Developers in Wright City will now be required to submit assurances they will return roads around their construction sites to their original states following completion, after the board passed an ordinance at their March 27 meeting. 

The ordinance passed unanimously. 

Alderman Ramiz Hakim, who sponsored the bill, said he wanted to put in place to ensure damages to roads in the city are handled by developers, instead of placing the costs on taxpayers. 

“What it does is it requires builders, before construction, to identify their construction plans, their entrances, what roads they plan on using, and then to put up some kind of financial instrument that can be utilized or leveraged by the city to bring back any damages to the condition that the road was in beforehand,” said Hakim. 

Hakim continued saying the enforcement clauses in the ordinance were left intentionally vague leaving the city with options to work with developers on plans to maintain roads while construction is underway, instead of repairing them after the fact. 

“The developer and the city can meet, look at the condition of the road, come to an agreement, come to a cost estimate for damages and then move forward after that,” said Hakim. “This should not be something that is a gotcha or an after the fact conversation.”

The decision comes in light of extensive damage that was left on Roelker Road following the completion of construction at the new Wright City High School. 

Hakim said that Roelker Road is not the only instance in which roads have been left in disrepair by construction. Since the city is growing he felt it was a necessary step to protect residents’ ability to travel unimpeded through their hometown. 

“At the end of the day, we are a growing city, and if we don’t pace that growth, we’ll continue to hear from residents that their quality of life is affected because we’re destroying the roads and then fixing them after the fact,” said Hakim. 

Alderman Kim Arbuthnot did point out that the situation with Roelker Road did “open their eyes” to what can happen if these concerns are not addressed. 

Hakim did clarify that while the enforcement language is vague, it would be based on the condition of the road prior to, and after the completion of construction. The size of the development alone would not be a decider on how the new regulations are implemented. 

“You could build a whole bunch of homes and not destroy the road and (it) would not be an issue or you could build one building and totally destroy the road,” said Hakim. 

Wright City does assess road impact fees on developers at a cost of $500 per home. However, per the ordinance, only roads that have been built or overlaid within the last five years fall under its purview. 

Currently the only roads in the city that fit that criteria are Westwoods Road and Stuermann Road. 

Mayor Michelle Heiliger said the city’s intent is to prevent contractors from moving overweight trucks and causing unnecessary damage to roads. 

“Our hope is to have partners, in developers, who understand it is their responsibility to hold their contractors accountable,” said Heiliger.