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City Watch
cell towers & city projects
According to the Springfield News-Leader and the Associated Press, BRT Group LLC has filed a federal suit against the City of Springfield, claiming the city took unlawful criteria into consideration when they recently denied BRT the right to build and operate a telecommunication tower on behalf of T-Mobile. In 2014 the State of Missouri passed a law limiting the reasons a city could refuse the right to build a tower, placing more control over the process in the hands of telecommunication companies and the FCC. This law was challenged and upheld in the Missouri Supreme Court in 2016. According to reports, BRT claims the City Council discussed the tower during several City Council meetings. The Council discussed whether the tower would be an eyesore, whether the city needed more towers, and if it were possible for multiple companies to share towers. All of which is prohibited criteria. BRT further claims the City did not give an acceptable explanation in their official response, and that they submitted their response after the 120-day deadline mandated by state law. The News-Leader article goes on to mention that no citizens spoke against this tower at any of the Council meetings where it was discussed. This detail is striking, surely, to anyone familiar with development projects meeting active resistance from citizens as of late. “S. Blackman Road” comes to mind immediately—shorthand for a project to rezone 3 acres of a residential community on S. Blackman Road in Springfield for use as offices. This would allow for commercial development unwanted by the residents, and likely cause environmental damage by adding concrete and greater water runoff to an area already damaged regularly by flooding. Residents filed a protest petition against the rezoning, but City Council chose to side with the developers. The “Kansas Expressway Extension” provides another example, at the county level. This project would expand Kansas Expressway past Republic Road into a two-lane (and future four-lane) road connecting with Farm Rd 190. Its aim would be to provide an additional route into Springfield from suburban SW Greene County and NW Christian County. Sites of population boom in recent years, these communities are reliant upon small roads and 2 major arteries for daily commutes into the City. First decided upon 20 years ago, the plan would also cut through a residential community. Residents and at least one County
Commissioner insist the plan is unacceptable, that it will increase traffic on small residential and rural roads, does not properly account for the waterways it will encounter and other environmental impact, and will be insufficient unless Christian County chooses to connect to the Expressway where it meets the county line, something they’ve not promised to do. Other County Commissioners have explained to local media that the plan is unstoppable at this point. It was worth noting these cases of local governance and decision-making demonstrate a culture of disenfranchisement and the impact it can have in allowing for poor and undemocratic leadership. We have a Council willing to draw conclusions about what is an eyesore and useful or not in a neighborhood, but unwilling to respond to communities with serious concerns about the eyesores scheduled to create issues of traffic and environmental damage in their neighborhoods. So far, two unpopular projects that may not be that useful and could be dangerous for the general public are still scheduled, while the one project that has been stopped was nobody’s priority and may have been stopped illegally. It does make one feel that they don’t have control over their own community or home. Expecting more of our government begins with expecting more of our city and our county.
Ozark Spring Coloring Page
by Hayes from the Hills