ST. LOUIS — The fate of a gas station in the Peabody-Darst-Webbe neighborhood near Downtown St. Louis was contemplated during an hours-long Board of Adjustment meeting on Wednesday.
For a decade, the BP gas station at 1401 Chouteau Ave has been considered a “nuisance” property, an officer pointed out during the conversation on Zoom.
The gas station was robbed at gunpoint twice in July. A month before that, a 12-year-old girl was shot while buying something from the store. In December, a man was killed over a stolen car. St. Louis Police sent 5 On Your Side an extensive list of calls for service at the property.
"We have fights, assaults, disturbances, stealing, property damage, shootings— so, all these calls are a nuisance to the city,” an officer said during the meeting.
Zoning inspectors cited violations including the store selling items intended for use as drug paraphernalia and improper signage, all things that could lead to a business's license being revoked.
Gas stations across St. Louis have been a magnet for crime, sometimes deadly.
5 On Your Side talked to one of three of the owners of the Near Southside property who did not want to be identified for safety reasons.
He said he had worked with the city to remove an ATM and phone recently.
"I feel very sad because I owned this business from 2006, and I pay a lot of taxes,” he said.
The gas station is anchored directly across from the Clinton-Peabody Apartments which has also seen its share of crime.
The owner made it clear that the trouble on their property stemmed from issues at the public housing complex and those visiting the gas station.
“We get some shootings to come from across the street— not from my lot,” he said.
Neighbors echoed that it was not the business that should be faulted.
“It is people going to the gas station. It's once they go to the gas station; if somebody sees them then they are going to shoot at them. That's what's been happening,” said Nicola Kea.
Kea, who has lived in the neighborhood for several years, noted that a police presence is what keeps crime down near the area. She said the “atmosphere had been completely different” when an officer was on the lot for a short time.
“If we don't operate right, we try to do the best: Work with the city. Anything they need, we can do,” the owner said
The owner we spoke to and his two partners gave testimony to the board, highlighting the roots and relationships they have built in the community in the last two decades.
The meeting ended with the property owners’ attorney asking for a continuance, saying he had just learned of the case in the last 48 hours.
If the continuance is approved, there could be another follow-up investigation by the acting zoning inspector.
St. Louis police said, during their weekly briefing earlier in the day that the property was a part of their patrol plan and on their radar to crack down on crime at local gas stations.