The Jefferson County Council has scuttled a controversial plan to build a complex with 388 housing units on the west side of the Jeffco Boulevard and Telegraph Road intersection just south of the Arnold city limits.
The council voted 4-3 April 11 to approve a resolution denying a rezoning request and development plan for the Royal Hills Apartments and the Villas at Royal Hills requested by would-be developer, Lorenzo LLC of St. Louis.
Council members Phil Hendrickson (District 3, Arnold), Renee Reuter (District 2, Imperial), Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) and Dan Stallman (District 6,
De Soto) voted to deny the plans while Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge), Tracey Perry (District 5, Festus) and Vicky James (District 7, Cedar Hill) voted in favor of the plans.
After a March 24 public hearing, the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission, which advises the County Council on rezoning issues in unincorporated areas, voted 3-2 to recommend denial.
The complex would have been built on 47 acres and would have included 248 apartments plus 140 villa units. The developers’ application asked the county to rezone six parcels to planned mixed residential use from either single-family residential or non-planned community commercial.
Most of the 47 acres is vacant, with a home on one of the parcels and a commercial building on another that would be torn down.
The plan called for 160 one-bedroom apartments and 88 two-bedroom units spread across nine buildings, with 70 villas each having two units. Each unit would have an attached garage.
The developer had proposed a single access at Jeffco and Telegraph, with an emergency gated entrance at Hobelman Drive, a private street mostly in Arnold.
The county’s development standards call for two points of access when the number of lots exceed 100, but county planner Rachel Krispin said that because the development was not to be split into separate lots, technically one access would have been allowed.
Lorenzo LLC commissioned a traffic study, which concluded that a single entrance would have been sufficient because there is a traffic signal at Jeffco and Telegraph. It recommended a left-turn lane into the site.
David Vonarx of VonArx Engineering of Hillsboro, who represented the developer, said access to the apartment buildings would have been through a gate and those apartments units would have been for tenants 55 and older.
Allison Sweeney presented a resolution from the Arnold City Council opposing the project.
She said the city is not opposed to the concept of the development.
“They believe there is a need for diversity in housing, especially in northern Jefferson County. Apartment buildings and villas, that’s not a problem for the city,” she said. “The only problem we have is this emergency access.”
“No one officially reached out to the city to say … by the way, we may need to use a road that runs through your city for emergency ingress and egress. That conversation literally never happened.”
Sweeney said the city would have to accept the road. She also said using it as an emergency access would eliminate on-street parking for those who live on the road.
She said the city also has concerns about a single access into the development.
“If something happens … that blocks that access, and it could be as simple as a car accident, no emergency responder is going to be able to get in there when somebody has a heart attack or when someone needs emergency assistance, if something catches on fire.”
Lauren Dickerson, who lives on Hobelman, said parts of the road are narrow and she didn’t want to lose some of her property so the street could be widened.
Vonarx had said the developer would widen it to 20 or 24 feet to meet fire district requirements. He said the survey of the property provides for a 40-feet right-of-way for the street.
“Our road is only 14 feet wide at the top of my driveway,” Dickerson said. “When I back out of my driveway, I have to back into my neighbor’s front yard across the street. Nobody on our street wants to give up any of our land to expand the road. To widen the road, it would completely take away my front yard.”
She submitted a petition with 44 signatures she said was circulated by a homeowner on Hobelman Drive.
Rachel Robards, who lives on Becker Drive just south of the site, also spoke against it.
“This will definitely affect the character of the property and neighboring properties,” she said. “I will no longer be looking at woods; I will be looking at the back of someone’s villa.”
Vonarx said in addition to homes, the surrounding area includes commercial properties and apartments. He also said rent for the apartments likely would have been $1,500 a month.
“I feel it’s certainly conducive with the city of Arnold,” he said.
Hendrickson, whose district includes the area, said he didn’t like the single entrance into the development and took into consideration Arnold’s opposition to the project.