ST. LOUIS — The Board of Aldermen is again considering the creation of a zone surrounding the future site of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in which certain types of businesses would be barred for security reasons.
The legislation, to be discussed Tuesday by an aldermanic committee, would prohibit from the 958-acre area new businesses with the potential for explosions such as gas stations and companies that make or use hazardous materials.
The proposed “protection and enhancement†district would extend about a half-mile from the NGA site at Cass and Jefferson avenues in north St. Louis.
Also barred would be buildings financed, owned or sponsored by foreign governments “which pose a threat to national security†and utility and communications towers higher than 65 feet. Buildings couldn’t top 85 feet.
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However, any existing businesses in prohibited categories could stay.
“I’ve studied the map and the prohibitions in great detail,†Alderman James Page, 5th Ward and a co-sponsor of the bill, said Monday. “It’s important for security reasons, it’s as simple as that.â€
Unlike a similar bill that died in 2018, the current measure doesn’t include a provision that would have subjected many other types of proposed businesses to an extra layer of city scrutiny, including a public hearing.
Among those singled out in the earlier bill were liquor stores, bars, blood donor facilities and drive-thru restaurants. Such businesses have gotten extra city attention in other special use districts in redevelopment areas such as the Grove.
Page said he supported the change and that it eliminates “undue burdensome bureaucracy.†The primary sponsor of both the current bill and the 2018 measure, Brandon Bosley, 3rd Ward, could not be reached for comment Monday. Page’s and Bosley’s wards each include part of the site.
Meanwhile, two longtime NGA opponents who live in the affected area, Larry Chapman and Gustavo Rendon, are urging aldermen to defeat the bill.
In a letter to board members, the two complained that city officials committed to enacting such an agreement when NGA selected the St. Louis site and that meetings held with area residents were not held “in good faith.â€
Chapman in an interview noted that the current bill says the agreement between the NGA and the city included “an obligation†to limit any activity in nearby areas that may be incompatible or pose a national security threat.
Chapman also complained that the current version still would unfairly bar some existing businesses from expanding, such as at least one gas station. Page said “they’re scraping for worst-case scenarios.â€
The two also recently sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming seeking an investigation of the NGA plans. They complained that residents of the proposed zone face a threat of terror attack, surveillance and policing greater than that encountered by other citizens. A spokesman for Fleming’s office declined to comment.
In 2018, Bosley dropped his sponsorship after residents in some nearby areas expressed concern about the bill and said he wanted city development officials to answer residents’ questions.
He said then his decision on reintroducing the bill would depend on whether residents “get comfortable enough“ with development officials’ presentations.