Fall 2022
So many new and exciting things going on in Chesterfield!
Many of these things may have previously been written and many of you are already aware, but progress is now visible. There is vertical development taking place in the residential component of Wildhorse Village, where internal roadways with landscaped medians and streetlights are now visible. It is nice to see this first-rate development take shape!
Running along the creek, just west of this development, is the recently completed Riparian Trail addition, Phase II, that extends the original trail from Lydia Hill northward crossing Wildhorse Creek Road and ending at Old Chesterfield Road. This paved trail is available to pedestrians and cyclists.
Macy’s recently announced their plans to move from Chesterfield Mall to a smaller location in Chesterfield Commons in the Valley. This move is scheduled to take place in the fall and is an important step toward the eventual redevelopment of Chesterfield Mall.
Another new youth sports venue recently broke ground. The 18,000 square foot indoor Chesterfield Sports Complex features competitive basketball and volleyball and is located off South Eatherton near The Crossing Church.
Perfect Game
In June, the City of Chesterfield was happy to announce a new partnership with Perfect Game. The City has signed a ten-year agreement with the largest baseball/softball tournament organizer in the country. Perfect Game events attract college and professional scouts and will host high skill level tournaments for youth from surrounding states, as well as local teams.
Over time, our local leagues have trended to predominantly weekday league games. This allows them to travel and compete in tournaments over the weekends. Now, Chesterfield will be the regional hub for major baseball and softball tournaments. A key component of the agreement is that Chesterfield will install synthetic turf on the infields of 12 additional fields, bringing the total number of turfed infields to 16. This will decrease the number of rainouts and optimize the tournament experience for teams.
Obviously, we are hopeful, and anticipate that the additional out-of-town visitors will be good for local businesses, while contributing to our bottom line. Congratulations to Director Tom McCarthy and Superintendent Kevin Schuh from our Parks Department on negotiating this very important agreement.
Missouri Crisis Hotline
I have copied and pasted the Missori Crisis Hotline information from River Bend Subdivision newsletter as I believe it is relevant today!
Missourians can now dial or text 988 or chat virtually if they are in crisis. The national 988 suicide and crisis lifeline is a 24/7 system designed to better respond to people in crisis and get them the appropriate help as soon as possible.
The hope is that the approach will also take some pressure off law enforcement and hospitals in some instances. The system includes someone to talk to, a team on the ground to respond, and behavioral health crisis centers across the state for people to go to for help.
Link for additional info: https://www.missourinet.com/2022/07/15/missouris-988-crisis-hotline-rollout-someone-to-talk-to-someone-to-respond-somewhere-to-go/.
Resolution To Establish a TIF Commission
On July 25, the Chesterfield City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to establish a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission, for the purpose of addressing the public infrastructure needs in and around the Chesterfield Mall and Wildhorse Village.
This is an important step towards the potential redevelopment of what is now known as Chesterfield Mall. A determination that Chesterfield Mall is economically blighted has been made. The TIF Commission is required to review the proposed redevelopment plan and conduct a public hearing, after which they will make a recommendation to the Chesterfield City Council. If a TIF district is ultimately established, here are some basic facts:
1. No taxing entity would receive less revenue than current levels
2. The property owners/developers continue to pay the full property tax based on assessed value, even as the assessed value increases with development. There is no tax abatement, no deferrals, and no additional consumer tax applied.
3. Only statutorily eligible infrastructure projects could be financed by TIF.
4. If a TIF is established, it will be controlled by City of Chesterfield
5. The City of Chesterfield will not be liable for payments on TIF projects
The economic development tool, Tax Increment Financing (TIF), is an important tool for projects such as Chesterfield Mall. However, for some, TIF has a bad reputation. As with any development tool, they can be misused. But the City of Chesterfield has experience and a track record of successfully using the TIF in Chesterfield Valley. The City is vigilant to ensure that TIF is used to fund public improvements and not to subsidize or incentivize private development. When used properly and responsibly used, it can be an enormously valuable economic tool that can not only benefit our community, but our entire region. As an example, the Chesterfield Valley TIF that was created after the flood of 1993 was paid off 10 years early and now provides enormous revenues to the school districts and all the taxing entities.
I am sure there will be a lot more information coming out in future months.
Cordially,
Mayor Bob Nation