Wright City’s mayor and a city alderman had a heated exchange with the attorney for the Warren County government last Thursday over the issue of storage facility regulations in the county.

Mayor Michelle Heiliger and Wright City’s four aldermen are calling on the county government to put new approval requirements in place for commercial storage facilities. Right now, storage facilities in unincorporated areas of the county only require a simple building permit, which is relatively easy to acquire.

Mayor Heiliger presented the topic on March 26 to the Warren County planning and zoning board, a group of appointed citizens who advise the Warren County Commission on such issues. Wright City is asking the county government to institute public hearings and a more rigorous permitting process for approving storage facilities on agricultural land, Heiliger said. 

That change would impact the vast majority of land where storage facilities are being built, giving surrounding community members a chance to express concerns and ask for specific conditions in order for a facility to be approved.

Heiliger presented the board with a petition from more than 500 area residents who she said are upset with the current lack of regulations on the construction of new storage facilities. She explained that the Wright City government became concerned when the county issued building permits for a storage facility just outside city limits, across the street from a city neighborhood and the Wright City Middle School.

Heiliger told the county planning board that the petition isn’t asking to ban storage facilities; it’s just asking for an extra step for people to voice their concerns before approval.

“What we would like is for you to change the ordinance to require a conditional use permit so that ... the people who live around it can have a voice. That, to us, is what’s important,” Heiliger commented. “We need to be good neighbors.”

Before members of the planning board could respond, County Attorney Mark Vincent interjected to tell Heiliger that county representatives have been working on a comprehensive revision of Warren County’s planning and zoning codes since last year. Members of the public will be invited to speak at hearings once those revisions are more fully developed, Vincent commented.

Vincent also noted that the county previously required a conditional use permit and public hearings for storage facilities, but lifted that requirement within the last five years. Nobody came to the hearings for those changes, Vincent said.

Well, Wright City’s representatives are here now, Heiliger said, and they are asking for a simple ordinance change, not a long, cumbersome process.

“We’re not willing to wait until you go through an entire comprehensive plan,” Heiliger stated. “We could be sitting here years from now, and you’d still be saying ‘Sorry, there’s 27 more storage units right across from your school, and there’s nothing we can do about it.’ I don’t believe that. ... We need to be better partners and better neighbors.”

This exchange between Heiliger and Vincent became argumentative several times. Eventually, Alderman Ramiz Hakim stood up to add a comment, at which point Vincent tried unsuccessfully to dismiss him and said that only Mayor Heiliger would be allowed to speak. Hakim pointedly replied that Vincent is employed to advise the county planning and zoning board, not to speak for them.

This became a prolonged argument in which Hakim refused to take no for an answer, persistently addressing the planning board while Vincent talked over him, until Hakim finally won out.

“We sat here very patiently for two hours so we could have this conversation, not with (Vincent), but with (the board),” Hakim stated, referring to multiple hours of other discussions that night before this one.

“Then I might as well go home,” Vincent replied flatly. And the attorney gathered his documents and left the building.

With that exchange done, Hakim first apologized to the planning board for the unpleasantness. He then pointed out that during this same meeting on March 16, the planning board held permit hearings for things as small as a lighted business sign and as large as a new subdivision. Why shouldn’t a commercial storage facility get the same scrutiny, Hakim asked.

“If somebody wants to put up storage units, just give the people around it a chance to say ‘Can we make sure there’s no light that’s gonna keep me up all night? Can we make sure that there’s no barbed wire that’s backing up to my back yard? Can we put in a few trees?’” Hakim elaborated. “These are fair accommodations to ask for such a large development. ... I think you would want that (hearing) if it was adjacent to your property.”

Members of the planning and zoning board, for their part, didn’t have much to say about the topic. However, board member Brian Nothstine said he was totally unaware that the county didn’t require these types of permits for storage facilities.

“I was amazed to find out there was no CUP required,” Nothstine commented. “Thank you for caring.”

No action was taken on the subject of requiring conditional use permits for storage facilities. City officials commented afterward that they will continue pressing the county government on the topic.