Plans to build a 129-house subdivision on property along Buck Creek Road that the city of Festus recently annexed have drawn opposition, and the City Council is expected to consider the proposal next week.
City Administrator Greg Camp said council members will be asked on Monday, Sept. 22, to approve the developer’s petition for a planned unit development (PUD). The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Festus City Hall, 711 Main St.
Camp said the property is zoned R-3 residential. If the PUD is approved, it gives the developer more leeway when constructing the subdivision.
“Under R-3, (the developer) could start building right now,” Camp said. “The PUD overlay gives them more flexibility. R-3 requires 7-foot setbacks and 30-foot streets. The PUD would allow 5-foot setbacks and 28-foot streets. They would remain 7,000 square foot lots.”
The developer, KAB Construction of Jefferson County, petitioned the city for the PUD, as well as the recent annexation.
In July, the City Council voted to approve the voluntary annexation of approximately 84 acres along the north and south sides of Hwy. A just west of the Pasta House restaurant on the west side of town. The annexed area also includes part of Buck Creek Road.
Camp said the PUD proposal calls for the 129 homes to be built on a portion of that annexed land.
The Festus Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-5 on Sept. 11 on the PUD proposal during what Camp said was a “well-attended” meeting.
“When there’s a tie, we call it an ‘impasse,’” Camp said. “It’s neither recommended nor not recommended.”
He said the council will have the “final say” on the PUD on Sept. 22.
Grant Winnett, who lives on Buck Creek Road outside the city but near the proposed development, attended the P&Z meeting and said he and many others at the meeting opposed the development due to traffic and safety concerns.
“All of us are against it,” he said, estimating that dozens of opponents attended the P&Z meeting.
Winnett said the amount of homes and traffic from that development would be “overwhelming” to the area. He also said a traffic study is needed before a decision is made about the development.
Camp said the city of Festus has commissioned a traffic count study for Buck Creek Road, and he hopes the information generated from the study will be available for Monday’s meeting.
“We hired an engineering firm to put traffic counters on the road,” Camp said. “We will share that information. We hope to have the information by then.”
Randy Casey, superintendent for the Festus Special Road District, which maintains Buck Creek Road, said he feels the developer should be responsible for providing a traffic study on the impact of the proposed development.
“In my opinion, the engineering study should come through the developer,” he said. “The developer should be the one supplying that information.”
Casey said if a traffic study indicates that the development would not overburden Buck Creek Road, the Festus Special Road District would not have a problem with the project.
“As long as the traffic and safety study (meets) federal, state and local standards, then we have no opposition to the development,” he said.
Winnett said he believes the city should communicate better with those who live near the proposed development.
Camp said the city has followed guidelines about notifying the public about the proposal.
“We ran a notice in June in the Leader,” Camp said. “We have followed state statute.”
Festus Ward 2 Councilman Brian Wehner said he also feels the city has been aboveboard regarding the development.
“The city has followed all procedures by the book,” he said. “I think the city has done what we’ve needed to do. We, frankly, are going above and beyond by doing a road study.”
KAB did not respond to the Leader’s request for comment about the development.