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BY CAROL ARNETT

There was some last minute politicking in the Florissant mayoral race at the city council meeting Monday night.

Mayor Robert Lowery recently sent a letter to residents of wards 6, 8 and 9. In the letter, Lowery shared what he called “good news” regarding two areas of the city. The first, off Parker Road between New Florissant Road and Waterford Drive, is the Maloney Manor site. The site consists of the former Maloney Manor development and a church and school.

“Today we have finished talks and negotiations with Life Care Center of American from Cleveland, Tennessee to build a $50 million state-of-the-art complex for senior citizens,” Lowery wrote. He went on to say that the new development would generate 170 jobs.

The second site Lowery wrote about is at Parker Spur and Parker Road at New Halls Ferry Road. Lowery wrote that he and the city’s economic development director were in talks with Dmyterko and Wright and hoped to have final negotiations completed in the next 10-12 days.

Former councilwoman Nancy Lubiewski, who is supporting Lowery’s challenger, Andrew Podleski, in the mayoral race, spoke to the council about the letter.

“This letter came out before the legal process has even begun,” Lubiewski said. She stated that the developer must first go through the city’s Planning and Zoning (P and Z) Commission and then the city council. At each stage, public hearings are held to solicit citizen input.

Lubiewski referenced the mayor’s statement that the center (at the Maloneyh Manor site) would have 170 employees. “Villas, condos and assisted living facilities do not require 170 employees,” Lubiewski said. “Nursing homes require 170 employees.” She added that with average staff to patient ratios, the nursing home would be “huge.”

“The development is a large commercial development. It does not fit,” Lubiewski said. She said that more Bi-state lines would need to be added, and several delivery trucks per day would be needed to serve a nursing home. She cited the areas two-lane streets.

Lubiewski also noted that the area would have to be rezoned from residential to commercial for a nursing home, and stated that the city’s comprehensive plan states that there should be no more rezoning from residential to commercial.

“Stop trying to jam commercial property into every piece of residential green space you can find,” Lubiewski told the council. “This project, if needed, belongs in a commercially zoned area.”

In his message from the mayor at the end of the council meeting, Lowery said that only some wards were sent letters because those wards are near the areas in question.

As for the project on the Maloney Manor site, Lowery said, “it’s not going to be a commercial project, per se.” He said it would provide care from assisted living to a nursing home.

In other action, the council:
•Passed a bill approving the final subdividing of the St. Louis Christian College property at 2095 Dunn Road and Grandview Drive. The college wants to sell a portion of the property to a developer for a medical office building.
•Passed two bills that authorize new signs along Lindbergh Boulevard. Both are replacement signs. Dobbs Tire and Auto, at 2775 North Highway 67 and Surrey Plaza Shopping Center II, at 2800 North Highway 67, are both replacing their pole signs.
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