Mile 277 Sand Volleyball Court Proposition Meets Opposition

is approaching its one-year anniversary, and co-owner Keith Rhodes plans to expand the facility in year two with a first-class sand volleyball facility. However, first he must reach a compromise with several tenants of the neighboring Sunset Hills Office Park.

Rhodes, along with Civil Engineer Brandon Harp, conveyed the expansion plans to the Sunset Hills Planning and Zoning Commission recently. Nine members of the office park came to the meeting to speak in opposition, citing several concerns.

“There is a shortage of courts in the St. Louis area,” Rhodes said. “I brought up the idea with the mayor and some aldermen and the response was positive, however within the last 48 hours, there have been a lot of concerns raised.”

One of the concerns was music at the “Spikes and Spokes” volleyball court. Rhodes said that the court itself is not a music venue.

“We have music within the walls of Mile 277. There will be background music—the loudest noise coming from the courts will be the whistles of the referees,” he said.

Other concerns were road access onto Sunset Office Drive and, most notably, parking. The courts would realistically share spots with the office park, Mile 277 itself and the adjacent . Harp developed a secondary site plan with reduced patio space, noting that parking required for the facility is 30 spaces. With the secondary plan, the parking lot would have 49 spaces, above what is required for the complex.

Rhodes noted that expected hours would be after 5 p.m. on weekdays and varied weekend play. The typical volleyball season is mid-April to mid-October. He said that litter would not be an issue.

“Anyone who has been in Mile 277 knows that our standard of cleanliness is second to none,” he said. “We are going to have the same cleanliness and quality—a first-class, first-rate facility, which will be very park like and the best volleyball facility in the state of Missouri.”

James Fredericks, a lawyer representing the Lutheran Church Extension Fund located in the office park, was the first to speak in opposition.

“I like volleyball; I play volleyball. Is this a great place for a volleyball court? My client says no,” Fredericks said. “Once you allow for a volleyball court to go into that location it’s set in stone.”

Fredericks continued saying that his client claims the volleyball court would be a nuisance with litter, noise, binge drinking, fighting and more traffic.

“We all know that Sunset Office Park is a premier office park. It’s extraordinarily respected. It was designed as an office park. The volleyball court is nothing more than an extension of the bar. The office park does not want a bar in the middle of the office park,” Fredericks said. “The applicant said there would be soft music. My client does not believe that.”

Assistant Vice President of the Lutheran Church Extension, Elizabeth Meyer, said that 15 out of 17 tenants that she represents were against the volleyball court.

“Concordia University will be moving in May 1, and they will be having evening classes,” Meyer said. “Last summer when Mile 277 had events we had an overflow of 25-30 cars in our parking lot, so parking there will be a problem.”

Bruce Brophy with the Lutheran Church agreed that the concept of the volleyball court is great; it just isn’t the right location.

“The site is only a few feet from the office park sign. The image of this park is right at the entrance coming in,” he said. “I know there are other issues, but it’s truly going to impact the value of the property in the long run.”

Holiday Inn, which entered into receivership last month, also had representatives on hand. Amy Dill, who represents the receiver for the Holiday Inn Property, said that she did not know a lot about the court proposal. She asked that the commission grant additional time to evaluate the impact on the property as a whole, considering her company just took over the hotel 3 ½ weeks ago.

“We are happy to have Mile 277 as a tenant. However, part of the parking is actually on Holiday Inn property, so obviously that would impact Holiday Inn business. I’m not saying right now we are against it, but I would prefer a vote not be taken until we have the opportunity to investigate,” she said.

Rhodes agreed to postponing the vote, stating that he thinks most of the concerns are due to miscommunication.

“Tonight we are not asking for a vote on this project. Instead our plan is to host an informational meeting and invite all the surrounding neighbors to that meeting and answer any questions that they have and make an attempt to make reasonable adjustments,” he said.

The vote was tabled until the April Planning and Zoning meeting.