2023/07/24 - Mayor's Column: Development at Pierce
“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
Recently, the O’Fallon City Council approved the New Meijer’s Super Market and the Shops at Pierce. Once built, these new businesses will be located on the undeveloped ground at Greenmount and Pierce.
After the City Council deliberates a project and grants approval or denial, people sometimes think that the city has completed its work and off it goes. This project, and any other major developments like it, have many stages that the city needs to continuously be involved in.
For example, this project has been being talked about by the developers for several months but the completion of it won’t be for over 30 months (early 2026).
Up to now, the city has taken a very open and proactive approach to this development and the traffic on Pierce. It started with sending out over 1,500 letters about traffic studies that were being done on Pierce, two public meetings to explain what was going on with the studies being done and listening to citizens input. Then there were two electronic surveys sent out the get more feedback. Then a public meeting of the Planning Commission to discuss the new project, followed by two Community Development Meetings for public input and two Full City Council meetings with additional public input. These were accompanied by Q&A’s that attempted to answer many of the questions raised during the meetings. A total of seven public meetings and three written or electronic communications with citizens. This resulted in changes made by the Planning Commission and two changes that were adopted by the city council to the plans for this development.
Now we will be trying different traffic calming methods to see what is most effective for the area. Then there will be the changes needed to the streets and the intersection at Pierce and Greenmount for a good flow of traffic. This is in addition to the restrictions on the size of vehicles allowed which are already in place and being enforced.
The city will also be reviewing any building designs to make sure that they meet our code and abides by all the requirements that we have for the development. This includes water drainage and proper barriers, lighting and more.
Just as when the Hospital, Walmart, Sam’s, Menard’s, hotels and the many other fine facilities that we have were built, the public safety department will be reviewing the project to assure proper safety measures are also being put in place by the stores and that the city’s departments will modify their procedures and schedules to ensure safety at the stores and the surrounding neighborhoods.
This continuing process is one of the reasons the city has maintained a good safety record and a good orderly and clean community.
This is not a new challenge to the city. No, it is a continuing promise to keep O’Fallon moving forward in the proper manor with citizens’ input.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.