The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended denial of a 10-home subdivision in Barnhart, citing stormwater and flooding concerns.
G’Sell Homes LLC petitioned the commission to rezone the 5-acre property, just west of 1700 Stahl Road off Metropolitan Boulevard, for the development called Spring Creek Subdivision. The proposal called for the property to be rezoned from a non-planned community commercial zone district to a planned residential (PR1) zone district and asked for the approval of a development plan.
The commission voted 5-4 to deny the petition on March 12. Commissioners Mike Huskey, Danny Tuggle, Jessie Scherrer, Jeffrey Spraul and Michael Siebert voted against the petition, and Drew Ishmael, Rodney Wideman, Johnathan Sparks and Chris Moenster voted in favor.
The County Council, which has the sole authority over rezoning in unincorporated areas, will likely consider a resolution to deny the rezoning request and development plans at a meeting next month.
If Spring Creek Subdivision were approved, the neighborhood would include 10 single-family homes, with about two homes per acre. Roughly 2 acres behind the homes will be reserved as common ground that includes an unnamed creek. The subdivision would have two access points onto Stahl Road.
To the east of the property under review is a plastic fabrication company. To the north and west are residences, including Springbrook Farms, a 114-home subdivision currently under development.
Four nearby residents told the commission that Stahl Road frequently floods during times of heavy rain, raising concerns that the new G’Sell homes would be damaged in flood conditions or add to the flooding problem. Additional residents voiced concerns about adding more traffic to Metropolitan, saying that making a left turn from Stahl Road is nearly impossible during peak traffic hours.
“Yes, it does flood,” said Robert Kelley, who lives on Stahl Road. “I have video of water coming from the subdivision on top (Springbrook Farms), flooding my garage – 8-10 inches of water coming in through my garage. Every time it rains and floods, I have to clear the road, clear my yard out.”
Nearby resident Tobin Nott added that he’s seen the creek flood and cross Stahl Road two or three times in the last five years.
Commissioner Jeffrey Spraul, who moved to deny the petition, said he’s “skittish” when it comes to stormwater issues.
“Those folks are giving us a first-hand version,” he said. “They live there, they know what they see, they drive down that road. I tend to think that carries a lot of weight.”
David VonArx, engineer with VonArx Engineering in Hillsboro, represented G’Sell at the meeting. He said G’Sell has nearly completed the Antonia Woods subdivision off Old Hwy. M in Imperial, where the average home sale in the neighborhood is $500,000. He said G’Sell will likely sell the same home models with similar amenities in Spring Creek Subdivision if the County Council votes favorably on the petition.
VonArx said he has begun studying stream flows on the creek and has designed the homes to avoid flood concerns.
“An engineer’s nightmare is having one of their developments full of water on the news,” VonArx said. “That’s never happened to me, and I’ve been doing this for 35 years, so I don’t intend to start creating problems with flooding.”
Stahl Road has one culvert east of Allard Drive that takes stormwater from the north side of the road and discharges it across the street, VonArx said.
“I’m sure that culvert probably gets backed up and overwhelmed at times,” he said. “If it needs improvement, we’ll study it, and we’ll determine if there’s anything that needs to be done with it. We’ll handle that water more effectively on our side (of Stahl Road). Obviously, I mean, these are $500,000 homes, I can’t have them underwater.”
Other news
The commission on March 12 unanimously approved a petition from Shane Hutchens, owner of Gateway Tree Care in High Ridge, to rezone his 2.3-acre property at 1701 Gravois Road in High Ridge to planned commercial. The tract is zoned single-family residential (R7).
Hutchens said he planned to move his tree and shrub care services business from a smaller location off Little Brennan Road to the Gravois location to accommodate his growing business.
“I’ve been in business for almost 11 years here, and I’ve rented a couple of spaces in the northern Jefferson County area,” he said. “I finally bought this property on Little Brennan, and I’ve utilized every square inch that the county’s allowed me to do, and it’s time to move on. I’ve looked at several other places in the county, and I like the area, and I want to keep growing there.”
The property under review is surrounded by commercial and single-family residences to the east, commercial, industrial and residential properties to the south, and an industrial property to the west. Directly north is Hwy. 30. In the development plan, Hutchens said he would add parking spaces, a gravel storage area and storage bins to the property, all buffered with landscaping. The property has a house, which will likely be used for office space and additional storage.
“The way the facility would operate is the way his current facility on Little Brennan operates,” said David VonArx with VonArx Engineering, who provided the design plans for the project. “The crews come in the morning. They get what they need, get their direction, and they go to the various sites for tree removal and tree care. So, their work doesn’t occur at this site or their current site. It occurs at all their clients’ locations.”