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Florissant City Council Meeting:
Drive-Thru Speakers For New Dunkin’ Donut Store Concerns Resident
By Carol Arnett
The Florissant City Council had a light agenda this week, with no public hearing or first readings of bills scheduled. They did have a long discussion on one of the bills up for a second reading.
The bill would rezone property at 8115 N. Lindbergh to allow for the development of a sit-down, carry-out Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant with drive-up service.
Tim Kaufmann represented Dunkin’ Donuts. Council President Jackie Pagano asked about screening in the back of the property.
“We’re going to replace the fence with a new privacy fence,” he said. “We’re re-landscaping and adding new plants and trees.”
Kaufmann also said that the speaker used in the drive-through will have day and night settings for the volume. The newest plan also changes the direction of the speaker to alleviate noise to the nearby residence.
Gene Reay spoke to the council about the project. He lives next to the property. “We’re entitled to a peaceful home,” he said. He said that although Dunkin’ Donuts controls the sound of the drive-through speaker, they do not control the sounds of car radios in the drive-through and the exhaust emissions. “That’s ten feet from the side of our house,” he said of the lane.
Reay also had copies of a covenant from the neighborhood. He said it prohibited nuisances from the neighborhood.
Reay said that Kaufmann sent him a letter inquiring about buying the property several months ago, but he thought it was from a flipper and didn’t pay attention. He said he asked Kaufmann later if he still wanted to buy it, and Kaufmann told him that he didn’t need it because the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved a plan without it.
Councilman Tim Jones said he was concerned about how close the drive-through speaker was to the residence. He said that he had a carwash in his ward that had speaker problems. “At least once a month, I get a call that they’ve turned it up again and I go up there,” he said. He added that the city has sent letters and it is still a problem. “And the houses there are a lot farther than they are here.”
Reay said he would like the project to go back to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission for further talks about the noise and the hours of operation.
City Attorney John Hessel said that the covenant Reay had was a homeowner agreement that the city cannot get involved in enforcing. Pagano said that the covenant was signed in 1958, when Lindbergh was not the same and that she thought Dunkin Donuts would be better than what was at the site now. The bill passed with Jones, Eagan and Caputa voting against it.
In other action, the council presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Robert Ritter who volunteers his time to the city’s Crime Free program.
He added that landlords must take a class every year in order to rent property in the city.” Ritter is one of the teachers of the class. “I’m having a lot of fun with this,” Ritter said. “We’ve been doing this for a year now.”
Council passed a bill that will allow a new ground sign including a digital sign at the Handyman Hardware store at 500 W. Washington.
Council also passed a bill approving a final subdivision plat for 15273 New Halls Ferry for a planned commercial district. This is an empty lot that is being divided into three lots. A request was approved for a malt liquor and wine by the drink license for Thai Kitchen at 8458 N. Lindbergh Blvd.
