A proposed 277-unit development in House Springs is raising concerns among residents, who say Bear Creek Road cannot handle an increase in traffic.
Hoomano LLC submitted a petition to the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone 54 acres on Bear Creek Road from Planned Unit Development (PUD) to Planned Mixed Residential so it can build 176 apartments and 101 single family homes.
On Sept. 3, about 25 people attended a meeting to learn more about how a development petition is considered in unincorporated Jefferson County. The meeting was hosted by Jefferson County Councilman Bob Tullock (District 7) at the Northwest Branch of the Jefferson County Library, 5680 Hwy. PP in High Ridge.
The Bear Creek rezoning request was up for consideration at the Sept. 10 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. But it was continued until the commission’s Oct. 8 meeting.
Tullock said he did not know who submitted the request to postpone the consideration.
“It can be postponed for a number of reasons; the county could postpone it, the petitioner could postpone it,” he said on Sept. 3. “It’s typically because the petitioner’s missing some data or information that the county needs that they won’t be able to present at a public hearing.”
Bear Creek Road sits on the border between Jefferson County Council Districts 1 and 7.
The proposed subdivision would be in District 1.
Tullock said current District 1 County Councilman Brian Haskins was invited to the Sept. 3 meeting but did not attend.
In August, residents who live near the proposed development were mailed a notice about a Sept. 10 meeting on the rezoning request. But the notice had a map for a property off Hwy. 61 in Festus, residents at the Sept. 3 meeting said.
Tullock said the issue was an administrative error.
Virginia “Ginger” Frank, of House Springs said she thought the mix-up was “deliberate.” She said more would have attended the Sept. 3 meeting if residents had received the correct notice.
This is not the first time a developer has attempted to build in the Bear Creek Road area.
In February 2021, the P and Z board rejected a request from McBride Berra Land Co. LLC for a 263-home subdivision on 84.2 acres on Bear Creek Road.