Nine-year-old plans to build a small subdivision in back of the Parkton subdivision in Barnhart, which landed in Jefferson County Circuit Court back then, have been revived.
The Jefferson County Planning Commission voted 8-1 March 28 to approve a preliminary plat for the Bluffs at Parkton, a 33-home development to be built on 88.91 acres west of Parkton, which has about 700 homes near the southwest corner of I-55 and Hwy. M.
The plans haven’t changed since they were submitted to the county in late 2010, and Jason Cordes, the assistant county counselor, told planning commissioners they were compelled to approve them because of a standing court order.
“If you don’t approve this, I’ll probably be defending you in court on a charge of contempt of court,” Cordes said.
In 2010, Norman Meyer, the owner of the 88.91 acres, asked the county to approve his plans to build the subdivision.
The planning board approved Meyer’s plans, but rejected his request to have just one entrance, which would have been a modification to county standards that call for more than one entrance to large developments.
Meyer filed suit in Jefferson County Circuit Court and in 2014, Judge Troy Cardona ordered the county to approve Meyer’s plans, including allowing the single entrance through Parkton.
However, “Meyer got older and ran out of money,” and never pursued the project, said Dan Govero of Govero Land Services of Imperial, who drew up the plans for Meyer then. Govero now represents William Dressel of Westfield, Pa., who wants to buy the land from Meyer and build the subdivision according to the original plans.
Govero said the only access to the plot is through the privately maintained streets of Parkton.
“We’ve looked at all other possible ways in and out and they’re not topographically possible, and none of the property owners even wanted to talk about selling anyway,” he said. “The only way in and out is through Parkton.”
Dressel, who runs an oil and gas exploration and production company in Pennsylvania, said he wants to move back to the St. Louis area.
“I still have family in the area, and we want to come home. My wife and I live with our two boys in a home on 50 acres, and this is a beautiful piece of property,” he said.
Dressel said he would sell the homes primarily to family and friends. “This won’t be a MLS-listing type of thing,” he said.
Govero said homes will be priced at $350,000 to $500,000.
“We’ll absolutely be focused on community stewardship,” Dressel said.
About two dozen people from Parkton showed up to oppose the request, and those who spoke didn’t sound interested in having a community with their potential new neighbors.
Attorney Brandon Moonier, who represented the Parkton Association, said he didn’t agree that planning commissioners were compelled to pass the plan under the court order.
“The lawsuit did not involve the Parkton Association, and it wasn’t a party to that case,” he said. “We were not in a position to argue about what should or shouldn’t be done with our streets.”
Moonier said his attempts to intervene in the lawsuit Meyer filed were denied by Cardona.
Moonier also noted that the plans submitted to the county did not include information about an easement, right of way through Parkton streets or an agreement with the Parkton Association.
“We get to decide the fate of our streets until a judge tells us otherwise,” he said.
Govero cited county standards that require access when a new parcel is created, adding that Parkton created the parcel when it sold the property to Meyer.
“This property was part of the original Parkton subdivision,” he said. “We know that we’ll need an agreement with the Parkton Association for use of their streets.”
Dennis Kehm Jr., the assistant county services director, said the county will not issue a construction permit to Dressel without seeing that signed agreement.
Lorie Springkamper, a member of the Parkton Association’s board of directors, said she is worried about safety.
“We have a bridge with a weight limit in the front of Parkton, and I have concerns about the construction equipment that will be going in and out,” she said. “We have a private pool and parks, and those are also concerns, along with emergency access. We’re doing what we can to keep up with maintenance. We have two school districts that bring buses in, and more homes mean more buses. Mostly, I’m concerned about the safety of the kids in our neighborhood. We already deal with a lot of speeding through here, and it’s only going to get worse.”
Govero conceded that the bridge is an issue.
“They’ll have to address that bridge soon, but in the meantime, they have garbage trucks and other heavy vehicles going over it,” he said. “I don’t think it should be on my client’s hands to solve their problem.
“As far as the school buses are concerned, they’re already going through the subdivision. Another 33 homes on top of 700 isn’t going to have much effect.”
Govero said he hoped Dressel and Parkton could reach an agreement.
Planning commissioner Mike Huskey, who was on the board in 2010, cast the sole dissenting vote.
“I don’t think the judge’s ruling should pertain to this case,” he said, noting that he would have liked to have seen an agreement with Parkton to use its streets before voting.