Walmart Permit Revocation Postponed Indefinitely

An overflow crowd at the Ellisville City Council meeting Wednesday night was there for one reason--a belief that a hearing would be continued from last week regarding the revocation of a conditional use permit for the proposed Walmart project planned for Manchester Road.

But the audience was surprised when the council announced that the proceedings would not be held after a "mutual agreement between legal parties."

Representatives of The Sansone Group, Walmart's developer for the project, contested last week's hearing. They were not present Wednesday night. Council members still took public comment for more than an hour from residents, business owners and property owners who spoke for and against the project.

After the meeting, Mayor Adam Paul said the delay came as the received word from Walmart that it had withdrawn authorization for John Hessel, an attorney for Sansone, to represent the company's interests.

Messages seeking comment from Hessel and a Walmart spokeswoman were left late Wednesday night.

Walmart announced in early September that it was walking away from plans to build on Manchester west of Kiefer Creek Road, just as the conditional use permit for the project was to have expired. But last week, Hessel said Walmart had recommitted to the project. For its part, Walmart has not expanded on a statement made to media outlets last week that “it remains interested in being a part of the Ellisville community and better serving our customers."

Still at issue is whether the original conditional use permit issued last fall is still in force. Sansone purchased a few parcels of land and performed some light work on part of the site before Walmart announced it was withdrawing from the project. The developer contested last week's hearing in part on the grounds that Mayor Paul, who has been outspoken in his opposition to the project, could not vote impartially on the status of the permit.

The notion of terminating the city's redevelopment agreement with Sansone related to Walmart, which was to be discussed in a work session Wednesday, was also tabled.