The Jefferson County Council will likely decide the fate of a proposal to build a luxury, gated apartment complex at I-55 and Main Street in Imperial at its April 12 meeting.
The council already gave preliminary approval on March 22 for a pair of rezoning requests and a preliminary plan to build 13 apartment buildings with 306 units on 19.65 acres on the southeast corner of I-55 and Main Street.
That came after the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission voted Feb. 11 to recommend denial of the rezoning requests.
The P and Z board acts as an advisory body to the County Council, but the council is charged with rezoning property in unincorporated areas of the county.
Rowles Development Co. of Ballwin has proposed the development, to be called Avon on Main. The preliminary plans call for studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, ranging from 600 square feet to 1,400 square feet, with about 55 percent to be two-bedroom units. Rents would likely be $900 to $1,600 a month, a company spokesman said.
The rezoning is necessary to reclassify smaller lots from various single-family residential districts to a single planned mixed residential zoning designation.
The County Council voted 4-3 to advance that rezoning request to the second vote and perhaps the third and final vote on April 12.
In a separate 5-2 vote, the council advanced a request to zone the northernmost 1.38 acres of the site, between the I-55 northbound exit ramp and Old State Road, from single-family residential to non-planned community commercial.
That small lot, developers have said, would include stores catering to the apartment dwellers. It also would provide the main entrance to the gated complex off Old State Road.
The site, which is just north of the Wolf Hollow Estates subdivision off Old State Road that is currently being developed, is now heavily wooded.
Before the meeting, held by Zoom videoconference, 83 people submitted comments indicating they opposed the plans.
Councilman Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart), who represents the area in question, said he had serious questions, as did many residents, about the potential traffic congestion the complex might cause, not only on Main Street but also on Old State Road, where the entrance to the apartment complex would be located.
“I think our residents deserve better,” Groeteke said. “I believe Planning and Zoning was correct by denying these applications. These plans are inadequate, unfeasible and the planning is not well thought out. The only way in and out of this is on Old State Road, and there is no plan to make improvements or how any improvements would be paid for.”
Groeteke said with the ongoing pandemic, he had doubts whether dense, multi-unit residential developments were advisable.
Councilman Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) said development in a part of his district is an example of how infrastructure improvements follow development.
“The improvements at highways W and 109 were caused by development,” he said.
Groeteke and Councilwoman Renee Reuter (District 2, Imperial) voted against the commercial rezoning; they were joined by Councilman Jim Terry (District 7, Cedar Hill) on the residential rezoning request.