ST. CHARLES COUNTY 鈥 A developer can move forward with plans to build a controversial 120-home subdivision in unincorporated St. Charles County following an at-times contentious meeting Monday night.
The St. Charles County Council voted 5-2 to approve Lombardo Homes of 狐狸视频鈥 request to rezone the land along Highway DD, a decision that garnered a stream of heckles from the 180-plus people who crowded into the St. Charles County Executive Building.
鈥淗ow dare you all?鈥濃 shouted Therese Laposa following the vote. 鈥淛esus Christ 鈥 I just can鈥檛 believe this! This is bad, bad, bad.鈥
St. Charles County Councilmembers Matt Swanson, Mike Elam, Terry Hollander, Nancy Schneider and Tim Baker all voted in favor of the proposal. Councilmen Joe Brazil and Dave Hammond voted against it.
David Ott said he felt 鈥渄isappointed鈥 as soon as the first vote was cast in support of the proposal.
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鈥淚 think the council just wants to get on with things, to get out from underneath the spotlight their constituents have put on them about this issue,鈥 Ott said after the vote.
Ott and Laposa were far from the only people who were disappointed by the outcome.
鈥淚t is a total betrayal. Tonight they didn鈥檛 listen to the people, to their constituents and completely sold us out,鈥 said Mark Sutherland, of rural Defiance. He lives near the proposed site of the 137-acre development known as 鈥淭he Highlands at Busch Wildlife.鈥
The fight over this development had been brewing since last June, when several developers, including Lombardo Homes of 狐狸视频, proposed a massive 356-acre, 556-home subdivision known as 鈥淭all Tree鈥 on the largely rural, wooded land along the Highway DD corridor west of O鈥橣allon. That development was eventually blocked by the county council in a unanimous vote.
Then, last month, Lombardo Homes proposed a new development that will use only a portion of the property originally intended for the Tall Tree development. It also calls for fewer homes and varied lot sizes that the developer argues will allow the area to maintain its rural feel.
Drew Weber, a lawyer for Lombardo, has repeatedly called the new project a 鈥渃ompromise proposal鈥 brokered through meetings between the developer, county officials and nearby residents. However, several neighbors of the development at Monday鈥檚 meeting said they felt that Lombardo had not compromised enough or at all.
鈥淲e recognize that this area will be developed, but it must be consistent with the existing rural density of the neighborhoods and small farms that comprise our existing community. Lombardo knows how to build high-end, three-acre land developments. They鈥檝e done it before in St. Charles County. However, in this case, they chose to place profits before people and have forced the density of six times of the surrounding community in this development,鈥 said William 鈥淏ill鈥 Carrier, a spokesperson for a community group called Citizens for Smart Growth.
That sentiment was echoed by Carol Bentley, who was one of about a dozen speakers who lined up at the podium to express their displeasure with Lombardo鈥檚 proposal and to insist that the council vote it down.
鈥淭his is not manageable growth, this is reckless growth,鈥 Bentley said. She, along with other speakers, cited a variety of concerns, such as the development鈥檚 impact on roads and schools and the water wells that area residents rely on for drinking water. Residents also have concerns that the area is becoming oversaturated with new home construction because of ongoing building projects in O鈥橣allon, Wentzville and other portions of the county.
Construction on the 120-home development, which draws its name from the nearby August Busch Conservation Area, won鈥檛 begin for at least the next six months, said Robert Myers, the county鈥檚 zoning division director. He said county staff will work behind the scenes to evaluate the developers鈥 grading plans and the final plat for the project.
鈥淚t is a very technical review process, and will take us some time to complete as we work on various reports,鈥 Myers said after the meeting.