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) agreed.
“To me, this is a no-risk thing,” he said. “We can always opt out of it at any time if we didn’t like it. I don’t understand why everyone else is afraid.”