A reply to Mr. Behymer

To the Editor:

In response to “Armageddon has arrived” (West Newsmagazine, Nov. 21), I am perplexed as to why, after the Behymer Trust sold the property to Schnucks, Mr. Behymer was not just content to take his share of the profits and smile all the way to the bank.

He asks: “Who in their right mind didn’t think that property would be sold for its highest and best use? That is commercial?” The planning and zoning committee obviously did not think so when they recommended to the Board of Aldermen that the zoning remain residential as per the most recently revised Ballwin comprehensive municipal plan.

His statements that the property was “obviously” going to go commercial are bogus and only reflect the greed of those of you who sold it after allowing it to lay vacant for well over a year, unmaintained and unsecured, but for the deer which grazed there.

I, too, sat in all the meetings and heard no pharmacy concerns, only concerns about the safety of student drivers and students for whom the store would be a magnet for snacks and drinks on school days and weekend activity days and evenings.

The store was opposed not only by nearby residents of Ballwin, Clarkson Valley, Chesterfield, and Wildwood, but also by Ballwin residents living south of Manchester Road, whose children would be attending Marquette High School. This is the closest commercial property to any high school or grade school in all of the Rockwood School District and Parkway Central, West and South high schools.

If the property was for sale as a residential piece of property, it was never posted as such.

Mr. Behymer’s query to the cities of Clarkson Valley and Chesterfield as to why they didn’t funnel monies to Ballwin to offset the coffers depleted [not the case] by the exodus of Manchester Road businesses is almost laughable.

Ballwin businessmen for years battled the BOA for more appealing improvements and permission to use signage along Manchester Road and were continually denied.

Did we support the Ballwin businesses in the past? A resounding “Yes we did!”

It would be interesting to note how much of the revenue derived from this store is offset by the exodus of the hundreds of us who formerly shopped in Ballwin numerous times per week.

In years past, did the city of Chesterfield take into consideration the request from the Ballwin BOA not to rezone the northeast corner of the same intersection, which is in Chesterfield, to commercial? Yes, they did!

For you, Mr. Behymer, of all people, to even begin to voice your opinion about the desire for the property to remain residential, or about present day complaints, is ludicrous, on several levels.

Demmy Steppe

Chesterfield