Greg Rollins owns a small auto repair shop near the edge of the city limits, and wants to build an addition onto his shop and hire an extra employee. But Rollins put off the expansion because city rules would have required him to build a sidewalk at the same time--and at his expense, even though neither of his neighbors have sidewalks and he says nobody walks by his shop.

"We are ready to break ground, hire new employees, expand our business, and grow. If I have to wait six months, things might change," Rollins said. "We'd love to see sidewalks all over Jeff City," Rollins added, "it's just some areas are not set up for sidewalks.  This is one of them."

At Monday's city council meeting, fifth ward councilman Dan Klindt introduced a bill that would put a moratorium on the sidewalk ordinance for "infill development" -- businesses that apply for permits to renovate, expand, or add parking space -- for the next 18 months.  Klindt says the sidewalk ordinance is one thing businesses looking to relocate or expand in Jefferson City should not have to worry about.

"Some of the sidewalk ordinances we have right now are so restrictive.  We've got businesses out there that won't be connected to any sidewalk in a real long time, and that's real hard the way the economy is right now," Klindt said.  He said that an exception is necessary to cover cases like Rollins', where there are no sidewalks to connect.

Jefferson City resident Sherrie Downs spoke out against the measure at Monday's council meeting.  She also says there ought to be exceptions in the ordinance, but suggests that business owners ought to be more willing to pay for sidewalks.

"Do we want a business in our community that doesn't care that the people who come to do business with them are injured because there's no sidewalk, or how it looks, that it doesn't contribute to the aesthetic value of the community at all," Downs said.

Klindt said the council is considering other alternatives, since adding that the moratorium is only a temporary fix to the problem.  He said the council may decide to decrease the length of the moratorium or try to amend the sidewalk ordinance instead.