Florissant City Council Hears Proposal for Vacant Value City Lot
The council also approves ordinance to call for election to annex Area 13.
A public hearing for a five-store project that would renovate the vacant Value City building on Lindbergh Boulevard seemed to bring points of excitement and points of deliberation to Florissant City Council.
Monday, Rich Obertino, a representative of TRI Architects, presented the sketches for the building and out lot to the council on Monday night.
The more than 108,000-square-foot building would feature five retail stores, as well as an out lot retail building. The front of the renovated building would feature awnings as well as a great deal of exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS), which has caused quite a stir recently with several businesses proposing the building material for its buildings.
Florissant’s masonry ordinance requires all walls to be 100 percent masonry, in which case the front of the building would be in compliance. Council has the power to make exceptions to developments.
The overall biggest concern amongst councilors for the development was the front of the building being redeveloped with a vast amount of EIFS.
“I’m excited about the project, but I’m not a fan of EIFS,” Ward 3 Councilman Joe Eagan said. “Anything you guys could do to limit EIFS would be appreciated on my end.”
Several councilors requested for the EIFS to be immensely reduced on the front to include more masonry, but the tide seemed to change as the discussion proceeded.
Ward 2 Councilman John Grib pointed out to council members that with so many projects and developments presenting EIFS, it might be time to revisit building materials in the city’s ordinances.
Ward 7 Councilwoman Karen McKay agreed that the planning and zoning commission might need to look at revisiting the update of building materials to see if changes need to be made before the hearing was closed.
Voting for Area 13
The Council swiftly approved an election for the annexation of Area 13 in the April 3 election.
The council unanimously approved an ordinance that puts the issue on a ballot to residents of whether to annex an area that is west of Old Halls Ferry Road and northeast of the property line of the Florissant Golf Club and City of Florissant and south of Coldwater Creek.
Candidates for Ward 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will also be featured on the April ballot.
Susan Geerling
6:00 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
EFIS is an inexpensive and temporary facing material. Developers like to use it because it costs less. However, it is NOT a long-lasting building material like brick, or split-faced (brick-looking) concrete block. A shopping center on Lindbergh, in Hazelwood, recently had to have major repair and replacement work to the front of it as the material behind the EFIS rotted. Florissant's code requires more long-lasting materials for good reason. Yes, more businesses – especially now – are desired, but please require time-proven materials in their construction, or reconstruction. We didn't let the developers of Value City or Target use substandard materials, but we allowed certain compromises. However, EFIS was never an option.
Kevin
6:30 am on Saturday, December 17, 2011
I agree Susan. It wasn't long ago that Taco Bell had gone before P&Z with their plans to remodel the exteriors of their two (2) restaurants in Florissant. They requested EIFS as part of their remodeling plans to keep all their restaurants designed in the same mode. Yet P&Z denied them approval of the EIFS and City Council (some of the same councilors who now want to revisit the City's masonry code) were ultimately against any EIFS on the remodel of the Taco Bells. It seems to me this is nothing more than City Council being told by outside sources who are supporting this EIFS on the Value City property. We have not seen Economic Developer Bob Russell in the public eye for more than one year. Now he's all over the Council meetings as well as the recent Ward meeting at JJE Center on December 14th praising the plan. If the developers have so much money and are a top rated developer, let them develope a quality shopping center without EIFS.
Sarajane
9:07 pm on Monday, March 12, 2012
I agree with both Susan and Kevin about the EIFS. I think Florissant should maintain the higher standards of construction materiels. In today's economy, as bad as it is, it would seem that some local businesses would be willing to offer a reasonable discount for quality materiels. In the long-run, the cheaper stuff usually ends up costing more, as it does not last or perform as well as the better quality brick. Also, as a citizen of Florissant, I want to continue to be proud of Florissant, with it's higher standards of living, which will also make it more appealing to newcomers!