North City BP to close, staff to undergo conflict training after nuisance hearing

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - A gas station in North City is forced to close its doors temporarily and follow other orders after a nuisance hearing Wednesday.

“It needs to go,” Karen Greer, who owns a business down the road from the BP, said. “It brings nothing to the community but issues.”

The BP on West Florissant and Adelaide has been a problem property for years, according to neighbors. First Alert 4 has covered several incidents at the business, and St. Louis Metropolitan Police said they’ve responded to 826 calls for service to the BP’s address, 4126 W. Florissant Ave., since the beginning of 2018 and 49 calls so far in 2023.

An attorney contracted by the city, Tom Yarbrough of The Yarbrough Law Firm, was set to hear testimony from residents both for and against the BP Wednesday morning, however, people who live in the area told First Alert 4 they were left without a voice after waiting nearly two hours to learn the city’s attorney, Sue Phelps, and the attorney for the BP owner, Daniel Batten, made a decision for them through a consent agreement.

The consent agreement includes 5 conditions imposed on the business:

1. The property owner will hire security from an *approved list of contracted officers from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. That list will come from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police.
2. All property code and maintenance violations will be addressed and remedied within 60 days of notice.
3. The business is ordered to close for seven consecutive days beginning 12 a.m. Nov. 19 to 5 a.m. Nov. 26.
4. The business owner and staff will attend conflict coaching and training through the St. Louis Conflict Resolution Center within 60 days of the consent agreement.
5. The sale of single-serve cigarettes and over-the-counter medications outside of their original packaging will be prohibited.

Alderwoman for Ward 11 Laura Keys was in attendance Wednesday. She said the agreement proves that illegal things have been taking place behind closed doors.

“You wouldn’t have to agree to not sell drug paraphernalia if you weren’t selling drug paraphernalia,” Keys said. “So, we know we got a problem.”

Neighbors said ordering the gas station to close its doors for a week doesn’t make up for the years they spent putting up with it.

“I am the only business owner on that block along with the gas station, and as long as I’ve been a business owner since 2003, I have been plagued with the results of the loitering and the crime that has been around that gas station and at that gas station,” Greer said.

St. Louis Department of Public Safety officials told First Alert 4 after the hearing that reaching a settlement is a win, and this conflict could have lasted much longer.

An attorney for BP declined to speak with First Alert 4.

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