Plans to build a 200-unit apartment complex in High Ridge have been approved.
The Jefferson County Council voted 5-2 on March 23 to allow a rezoning request by Lorenzo LLC of St. Louis, which plans to build apartments on 16.13 acres at Hwy. 30 and Old Sugar Creek Road and Wilderness Lane.
Lorenzo LLC’s plans call for seven buildings with 24 two-bedroom apartments and an eighth building with 32 one-bedroom units. An office and a pool also would be part of the development.
The land has been vacant since at least 1998.
Dan Govero of Govero Land Services of Imperial, who represented Lorenzo LLC, has said the apartments likely would be rented for $1,200 to $1,300 a month.
The council’s final vote on the rezoning, which changed the area from non-planned community commercial to planned residential, was taken at a meeting conducted by telephone due to calls to limit public gatherings to 10 people or fewer because of the coronavirus pandemic.
County officials said about 30 members of the public listened in on the proceedings.
The County Council, which has the authority to rezone property in unincorporated areas, took the vote after hearing the results of a traffic study at its Feb. 24 meeting.
The traffic study concluded that, with minor revisions to timing of traffic signals at the Hwy. 30 intersection with Old Sugar Creek Road and New Sugar Creek Road, the area should be able to accommodate the additional vehicles.
Shawn White of CBB Transportation Engineers and Planners of St. Louis, which conducted the traffic study, told the council that if the 16 acres were developed under the previous zoning of the property, non-planned community commercial, more traffic would be generated than from an apartment complex.
The commercial zoning would have allowed a number of different kinds of retail stores, including big-box grocery and hardware stores, convenience stores and other uses that could be expected to add to traffic congestion, White said.
Nearby residents who spoke at meetings before the Jefferson County Planning Commission on Nov. 14 and the County Council on Feb. 24 said the sight lines on Old Sugar Creek Road east of the site are poor, and that the Hwy. 30 intersection already has safety concerns without adding more vehicles to the mix.
Council members Renee Reuter (District 2, Imperial) and Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) cast dissenting votes.
Reuter said she shared residents’ concerns about the topography of the area, while Groeteke said he didn’t want taxpayers to have to foot the bill for improvements to the Hwy. 30 intersection, which would be likely down the line.
