The Festus City Council has approved a preliminary plat for 19 more houses to be built in the Birchwood Estates subdivision on the west side of town.
Developer Ryan G’Sell of G’Sell Contracting in Imperial said those houses will be the last ones constructed in the subdivision, which already has 178 completed or soon-to-be completed homes.
“We’re building the last two or three of that group (of 178),” he said June 30. “We have the (additional) 19 lots now. We’re hoping by the end of July to start selling the 19 houses. This will be the end of it.”
Those last 19 houses will be constructed along West Main Street.
G’Sell said prices for those houses will start in the $280,000s for ranch- or two-story houses.
The City Council voted 7-1 June 26 to approve the preliminary plat.
Ward 4 Councilman Mike Cook, who cast the only no vote, said he is concerned about home construction across the street from the rest of the subdivision along West Main Street.
“I was all for Birchwood, but we’ve increased traffic on West Main,” Cook said.
“I’m concerned about kids crossing the street to get to school. I’m concerned about the speed of cars. Now, you’ll have cars backing out of driveways. You could have a firetruck blocked on West Main.”
The rest of the council agreed with the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which recommended approval of the plat.
G’Sell said he has appreciated working with Festus officials on the Birchwood Estates project, which he started in 2019 on a 75-acre parcel of land known locally as “Burns Farm.”
“We are extremely happy working and dealing with the city of Festus,” he said.
“It was our first project in Festus.”