COUNCIL GRANTS GO-CART FACILITY PERMIT DESPITE OPPOSITION

The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday granted a special-use permit for a "go-cart amusement facility" at the intersection of Lexington and Kingshighway, despite objections from residents of a nearby subdivision.

The permit was requested by Vernon and Carole Rhodes, who own the 2.6-acre commercial tract that's been proposed for the go-cart track.

James McHaney, a Cape Girardeau attorney who handled the application, said the go-cart track would be a family-oriented attraction for the city.

He said the track will be carefully landscaped and an asset for the city and the neighborhood.

"This is a $250,000 go-cart park," McHaney said. "It's a park-like facility and would be advantageous as opposed to a commercial building for this lot."

But residents who live on Horseshoe Ridge, which lies about than 3,100 feet from the proposed development, opposed the track.

Cheryl Ritter, 2425 Horseshoe, said she was concerned about a traffic increase near the Kingshighway-Mt. Auburn intersection and that the project would be an eyesore for residents of her subdivision.

"The area this is going to be situated in, right behind there, are families with children," Ritter said. "I'm adamantly opposed to this."

Another neighbor said they thought the track would be too noisy and might devalue their property.

But McHaney said the track would not add to the noise already emitting from the busy intersection.

James Reed, who operates a track in Batesville, Ark., and would run the Cape Girardeau track, said typical go-cart track patrons are families -- fathers riding with their children.

Reed agreed to plant a "green buffer zone" of shrubs to the property's north and east side to help absorb any possible noise.

Councilman Melvin Gateley made a motion to table the matter until the council could hear more from neighbors.

But the motion died without a second. After City Planner Kent Bratton reported that more than one-half mile of property separates the tract from Horseshoe Ridge, the council approved the special-use permit with the stipulation that Reed include the buffer zone.

In other business, the council agreed to apply for a $760,000 state Community Development Block Grant for southeast Cape Girardeau, near the planned relocation of Highway 74.

The grant application is identical to one the city submitted last year, but was unfunded.

The money would be used to provide up to $14,000 per unit in low-income housing rehabilitation, and street and water line improvements.

The council also agreed to make a $434,000 supplemental budget appropriation to compensate for unbudgeted city costs.

The biggest portion of the costs derive from the city's efforts to fight this summer's record flood.

Of the $434,000, $332,000 will come from the current year's general fund revenues. Growth in the city's sales tax revenue will cover the amount.

Total flood-related expenditures were $431,800, of which the Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursed the city $316,500.

Flood-related overtime and third-party payments in the appropriation request total $233,840. City Finance Director John Richbourg has said the total appropriation request amounts to 1.25 percent of the total budget.

In other business, the council approved:

-- A $6,000 contribution for the Small Business Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

-- The request of Richard and Joan Eggimann to rezone three lots in Timberlane Subdivision from single-family residential to local commercial district.

-- The request of Jeff and Paula Jackson and Bill and Brenda Bowen for a special-use permit to use a garage for commercial storage at 2710 Hawthorne Drive in an R-2, single-family residential district.

-- The request of G. Keith Deimund for a special-use permit to build condominiums at Mt. Auburn Subdivision on Beavercreek Drive in a multiple-family residential district.

-- The request of David and Cindy Patrick to relocate a home at 1809 N. Kingshighway and build an addition to a commercial building on the lot.