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Most at Public Hearing Oppose WalMart Plan Financed by CID
By Carol Arnett
Several residents braved the snow to come to the Florissant City Council meeting Monday night to express their opposition to a WalMart coming to the city.
The council held a public hearing regarding WalMart’s request for a Community Improvement District (CID) for the site at 3400 and 3350 North Highway 67 and 3605 Seveille Dr. This area is next to the Lowe’s, across Lindbergh from Shop N Save and Kmart.
A CID would allow the developer to sell bonds to help finance the project. These bonds would be paid off using a 1% sales tax collected by businesses in the district. In this case, WalMart wants to finance $7.5 million of the $32 million project using a CID.
Council President Keith English said he has researched CIDs and WalMart. “In other places, WalMart has a Community Partnership Initiative (CPI),” he said. With the CPI, WalMart works with the community to improve the area. “Florissant deserves this,” English said. “Instead, you’re asking residents to pay for the CID through the sales tax.”
Councilwoman Karen McKay noted that Lowes was built on a difficult site, also. “Lowes was built without a CID or Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Lowes invested money in a difficult site.” McKay went on to say that she thinks that St. Louis County and all of Missouri have overutilized TIFs and CIDs.
Approximately 12 residents came before the council to speak against WalMart. A few said they were not opposed to WalMart, just the financing, while ome others said they would prefer no WalMart at all, regardless of how it was financed.
The council will hold a first reading on the bill authorizing a CID at the Feb. 28 council meeting.
In other action, the council held a second public hearing regarding a request by Mario’s Pizza to allow for inside dining at its existing carry-out restaurant at 472 Howdershell.
The restaurant will have seating for 15. A representative of the restaurant said that it had gotten a nice review in Feast magazine and since then, has had several calls from people outside of North County asking if they could eat it.
Councilman Joe Eagan said he initially wasn’t sure how the remodel would work, but he has been to the restaurant and seen the plans and the work in progress, and said it worked beautifully. Eagan he was happy to see such a new business already expanding.
The council passed the ordinance allowing the expansion.
