The Jefferson County Council on Tuesday reversed, amended and tabled three recommendations handed to them by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The council went against a P and Z recommendation regarding a plan for a 10-home subdivision on Stahl Road in Barnhart. The commission originally voted 5-4 on March 12 to deny the petition submitted by G’Sell Homes LLC, citing stormwater and flooding concerns brought forward by neighbors on Stahl Road.
The council voted 4-2 to reverse the commission’s recommendation, instead approving G’Sell to build the homes. Councilmen Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) and Tim Brown (District 6, De Soto) voted against the petition, and Councilman Bob Tullock (District 7, House Springs) abstained.
Councilman Billy Crow (District 2, Arnold) called for a motion to approve the petition at the April 13 meeting after receiving assurances from County Services Director Mitch Bair that stormwater issues are a moot point for the property and nearby homeowners.
“There was some confusion (at the March 12 P and Z meeting), no evidence was presented, but some residents did appear and provided testimony that they had stormwater issues,” Bair said April 13. “However, those stormwater issues have nothing to do with this property, and (G’Sell) would provide their own stormwater controls and detention that would alleviate any of those issues.”
The plans for the subdivision, called Spring Creek, include 10 single-family homes, with about two homes per acre. Roughly 2 acres behind the homes will be reserved as common ground that includes an unnamed creek. The subdivision will have two access points onto Stahl Road.
To the east of the property is a plastic fabrication company. To the north and west are residences, including Springbrook Farms, a 114-home subdivision currently under development.
Four nearby residents told the commission on March 12 that Stahl Road frequently floods during heavy rain, raising concerns the G’Sell homes would be damaged in flood conditions or add to the flooding problem.
Groeteke said he did not support the council’s reversal based on the flooding concerns brought up by homeowners.
“This is, in my opinion, going to be another fill and build project that’ll end up in Jefferson County, and will probably be detrimental to the people who live in the area,” he said.
Brown, who also voted no, agreed.
“The only way I can see not having a third of your property flood at the same level as the stream order there, is that you’re going to have to build that up,” he said. “That water is going to have to go somewhere, and it’s going to end up on neighboring properties to do that.”
Tullock said he abstained from voting because he couldn’t recall some of the details about the project mentioned by other council members. Tullock had previously voted in line with Groeteke and Brown on the bill: voting no on whether to reverse the P and Z’s recommendation and voting no on the first vote for approval on April 27.
“When they (Groeteke and Brown) were talking about the water issues, I couldn’t remember the details on it,” he said. “I didn’t think I had enough of the details that I could make an informed decision.”
Taco Truck
The council voted unanimously to approve an amendment to a petition that would allow Marco’s Tacos, a popular local Mexican food truck, to open a permanent stand in Imperial.
The commission voted 4-0 on April 23 to allow the property owners to rezone a parking lot and patch of grass between 1006 and 1014 Main St. from a single-family residential district to a non-planned community commercial district.
Eventually, property owner Misty Whetstone said she and her husband, Bill, will expand the parking lot behind their commercial building at 1006 Main St., allowing Marco’s Tacos to build a permanent building.
Groeteke proposed an amendment to the commission’s recommendation, approving rezoning the property to non-planned neighborhood commercial (NC1) rather than non-planned community commercial (CC2).
County staff originally recommended denying the petition, with Planner Rachel Hall saying the request for a CC2 district was not the right fit for the area.
“The character of the neighborhood is both commercial and residential in nature because of the harsh difference in zoning and uses,” she said at the April 23 meeting. “Staff believes a transitional zoning would be more appropriate for this property. There could be negative effects on the character of the property and the neighboring properties to the south and west with the proposed zone district. Properties to the south and west are zoned and developed for single-family residential uses.”
Groeteke said, according to the county’s Unified Development Order, Marco’s Tacos would still be able to operate its restaurant on the property under the NC1 zoning. There are many businesses permitted to operate in the CC2 zone district that, Groeteke said, would not fit the area, including bars, dance clubs, hotels, pawn shops and wineries.
Brown was concerned that the restaurant would not be able to operate under NC1, noting that takeout and drive-thru businesses are not allowed in that zone district.
“It doesn’t make sense to change it to something that can’t meet their needs,” he said. “I just want to make sure we’re doing something that will work for what they want to do.”
Bair assured the council members that takeout restaurants are allowed in the NC1 zone district, but drive-thrus are not.
“(NC1) was what staff recommended based on what the user wanted for the potential tenant for the site,” he said. “So, it does facilitate what they want to do.”
Nikki Ramirez of Arnold, who owns Marco’s Tacos with her husband, Marco, said she shares Brown’s concerns about proper zoning. She said she’s concerned that when she comes back to the county with the development plans, the county may deny it because the property is not properly zoned.
“I feel nervous, but cautiously optimistic,” Ramirez said.
The council will likely vote to approve the amended petition for Marco’s Tacos at the May 25 regular meeting.
Other news
The council voted unanimously in favor of postponing a decision regarding a petition to rezone a property in Imperial to build an RV park until the May 25 meeting.
The commission on April 23 voted 2-2 for a request from applicant Mastodon RV Park LLC to rezone a 17-acre property at 5300 Jeanette Drive from planned mixed residential use and a single-family residential district to a planned mixed-use district and development plan.
The development plan includes 97 concrete pads for RVs, a dog park, pickleball court, pond and walking path. The developers have reserved a strip along Hwy. 61-67 near the main entrance of the property for future commercial frontage.
Because the commission was tied, it’s up to the council on whether to approve or deny the petition.
Commissioners Rodney Wideman and Drew Ishmael voted in favor of the petition, and Johnathan Sparks and Michael Siebert voted against.
Commissioners Jessie Scherrer, Chris Moenster and Jeffrey Spraul were absent from the meeting, and two seats were vacant at the time, since both Danny Tuggle and Mike Huskey failed to file renewal applications before their terms expired on April 10. Both commissioners were reappointed to the board at the April 27 County Council meeting.
Since only four commissioners were present at the public hearing regarding the RV park, Groeteke called for an additional public hearing to be held before the council on the matter.
County Counselor Jalesia F.M. Kuenzel said there may be legal issues with holding an additional public hearing. She said the council usually only holds a second public hearing when there is a narrow, specific issue or topic that needs to be discussed. “This isn’t something we do very often, so I think I just need time (to review),” Kuenzel said.