BELLE — City of Belle records, subdivision documents, property records, photographs and statements from neighboring residents raise questions about the scope of a 2023 variance granted to former alderman Tony Gieck. The variance allowed for a logging operation at 203 Lehnhoff Drive, but has since led to questions about the use of heavy commercial vehicles on the roadway and the city’s position that Lehnhoff Drive is private, despite documented municipal maintenance and traffic regulation of the road.

Ordinance No. 620, approved July 11, 2023, rezoned the property at 203 Lehnhoff Drive, identified as Lot 21, from R-1 Residential to B-1 Business “with a variance for one logging truck.”

The ordinance does not mention a trailer, additional logging equipment, farm equipment, supporting buildings or other machinery as part of the variance.

A photograph provided to The Maries County Advocate appeared to show a logging truck with a trailer attached and loaded with logs at or near the property.

A subsequent photo taken by The Advocate shows a semi-truck attached to a trailer, a separate trailer, a combine, a detached loader bucket by the roadway, a farm/utility tractor fitted with a front-end loader, and a recently completed structure that appears to be a large metal agricultural shop or equipment storage building.

Since the property is located within Belle’s R-1 Residential District, the outdoor storage and apparent use of large agricultural and commercial equipment raises potential compliance issues under Chapter 405 of the Belle City Code. Section 405.080 establishes the general zoning requirement that land and buildings must be used in accordance with the regulations of the district in which they are located. Section 405.090 then limits property in the R-1 district to specifically authorized residential and related uses. Agricultural operations, equipment-storage yards and similar commercial or agricultural uses are not among the uses listed for that district. Belle’s zoning code separately provides districts for agricultural and business uses, clearly showing that those activities are regulated differently from ordinary residential use.

Belle’s nuisance ordinances may also apply depending on how the property and equipment are being used and maintained. Section 215.010 addresses nuisances affecting health and includes provisions concerning outdoor storage and other conditions that may be considered detrimental to health, safety or the surrounding area. Taken together, the zoning and nuisance provisions mean that, if the property is confirmed to be R-1 and no lawful nonconforming use, variance or other approval applies, the continued outdoor storage and use of this type of equipment may be subject to enforcement under both Belle’s zoning and nuisance codes.

The photograph does not, by itself, establish ownership, vehicle weight, frequency of use or whether the farming equipment, truck and trailers fall outside the approval granted by the city. It does, however, raise questions about how city officials interpret the phrase “one logging truck” and whether equipment currently associated with the operation extends beyond what was expressly authorized under that new ordinance.

The zoning issue began earlier in 2023.

Belle held a public hearing April 11, 2023, concerning a request to rezone 203 Lehnhoff Drive from R-1 Residential to B-1 Business.

At the regular board of aldermen meeting later that day, the proposed rezoning was discussed but no action was taken. The matter was postponed and the board voted to appoint a Board of Adjustment.

At a special meeting April 17, 2023, Paulette Fricke, Gieck’s immediate neighbor, expressed concerns regarding the proposed rezoning of the property, according to city minutes.

On May 11, 2023, the matter went before the Belle Board of Adjustment.

The agenda described the issue as the proposed rezoning of 203 Lehnhoff Drive from R-1 to B-1. The minutes, however, described the matter as a variance involving “Lot #21 – 203 Lehnhoff Dr.” from residential to commercial “with variance for one truck.”

According to the minutes, Jeanette Struemph, Arlin Ellis, Terry Connors and Barb Howarth voted in favor of the motion. James (Pudd) Mitchell abstained. The minutes state that four affirmative votes were required and that the motion passed.

The formal zoning change followed the passing of Ordinance No. 620 on July 11, 2023, when the aldermen approved it.

The ordinance specifically described the approval as B-1 Business zoning “with a variance for one logging truck.” The records reviewed by The Advocate do not identify a trailer, additional logging equipment or other machinery as being included in that variance.

Commercial development concerns continue

Commercial development along Lehnhoff Drive has remained an issue before city officials.

