The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission has given its OK to a request to rezone 20 acres of vacant land along West Four Ridge Road south of Rock Creek Road in House Springs, which, if approved, would be the first step for developers to build a subdivision there.
On Aug. 22, the commission voted 5-2 to recommend that the Jefferson County Council approve the request from KAB Homes in Hillsboro to rezone the property from single-family residential (R10) and large lot residential (LR2) to single-family residential (R7), which would result in one zoning designation for the whole area and would better match the zoning for the surrounding area.
Commissioners Johnathan Sparks and Mike Huskey voted against the request.
The commission advises the County Council on land-use issues in unincorporated areas, and the council, which has the sole authority over rezoning, will consider a resolution to approve the rezoning request at a future meeting.
Dan Govero with Govero Land Services in Imperial represented the petitioner at the meeting. He said the houses that would be built on the property would make for a “good transition” from the existing Brookshire Village Mobile Home Park to the south of the property and the Pine View Acres subdivision to the north of the property.
“We think this fits well within the area and it’s a good piece of ground to develop and provide more housing for the county that we need really badly,” he said.
Govero could not provide information about how many homes the subdivision would include. KAB Homes will need to submit a development plan to the commission for approval at a future meeting if the company chooses to build anything on the property.
Three people who live near the vacant property spoke out against developing houses there, citing concerns about sewer, storm drainage and overcrowding.
Michael Smith, who lives in the Pine View Acres subdivision, said he wants a ruling on the request to be postponed until the Rock Creek Public Sewer District investigates the sewage problems in the area and gets them fixed. He said last year there was a sewage overflow that caused property damage at the lower end of his street and, while Rock Creek has been out to the site, “they haven’t done much.”
He also said he is worried that if the developer chooses to put a lot of homes on the property, the sewer system would be overloaded.
Robin Stanley, who also lives in Pine View Acres, echoed Smith’s concerns about sewage problems, adding that stormwater runoff already impacts her property and more housing developments would make it worse.
She said she believes the developer wants to put in a 99-home subdivision, although the petition makes no mention of the number of houses proposed for the development.
“The flooding in our neighborhood is not good,” she said. “We live off West Four Ridge, and it’s a ridge, so everything off of it falls down and we get all of that drainage. I already have severe erosion issues that in order to rectify will cost me thousands of dollars.
“Just because it’s open land doesn’t mean it’s the right place.”
Stanley said she is also worried about the amount of traffic that would be added to West Four Ridge Road, saying the road is dangerous as it is.
“You’re going to have 99 to 200 more cars there on a daily basis,” she said. “There is an accident every week of somebody driving off that ridge, and it’s because there are too many cars.”
In response to the residents’ concerns, Govero said the developers would work with Rock Creek Public Sewer District to resolve any sewage problems, adding that the sewer district is responsible for fixing any problems, which would need to be resolved before building could begin.
Sparks said his reason for voting against the petition stemmed from the residents’ concerns.
“Even though the applicant does have all the requirements and is not asking for a bunch of exceptions, I, in good conscience cannot approve this with the amount of pre-existing conditions that are there,” he said.
Commissioner chair Jessie Scherrer told Sparks that the petitioner’s request was just for the zone change, not for subdivision development plans.
“You have not seen anything from the sewer district that says what they are going to do to handle this; you haven’t seen anything from the stormwater division that says what they’re going to require,” he said. “You’re saying you can’t approve something like this, and you don’t even know what’s going to be presented for you to approve. Whenever this comes back (to the commission) for the preliminary plat, if they haven’t met all the recommendations, then we deny it.”