Residents in north St. Louis County, Missouri were celebrating this week after it was announced in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a proposed 74 acre Wal-Mart shopping center plus 121 homes was being withdrawn by the developer, THF Realty. The Wal-Mart would have been 149,551 s.f., and had another 66,653 s.f. for expansion. The plan had four outlots for other retail uses as well, and a parking lot to hold 1,460 cars. THF pulled the plug on the deal reportedly because St. Louis County planning officials met with the developer and indicated that the project had little chance of gaining approval. “We had a heart-to-heart chat,” County Planning Director Glenn Powers told the Post-Dispatch. “We told them that the county had a long-time policy about development north of Lindbergh Boulevard and that it would be residential.” It certainly didn’t hurt that the County Councilman for that area was against the plan, and that as many as 500 local residents were expected to attend the hearing that had been scheduled for March 11th. In addition, roughly 3,000 residents had signed a petition against the project. The land in question is currently a sod farm and farm equipment facility. Community activist Mark Behlmann, who organized opposition to the plan, wrote this to Sprawl-Busters: “THF Realty has left the Jost property. The County planning department has acknowledged that this property in the future will be rezoned in the proper manner and that is residential. The oppositional efforts have proven to be effective, when folks come together regarding an issue, their voices can be heard. The community needs to be proud of the fact, they worked together for a common goal and were successful. The only hero in this past endeavor is the community itself. People who, came to meetings, received information and passed it out, obtained signatures on petitions, made signs, altered their schedules to go to the County hearing, obtained busses to help people to meetings, and just got involved with the situation. These are the ones who need to be commended and applauded.”
The developer has indicated that they will look for other locations in that general area for a Wal-Mart, so the community battle is not over — but at least residential land was not rezoned commercially. For more background on the Wal-Mart withdrawal from north St. Louis County, contact [email protected]
