QuikTrip Referendum Pushes Forward With More Signatures

Days after petitioners were notified that they were 79 signatures short of forcing a referendum on the potential QuikTrip redevelopment, they turned in more than 200 signatures to Maplewood City Hall. 

On Tuesday afternoon, City Manager Marty Corcoran confirmed that city officials had received the signatures and had delivered them to the St. Louis County Board of Elections for verification. 

The petition process began after Maplewood City Council voted on Nov. 27 to allow QuikTrip to move its Maplewood store from the current location on Big Bend Boulevard to the northwest corner of Big Bend and Manchester Road.

The approval drew scrutiny from the Maplewood Richmond Heights Board of Education and several families within the school district, who say they fear a redevelopment would cause increased traffic while reducing safety for students who are walking to the high school and middle school building, which is located next to the site. 

If petitioners collect the necessary 1,038 valid signatures, then council members will be required to re-vote on the QuikTrip redevelopment. If the measure passes a second time, then it will be placed before the voters in the April 2013 election. 

Tonya Powell, a Maplewood resident and parent in the district, has been a lead petitioner. She notified Patch on Monday that they submitted an additional 233 signatures this week. 

The petition originally had contained some invalid signatures because they came from people who weren't registered voters or they weren't registered within Maplewood, Powell previously told Patch. 

More on QuikTrip in Patch:

• Petition Opposing QuikTrip Move Turned In to City Hall on Thursday
• Councilman Barry Greenberg: QuikTrip Move Would "Benefit the City and Citizens"

You can follow Ryan Martin on Twitter at @ryanmartin87 and Maplewood-Brentwood Patch at@MBPatch.