The site of the new Vocational Agricultural addition on Monday, April 28th
By: Tara Wren Blue
ASHLAND, MO – The City of Ashland lifted a temporary hold on the Southern Boone School District’s building permit for its high school vocational-agriculture (VoAg) addition on Friday, April 25th after a weeks-long dispute over traffic study requirements.
The hold, which caused concern among school officials over potential project delays, was lifted after the District provided evidence that it is moving forward with a required traffic impact analysis.
At the April 22 Board of Aldermen meeting, School Board members Jeremy Galloway and Chris Felmlee voiced frustration to the city over the situation, stating that the school district had acted in good faith to comply with city requests but was blindsided by the permit hold. They said the dispute could jeopardize the timeline and budget of the $11.6 million voter-approved project.
“We were concerned last week to learn that our building permit had been put on hold by the City,” Galloway told the board. He added that the district had been working toward a fair compromise regarding the scope of the traffic study, and criticized the City for requesting a study covering 10 intersections — some unrelated to the VoAg project site — at an estimated cost of $25,000.
Galloway emphasized that the district agreed to complete a traffic study as a condition of final occupancy, not as a requirement for construction to begin, citing a February 18 city resolution that tied the traffic study to occupancy approvals. Felmlee echoed those concerns, pointing out that the district had already paid over $19,000 in permitting and review fees and had received little communication from the City in recent weeks.
In response, City Administrator Kyle Michel provided a detailed explanation in a public letter to the Board of Education, outlining the City’s perspective and the rationale for the hold.
According to Michel, the District’s permit was not eligible for issuance until April 18 because it had not yet met key city requirements. He also explained that an administrative hold was placed due to concerns about the District’s lack of progress on the required traffic impact analysis, and emphasized that the City’s primary obligation is to enforce life safety standards for all developments, public or private.
Michel noted that tensions between the City and the School District stem from longstanding issues, not recent disputes. He cited historical examples where previous District projects allegedly failed to meet fire protection and pedestrian safety standards, placing students and the public at risk.
Michel said the City has made it a priority to ensure that moving forward, all District projects comply fully with City Code requirements, particularly when public safety is at stake.
The City also defended the scope of the required traffic study, pointing to ongoing congestion around school campuses and the lack of baseline data for future planning. A December 2024 request by the District to waive the traffic study entirely was denied by the City’s Board of Adjustment, and Michel says that in January and February 2025, a site plan was submitted by the school district but the plan remained incomplete and noncompliant in key areas.
He says that the city still recommended conditional approval on February 18th to avoid further delays, contingent upon completion of the required traffic impact analysis, “yet instead of complying, the District, through legal counsel, threatened litigation to avoid the traffic impact analysis requirement — a position that does not serve the best interests of students, staff, or the community. The City extended a reasonable compromise, offering to waive the requirement for this project in exchange for a binding commitment to conduct such studies for all future campus expansions. The District declined, presumably seeking to prioritize flexibility at the expense of future safety assurances.”
Michel stressed that the administrative hold caused no actual construction delays, as the permit could not have been issued before April 18, and the final clearance was delayed only slightly by scheduling logistics for the Board of Aldermen meeting. As of April 24, the District had submitted a plan to move forward with the traffic study, and the City authorized the permit’s release.
Both sides expressed hope for improved collaboration going forward. School officials stressed their desire to complete the VoAg project on time and within budget without being burdened by requirements unrelated to student education. City officials reiterated their commitment to supporting school projects while firmly upholding life safety and development standards.
Construction was expected to begin the week of April 28th.
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