Residents in the Riss Lake area in Parkville are up in arms about what they consider dangerous eyesores in their community – utility cabinets.
At the Tuesday, March 5 meeting of the Parkville Board of Aldermen, Alderman Brian Whitley addressed the issue. A paper petition has been circulated, urging the city to intervene, but by law the city’s options are limited.
“My understanding is that there’s limited authority in the permitting process with respect to public utilities, especially when it comes to rights of way,” Whitley said.
Residents complain the cabinets are large, unsightly, impact quality of life, restrict sight lines on roads and kill trees in the area of the box. They complain there is no direct way to contact the utilities to voice their concerns.
Whitley said a meeting with state Rep. Jamie Johnson had been scheduled to discuss possible state regulation changes to notifications and options for utility cabinet size and placement.
In 2022, the city did propose guidelines and restrictions on permitting for boxes larger than nine square feet or taller than three feet, requiring the utility to hold a public meeting.
“The idea behind this was to force a conversation between the utility and the public, so the public can be engaged,” Whitley said. “Not that the city can really change things from my understanding of the Missouri statutes.”
The hope was to perhaps tweak the locations of such boxes to better fit the neighbors’ expectations.
“There has to be something we can do to facilitate a meeting between the utilities and the public,” Whitley said.
John Mautino, city attorney, said utilities often want the public involved in larger projects.
The 2022 ordinance, he said, was intended to provide notice of work about to occur and less about notification during the initial planning process. He said it could be investigated to adjust code to encourage utilities to contact residents in affected areas of upcoming plans.
“I don’t think you’ll get much pushback,” Mautino said.
“When they’re out pouring concrete, it’s too late,” Whitley said, pressing for a way to the public to be involved in the preliminary planning process.
City administrator Alexa Barton said she understands the residents’ complaints, as she wouldn’t want to have to look at those boxes herself, but she has concerns.
“The concern that I have is the element of putting the city in the middle of this to try to govern what a public utility – who we have no authority over – does,” Barton said. “To try to govern them and require a public meeting that they could thumb their nose at and then where does that leave us?”
Whitley said he understands Barton’s desire to protect the city, but he also represents the people of his ward.
“It feels unfair – and I know life is unfair – but it feels unfair the leverage state law has in this,” Whitley said.
Alderman Philip Wassmer said he is unsure of the city’s role in this dispute, and questioned if it was not the personal responsibility of the homeowners impacted to pursue a conversation with the utilities.
Riss Lake resident Robert Unger spoke to the board about the matter. Six large cabinets have been installed, measuring six feet by four feet and more than three feet tall. He said previously, the largest boxes were three-by-three-by-three, which could be covered by landscaping. Now, he said, the boxes are impossible to hide.
He said the project would not be considered large by most standards but the impact of the size of the boxes is significant.