By Carol Arnett

There may be many changes in store for Plaza Madrid. The Florissant City Council passed a bill that names Cap5 Advisors, LLC as the preferred developer with respect to the New Halls Ferry & Parker Road Redevelopment Area, which is the Plaza Madrid shopping center.

After the meeting, Mayor Tom Schneider said that the area was a difficult area to redevelop. “We never even got this far before,” he said, referring to a preferred developer.

City Economic Development Director Bob Russell explained that the area was smaller than most developers wanted, and the plot is a long, narrow strip of land. Cap5 will have to bring any plans before the city for approval.

Schneider said the recent shooting at the site should not affect the plans.  He said that it was terrible that two people lost their lives, but noted that the Florissant Police Department apprehended the suspect quickly. “This is very typical of our police department,” he said.

Also at the meeting, the council held a public hearing about a request for a special use permit for a sign shop at 8215 N. Lindbergh. This is near the intersection of Loyola and Lindbergh.

Ron Nash spoke for the sign shop. “Most customers are other local businesses,” he said. He added that few customers would visit the shop. He said that the shop used no chemicals stronger than Windex, and there would be little noise.

Councilman Joe Eagan represents the ward in which the shop would be located. He said he had visited the site and approved the request. “It will be a good fit,” he said. The council held a first reading of the bill that would approve the special use permit.

In other matters , the council denied a request to add a tasting permit to the existing liquor license for Huck’s Food & Fuel at 3500 Patterson Rd. Councilman Jeff Caputa represents the ward in which Huck’s is located. “I will be against this,” he said at the meeting. The rest of the council joined him in voting against the request.

After the meeting, Caputa said the request for the tasting of liquor. “I’m not for that,” he said. “The sale of alcohol at a gas station is one thing,” he said, “but alcohol tasting is different. It’s not good for the city.”