At a May 13 Planning and Zoning meeting, Gieck sought another rezoning involving property near Lehnhoff Drive, this time for a proposed storage-unit and covered RV and camper facility.

Discussion during the meeting indicated the proposal could include approximately 40 storage units and space for roughly eight RVs or campers.

Nearby residents again raised concerns about traffic, lighting, noise, security and potential impacts on surrounding property values.

Fricke questioned additional traffic entering near existing homes, while Planning and Zoning members and residents discussed possible conditions including restricted access hours, motion-activated lighting, landscaping buffers and relocating the proposed entrance farther from neighboring homes.

Planning and Zoning members emphasized that the proposal remained preliminary and would still have to proceed through the city’s normal rezoning process, including a public hearing and eventual consideration by the board of aldermen.

The 2026 proposal is separate from the 2023 action involving the logging operation at 203 Lehnhoff Drive, but it has renewed concerns over commercial traffic and development along the same roadway.

City maintains, regulates Lehnhoff Drive despite private-road position

The status of Lehnhoff Drive itself has also become part of the dispute.

According to Mayor James (Pudd) Mitchell, Lehnhoff Drive is a private road because the city never formally accepted it as a municipal street.

City records, however, document municipal maintenance and traffic regulation involving Lehnhoff Drive.

At its Sept. 13, 2022 meeting, the board approved a $15,830 bid from Pierce Asphalt to patch areas of Lehnhoff Drive and Apple Avenue. A subsequent report stated the project included approximately 4,200 square feet of patching on the two roads.

Belle’s official schedule two of stop signs also specifically lists “Lehnhoff Drive westbound at Highway 28” as a stop-controlled intersection.

Missouri law requires a driver entering a highway from a private road or driveway to yield to traffic on the highway being entered. The same statute also authorizes state highway authorities and local authorities to designate stop-controlled intersections on roads within their respective jurisdictions.

The city’s designation of the Lehnhoff Drive and Highway 28 intersection as stop-controlled therefore does not by itself establish that Lehnhoff Drive is a public street. A driver entering Highway 28 from a private road would still have a statutory duty to yield, but not necessarily stop.

It does, however, show that Belle formally included the Lehnhoff Drive intersection in its municipal traffic-control regulations.

A separate speed limit sign is also posted along Lehnhoff Drive.

Belle’s municipal code contains a Schedule 1 for speed limits, while Schedule 2 governs stop signs. The presence of the speed limit sign does not by itself establish whether the city installed it or whether Lehnhoff Drive is publicly owned. Determining its significance would require establishing who authorized or installed the sign and under what authority.

Missouri law also provides that official traffic-control devices placed in approximate conformity with legal requirements are presumed to have been placed by lawful authority unless competent evidence establishes otherwise.

The city’s maintenance expenditures and inclusion of Lehnhoff Drive in its official stop-sign schedule do not, standing alone, establish municipal ownership of the roadway or prove that it was formally accepted as a city street.

They do, however, document that Belle has spent municipal funds maintaining Lehnhoff Drive and formally incorporated its intersection with Highway 28 into the city’s traffic-control regulations.

That creates an apparent tension with the city’s position that Lehnhoff Drive remains a private road because it was never formally accepted.

Heavy-truck restrictions add another issue

Belle city code separately regulates heavy commercial traffic.

Section 365.080 states that trucks or commercial vehicles licensed in excess of 24,000 pounds may not be driven on city streets except Route 28, Route 89, Route EE and Route M.

The ordinance provides exceptions for certain uses of other streets or alleys, including picking up or delivering freight, wares, goods or merchandise or servicing a vehicle at a local business.

Neighbors Fricke and Laura Gehlert say they have observed Gieck arriving at the Lehnhoff Drive property with trailers loaded with logs, where the logs remain on the trailer until they are sold.

Fricke and Gehlert also alleged traffic associated with the logging operation had damaged Lehnhoff Drive.

