St. Charles may change tactics on introducing businesses

Ater complaints about a new bus dispatch along Randall Road snarling traffic, St. Charles officials are re-examining how they alert residents to incoming businesses.

The city council recently approved the facility with no public outcry despite a public hearing. However, the start of the school year has spurred the dispatch into heavy operation, stacking buses and traffic along 15th Street. The residential area isn’t accustomed to the high commercial traffic volume. Aldermen who approved the facility are now getting an earful from angry residents.

“I feel like a lot of people are reacting after the fact because they didn’t know it was happening,” said Ward 3 Alderman Ray Rogina at a council meeting Tuesday night. Rogina pointed out that the legal notice alerting people to the chance to ask questions or express concerns about the bus facility only went out to people within 250 feet of the dispatch.

Rogina suggested that’s too small an area to really alert a neighborhood about a change with a large impact, such as the bus dispatch created. City staff pointed out the 250 feet notice is a generally accepted area for legal notice. However, staff conceded only the actual owners of property within 250 feet were required to receive notice of the new bus dispatch. That would exclude anyone renting or leasing property near the new business.

Rogina said he’d like to discuss changing the city’s notification practices to expand the area and possibly include residents as well as property owners. The council will now discuss the change at an upcoming meeting. However, legal staff pointed out the discussion will come well after approval of the bus dispatch and have no impact on the agreement allowing the dispatch to do business at the Randall Road location.

Prospective businesses may not be a fan of such a change. The city puts all the responsibility and cost of identifying, locating and mailing a notice of a public hearing on the new business that wants to come to town. Expanding the notification area would increase the time and cost of a business locating in the city, staff said.

In the meantime, Police Chief Jim Lamkin told the council he’s well aware of the traffic problem the new bus dispatch has created. Police are working with the company to alleviate the problem. Lamkin said the buses are not supposed to use city streets for their routes. If need be, Lamkin said, officers will begin issuing traffic tickets to enforce weight restrictions for vehicle traffic on certain streets to address the problem.