MASCOUTAH, Ill. (AP) — Businessman Hossein Shahpari has a plan that could bring up to 200 jobs to a nearly empty warehouse a little north of Mascoutah’s downtown.
His plan is to launch an indoor bazaar in the long-vacant Purina Mills coupon-redemption center. Shahpari bought the empty 73,000-square-foot building for $1.2 million in 2005.
The bazaar would be unique to the St. Louis region – a one-of-a-kind destination providing a weekend home to scores of vendors catering to dozens of ethnic communities, he said. It would also house a bank, a nail salon, a karate studio, and a food court, as well provide a venue for many types of music.
Shahpari has been trying to realize this vision for nearly a year, but has so far hit a wall based on a fact of geography: The warehouse sits under the glidepath of airplanes landing at nearby Scott Air Force Base.
As a result, Scott officials have objected to Shahpari’s bazaar plans. Their reason: Air Force rules ban businesses that attract large numbers of people from being located near air base runways. Such enterprises pose too great a hazard to public safety in the event of an airplane crash, according to the Air Force’s Joint Land Use Study regulations, or JLUS.
Eager to stay on the right side of Scott – the region’s biggest employer with a nearly $2 billion impact on the local economy – Mascoutah officials have so far denied Shahpari the permits he needs for opening his bazaar.
Even so, Shahpari said he doesn’t understand the rationale for Mascoutah’s refusal to allow him to open his bazaar in the building, the bank mortgage for which is costing him $20,000 per month.
“Why are they enforcing such a stupid thing on me, a small guy in the middle of nowhere?” Shahpari said. “And I’m only going to be operating this during the weekend. … I have been trying to work with them any possible way I can.”
Shahpari expects to get a chance to plead his case later this month before two separate bodies: The Mascoutah Planning Commission, and the newly formed Regional Advisory Board, an entity consisting of representatives from Mascoutah, Shiloh, O’Fallon and Lebanon. Also attending in an ex-officio capacity are representatives from Scott and St. Clair County.
Shahpari’s petition will be the first case taken up by the advisory board, which was formed to avert the crossed wires that led Mascoutah leaders in 2005 to allow the Caseyville Rifle and Pistol Club to move to a site in Mascoutah near the glidepath of Scott aircraft.
The Mascoutah City Council gave its OK to the gun club’s relocation despite objections from the Air Force and St. Clair County. Since 2007, the county – citing public safety concerns – and gun club leaders have been embroiled in a legal battle that has cost both sides nearly $750,000 in legal fees and spawned multiple lawsuits and appeals.
Elliot Liebson, Mascoutah’s economic development director, said the point of the board is to “get another level of review. To give another opportunity for Mr. Shahpari in making his case. And that’s the long and the short of it.”
What rankles Shahpari about his problems with Mascoutah is the fact that Adam Hill, the village economic development director in 2004, had approached him about buying the warehouse. Hill had pledged his support in finding tenants for Shahpari, he said.
“He told me they would help me find a tenant because they do not want to see this white elephant sit vacant,” said Shahpari, an Iranian immigrant who ran a successful car parts business in St. Louis.
Hill, who has since left the city of Mascoutah, could not be reached for comment.
Published reports indicate that Hill is an executive with Praxis Development LLC, a firm owned by a California developer.
That same developer five years ago had induced the Caseyville gun club to move to Mascoutah to make way for a 600-home development in Caseyville. That project has so far stalled with no houses yet built.
Liebson promised that Shahpari’s case will be reviewed thoroughly before the City Council makes a decision.
“And what we will do after their review is look at all aspects of the situation and than make a decision,” he said.
For his part, Shahpari wondered whether Mascoutah leaders will give a fair hearing.
“They are so scared of Scott Air Force Base, I am afraid I will be ‘dozed,” he said. “I’m not here to pick a fight with anybody. I just want to create jobs.”
Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
