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By Carol Arnett

CVS Pharmacy would like to open a store in Florissant, but some council members have a problem with the location the company has chosen.

Craig Forgey, representing CVS, came before the council in a public hearing Monday night. CVS is requesting a rezoning for the property at 1550 and 1500 S. New Florissant Road and 1191 Dunn Road. These sites are currently occupied by a BP gas station and a small building to the north of the gas station.

Councilwoman Jackie Pagano recused herself. She and her husband own Joe’s AutoMart, adjacent to the property.

Forgey said the pharmacy would have one drive-through lane. It would have access to Dunn Road by going through the Joe’s AutoMart parking lot. Forgey said he had talked to the owner of the property about granting access.

“I have a real problem with this,” Councilman Mark Schmidt said. “You’re running Joe’s AutoMart out of business,” he said. He said the plan would but the access where Joe’s AutoMart currently parks cars, and would significantly decrease the parking lot.

Councilman Tim Lee asked if CVS had a signed agreement allowing the access. Forgey said he did not have it with him. Lee moved to postpone the hearing until the council had forms from all property owners that were selling the property to CVS.

In a work session after the meeting, the council discussed several issues, including property maintenance and street cleaning.

Police Chief Timothy Lowery spoke to the council about passing an ordinance that would ban sports equipment and playing sports in streets. Lowery said he had worked on an ordinance with City Attorney John Hessel. The proposed ordinance would require that sports equipment be at least 12 feet from the curb.

Councilman Ben Hernandez said he supported the ordinance. He said that there are some streets in his ward where children are playing right by a corner. “You can’t see them as you make a right turn onto the street,” he said, saying he feared for their safety.

Chief  Lowery said that in addition to safety concerns, the department had received complaints about children and teens not moving when cars approached.

Hessel said the ordinance would not prohibit biking, walking or running.

The council also discusses maintaining vacant properties. Mayor Tom Schneider said the city would like to contract with a handyman or company to take care of problems. Lee said that while city workers can mow lawns, they are not always equipped to fix gutters that are hanging off vacant homes or remove branches from roofs.

Councilman Jeff Caputa brought up two issues he said he would like to see addressed. The first was the street cleaning. He asked if there was any way to inform residents when their street would be cleaned so they could move cars off the street. Caputa also said he was concerned about bushes at intersections along the trail to Sunset Park. He said that some of the bushes were so big that they blocked drivers from seeing walkers and cyclists on the trail.

Mayor Schneider said he would look into both issues.

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