A 200-unit apartment complex may be on its way to High Ridge.
The Jefferson County Council voted 5-1 Monday to give preliminary approval to a rezoning request from Lorenzo LLC of St. Louis that would allow apartments to be built on 16.13 acres at Hwy. 30 and Old Sugar Creek Road and Wilderness Lane.
The County Council, which has the ultimate authority to rezone property in those areas, is likely to take a final vote on the matter on March 23.
Council member Renee Reuter (District 2, Imperial) was absent from Monday’s meeting, and Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) cast the dissenting vote.
After the Jefferson County Planning Commission held a Nov. 14 public hearing on the issue, it sent the rezoning request to the County Council without a recommendation because it deadlocked 4-4.
The planning board advises the County Council on zoning issues in unincorporated areas.
Then, the County Council decided to order a traffic study before considering a vote on the rezoning request.
That traffic study was presented to the council on Feb. 24.
Lorenzo LLC’s plans call for seven buildings with 24 two-bedroom apartments and an eighth building with 32 one-bedroom units. An office and a pool also would be part of the development.
Lorenzo LLC is asking for five lots totaling 16.13 acres to be rezoned from non-planned community commercial to planned residential.
The land has been vacant since at least 1998.
Dan Govero of Govero Land Services of Imperial, who represented Lorenzo LLC, has said the apartments likely would be rented for $1,200 to $1,300 a month.
The council voted unanimously Jan. 13 to order a limited public hearing to discuss the results of the traffic study, which was recommended after six residents spoke at the Planning Commission hearing about their concerns over potential congestion at Hwy. 30 and Old Sugar Creek Road.
Shawn White of CBB Transportation Engineers and Planners of St. Louis, which conducted the traffic study, said if all the apartment units were rented out, the development likely would generate 90 additional trips (vehicles going in or out of the complex) during the morning and 110 trips during afternoon rush hour. More than half of those vehicles would be coming from or going east on Hwy. 30, the report said.
White said any additional congestion caused at the intersection could be alleviated by working with the Missouri Department of Transportation to adjust the traffic signal lights at the Hwy. 30 and Sugar Creek to allow an extra second or two for vehicles to turn left.
“The state regularly looks at timing issues on major highway corridors,” she said. “We believe they will make adjustments as needed.”
White referenced a letter from the department indicating that Hwy. 30 traffic volumes in the area have remained constant, if not decreased slightly, over the past 10 years and it has hired a consulting firm to develop new timings at intersections.
She also pointed out that if the 16 acres were developed under the current zoning, non-planned community commercial, much more traffic could result.
The commercial zoning would allow a number of different kinds of retail stores, including big-box grocery and hardware stores, convenience stores and other uses that could be expected to add to traffic congestion, White said.
“If the concern truly is traffic and what might happen here, rezoning (to allow the apartments) would be a substantial improvement,” she said.
Five residents spoke against the plans. George Hartman of Fenton said the sight lines on Old Sugar Creek Road are poor and showed a video clip to back up his contention.
“I don’t believe we should do this because of the topography,” he said.
Hartman said adding more traffic to what he said was the third-most congested Hwy. 30 intersection of 27 in the county would be a recipe for disaster.
“There will be more accidents and more fatalities,” he said.
Councilman Jim Terry (District 7, Cedar Hill) said he has researched Jefferson 911 Dispatch records and found that nine accidents occurred at the intersection last year, five of which had injuries.
Increasing the number of motor vehicles in the area that includes a McDonald’s restaurant immediately across Old Sugar Creek Road also would be ill-advised, Terry said.
“An apartment complex would mean more pedestrian traffic heading to McDonald’s, and to play at the ballfield at Murphy Elementary (2101 Valley Drive),” he said.
Stephanie Orlando, who operates a day care center on Old Gravois Road, which would be connected to Old Sugar Creek by Sugar Plum Lane – the main road through the apartment complex – said she was concerned increased traffic would not allow parents who are dropping off and picking up children to back out of her small driveway
Jim Meyers of High Ridge said the Hwy. 30 and Sugar Creek junction “is already a messed-up intersection.”
“Most people are pretty lazy drivers,” he said.
Meyers also disputed the accuracy of the traffic study.
“I don’t see how people can figure out what’s going to happen without driving it every day,” he said. “Don’t approve these apartments, but in any case, something has to be done with the traffic.”
Don Biggerstaff of Fenton said Hwy. 30 between Hwy. 141 and Dillon Road needs resurfacing. “It’s rough and a very dangerous situation,” he said.
Reuter and Groeteke voted Feb. 24 against placing a preliminary vote on the rezoning on Monday’s agenda.
“I don’t agree with expecting the taxpayer to have to pay for road improvements that come about as a result of private development,” Groeteke said. “It’s pretty obvious that something needs to be done at this intersection, and it would be done at the taxpayers’ expense.”
Reuter said the geography of the area is problematic.
“I am concerned about the safety of the proposed intersection, which would serve as the main entrance to the apartment complex,” she said. “The video that Mr. Hartman showed during the hearing established, for me at least, that the entrance appears to be on a blind curve.
“While I understand that with current zoning, a business could build in the same location, I believe the current topography has likely been a deterrent to such development, at least with the proposed entrance location,” she said.