Republic council votes to curb visual pollution

Fencing regulations in Republic just got more stringent for a handful of people following a passing vote by the Republic City Council at the Nov. 5 council meeting.
The council voted in favor of amendments to city code regarding the regulation of surfacing and screening requirements for the parking of wrecked or inoperable vehicles awaiting repair. The adopted change prohibits the use of the front yard for the storage of materials, equipment or tractor trailers on gravel or crushed stone.
The amendment clarifies the location and type of vehicles that may park on areas of gravel or crushed stone. Additionally, the amendment requires screening of parking areas allowed by original code.
Also, the amendment better defines front yards by removing language requiring the front yard to be parallel to the street with the least dimension and providing direction on defining the front yard on corner lots, multi-frontage lots, or where the front yard is otherwise unclear.
Current situations that may be prohibited under the new codes will be grandfathered in, and the new codes will not apply.
The new amendments passed on a 5-2 vote with council members Gerry Pool and Eric Franklin dissenting. Council member John Jones was not present for the meeting.
Other action...
In other action, the council voted 7-0 in favor of applying for a federal TAP grant for potentially constructing a pedestrian trail connecting the Shuyler Creek Trail to Wilson’s Creek Battlefield. The cost of the trail’s construction would come in at $838,000, and would have a 35 percent match.
Citizen participation...
In the early moments of the meeting, University of Missouri Extension specialist David Burton spoke to the council during citizen participation about National Good Neighbor Day. In an effort to better analyze neighbors in Republic, Burton sent out nearly 8,000 postcard surveys to Republic residents in September. Results of the survey are still pending.