Father and daughter duo Justin and Joanna Bondurant want to bring a new, affordable housing style to Jefferson County.
They hope to build 22 tiny cottage-style homes, ranging from 400-800 square feet, on approximately 2.7 acres off Miller Road just outside Arnold. The development would be called Scenic View Cottage Community.
The Bondurants presented their development plan on Feb. 27 to the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission, which voted unanimously to recommend that the County Council approve the plan. The commission also recommended approval of the Bondurants’ request to rezone a portion of the property from single-family residential to planned mixed residential.
The County Council, which has the sole authority over rezoning, will likely consider a resolution to approve the rezoning request and development plan at a meeting this month.
Justin Bondurant owns JMB Performance & Powdercoat, a custom fabricated auto parts company in Hillsboro. Joanna Bondurant, 19, manages The Wandering Bean, a Hillsboro coffee shop. Justin Bondurant said his daughter would live in one of the tiny homes and act as the property manager.
Bondurant said he and Joanna purchased the property six months ago.
“We strive to do everything with excellence; it’s really a part of who we are,” he said. “We’re not some out-of-town firm or anything like that. We’re Jefferson County born and bred, and we live here in Hillsboro. My family is here, my roots are here, my church is here, my friends are here.”
Bondurant said the tiny homes may be a more affordable option for those who want to enjoy a yard but don’t want to maintain a large house.
The one-bedroom tiny homes will be rented for approximately $900 to $1,000 a month, and the larger two-bedroom homes would be rented for $1,100 to $1,200, Bondurant said.
“We estimate that we will be $3,000 to $4,000 cheaper annually, compared to one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments in the area,” he said. “It’s a low-maintenance living situation, kind of like an apartment as well. The lawn care is going to be something that we’re going to do. Having a personal green space is something you can’t really have with an apartment.”
Commissioner Jessie Scherrer said he liked the development concept.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I’m all in on it.”
The homes
County planner Josh Jump said that a mobile home community was once located on the property, with about 17 mobile homes there. A petitioner attempted to rezone the property for a recreational vehicle park in 2024. However, county officials were worried about the transient nature of the plan, and the petition was withdrawn.
“This would be a more permanent plan in terms of land use,” Jump said.
Bondurant said the tiny homes would be stick built on concrete pads – not transported to the property in kits, which was one of the fears people said they had when they posted on social media before the meeting.
He said the homes would be suitable for older residents who are looking for a more simple lifestyle.
Festus resident Joan Myers, who attended the meeting, said she was in favor of the project.
“I like the idea of a cottage and a smaller home that’s easier to manage,” she said. “I’m a person of an older age, but also a person who is very healthy and likes to be outside.”
Mary Busher of Arnold agreed.
“It would be nice to have a tiny home development, something more affordable for the community, for people to live and work there,” Busher said. From what I’ve seen, I think (the Bondurants) have done their due diligence. I think their hearts are in the right place.”
The sidewalks
The Bondurants asked in their petition to be excused from the county’s codes regarding sidewalks, citing the property’s small size. Bondurant said because the development would only have one street, a sidewalk wasn’t necessary, adding that the sidewalks would take away a lot of space away from the front yards.
According to county code and the Americans with Disabilities Act, new developments must include 5-foot wide sidewalks. The commission denied that request.
Commissioner Johnathan Sparks initially agreed with Bondurant and said none of the surrounding subdivisions have sidewalks.
“I actually live right down the street from this,” Sparks said. “I walk the neighborhood; I see other people walk the neighborhood, (and) I worry that (the sidewalks are) going to be a mecca for everybody in the subdivision to use it as their own little personal track.”
County Services Director Mitch Bair disagreed, saying the sidewalks would provide a safe way for Scenic View residents to exercise and would make it more likely for future sidewalks to connect the surrounding neighborhoods.
“We are definitely seeing a trend across the nation where you have sidewalks in the tiny home subdivision for this reason: You’re tight on parking, you have on-street parking, which makes it more problematic for those people to get out and walk around that subdivision,” he said. “When people come here asking for relief from these standards, that’s where I think it’s even more of (the commission’s) responsibility to apply those standards.”