The photograph provided to the newspaper appears consistent with at least part of their description, showing what appears to be a logging truck with a trailer attached and loaded with logs, but the image alone does not establish how frequently the vehicle travels the road or whether it caused any damage.

The records reviewed by The Advocate also do not establish the licensed weight of the truck operating from 203 Lehnhoff Drive.

They therefore do not establish whether the vehicle exceeds the 24,000-pound threshold in Section 365.080 or whether its use of Lehnhoff Drive qualifies for one of the ordinance’s exceptions, which it seems to not fall under.

That question is separate from the B-1 zoning and the one-truck variance.

Approval to operate a business with one logging truck at 203 Lehnhoff Drive does not directly answer whether a particular truck may regularly travel over Lehnhoff Drive under the city’s heavy-truck ordinance.

Mitchell’s position that Lehnhoff Drive is private creates an additional question of whether city officials consider Section 365.080 applicable to the roadway and, if not, how that position fits with documented municipal maintenance and Belle’s formal inclusion of the Lehnhoff Drive and Highway 28 intersection in its stop-sign regulations.

Subdivision records show public dedication

Property and subdivision documents provide additional background involving nearby Cedar Circle Lane.

The original Cedar Ridge Estates subdivision plat contains an owner’s certificate stating that “All streets and easements as shown or noted on this plat are dedicated to the use of the public.”

Property records show Roger and Brenda Lehnhoff conveyed property to Gieck on Nov. 5, 2022.

The legal description attached to that deed includes portions of Cedar Circle Lane and states those parcels “are part of what is known as Cedar Circle Lane and are subject to a dedication to the use of the public as shown on Cedar Ridge Estates plat.”

Those documents concern Cedar Circle Lane rather than directly establishing the legal status of Lehnhoff Drive, but they form part of the broader subdivision and access history surrounding the properties.

On March 23, 2023, an amendment to the Cedar Ridge subdivision covenants and restrictions was recorded with the Maries County Recorder of Deeds.

The amendment states that more than 75 percent of subdivision lot owners approved changes to the restrictions and says a previously platted roadway “has not been, nor shall it ever be, utilized as a roadway.”

The document does not state that the earlier public dedication shown on the subdivision plat was formally vacated by the City of Belle.

Former nearby property owners Robert and Jane Hance also provided a notarized statement dated Jan. 18, 2024, describing their understanding of Cedar Circle Lane as a public street.

The Hances said they purchased property at 207 Lehnhoff Drive in 2005 and understood Cedar Circle Lane would provide access to the subdivision. They said they obtained city permission when installing a culvert and later worked with a City Hall representative when positioning a building with its entrance facing the lane.

They also said that when they sold the property in 2019, documentation provided during the closing identified Cedar Circle Lane as a public street.

Their statement documents their experience and understanding of Cedar Circle Lane but does not independently determine its legal status.

Questions remain over current use

The immediate questions center on what Belle approved for residents at 203 Lehnhoff Drive, how the property is being used today and how the city classifies and regulates Lehnhoff Drive.

Ordinance No. 620 expressly authorized B-1 zoning “with a variance for one logging truck.”

Neighbors say loaded trailers are regularly brought to the property and that heavy traffic has damaged the road.

At the same time, Mitchell says Lehnhoff Drive remains private because the city never formally accepted it, while city records show Belle has spent money maintaining the roadway and formally included the Lehnhoff Drive and Highway 28 intersection in its stop-sign schedule, as well as it being included by city officials in planning discussions with MRPC.

Those circumstances leave several unresolved questions, including what equipment is covered by the “one-truck” variance, whether Belle’s heavy-truck ordinance applies to traffic generated by the logging operation, whether the truck falls within the ordinance’s weight threshold or exceptions, who authorized the speed limit sign and what significance the city’s long-term maintenance and traffic regulation of Lehnhoff Drive have in determining how the roadway should be classified and regulated.

The separate 2026 proposal for storage units and covered RV and camper parking also means questions about commercial development and traffic along Lehnhoff Drive remain before the city three years after the original logging-truck variance was approved.