Park Hills Council amends wild animal ordinance

By PAULA BARR
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Updated: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 10:21 AM CST

Some monkeys in town are okay, Park Hills City Council decided Tuesday night.

The Council amended its recent wild animal ordinance to allow nonhuman primates 40 pounds or less to live within city limits. Ward III Councilman Tom Reed asked for the amendment to the ban on most wild or exotic animals that the Council passed last month.

“We have a lot of small monkeys living in town,” Reed said. “I was surprised.”

The amendment does not affect the ban on large primates such as baboons, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. If a monkey grows to 41 pounds or more, it no longer may legally be kept in city limits.

The same thing goes for snakes that grow more than eight feet in length.

The amendment passed 7-1, with Ward III Councilman Charlotte House opposing the plan.

“We don’t need any monkeys in town,” House said after the meeting. “And who’s going to regulate it if they get overweight?”

The Council, which generally votes in agreement on issues, split on two other votes. Ward I Councilman Mike Glore opposed an ordinance vacating the unimproved portion of Locust Street, saying he did not see the need to do so. The ordinance passed 7-1.

The biggest disagreement came in a 5-3 vote on a request to amend the municipal code relating to liquor licenses. The request stemmed from a plan by the East Missouri Action Agency (EMAA) to open a restaurant in the former Rattini’s restaurant location in downtown Park Hills. EMAA wants to lease the bar operation to an individual, so the agency would not have to handle liquor sales.

Under the initial ordinance affecting downtown area businesses, the restaurant and bar would have to be run by the same entity in order to sell alcoholic drinks.

The amendment allows for separate ownership of the restaurant and bar operations, as long as at least 50 percent of the sales are food sales and the bar only operates during the hours the restaurant is open. The liquor license would be for malt liquor and light wines by the drink.

Reed questioned whether the amendment would limit the ability of other downtown area businesses to sell liquor. City Administrator John Kennedy pointed out that only businesses where 50 percent or more of sales was food sales would be eligible. The amendment still would not allow taverns in the downtown area, he added.

Reed, House and Ward I Councilman Jeff Cunningham voted against the amendment, which was passed.

There were no comments from the public during three annexation hearings and three zoning classification hearings. About a dozen people had attended the meeting, most of whom opposed a zoning classification request for property at 1008 Missouri Street. However, the issue was tabled before anyone could address the Council.

The request is to change a parcel to general residential zoning and one parcel to commercial. Both parcels currently are zoned for single-family residences.

City Attorney Ed Pultz asked the Council to table the issue.

“Some procedural issues have come up and I need time to go over this,” Pultz said of the proposed change.  “I want to be sure we’re doing this right.”

The Council voted to table the hearing until 7 p.m. Jan. 13. Mayor John Clark told the crowd that the city will send letters of notification as reminders.

“If you came for (the hearing), I apologize,” he added.

During the meeting, Kennedy reported that the first three months of this fiscal year has seen a record in sales tax revenues, for a total of $175,000.

“This is the best three months ever, and it is 11 percent higher than our previous best year — about four years ago,” he explained. “At this point, we are not seeing the effects of this recession.”

In other business, the Council unanimously agreed to pass the following:

• A request to rezone property owned by Gary and Clara Busenbark from single-family residential to general residential and an ordinance dealing with that request

• An ordinance to allow the mayor to hire Boyer and Associates for auditing services for the city

• The hiring of Neubrand, Baranovic and Co. to provide accounting services

• Amendment of city codes to require bonding and permits from contractors and sub contractors who do street and sidewalk work (except for city crews and utility companies that do their own work)

• Changes in wording to bring a harassment ordinance in line with state law

• A plan to apply for funds through the Land and Water Conservation Fund to build a trail in Haney Park

• A resolution to endorse a Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission paper calling for the exclusion of St. Francois County from the St. Louis air-quality non-attainment area regarding ground level ozone standards. The paper is in response to new Environmental Protection Agency standards for ground level ozone standards that addresses the potential for higher than acceptable ozone levels. It suggests that ozone levels in St. Francois County are low enough that air quality is acceptable, and should continue to be considered an air quality attainment area.

Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.

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