CITIZENS ASK CITY TO FULFILL LEGAL COMMITMENT OF UDD AND RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN CITY GOVERNMENT

In December the Board of Aldermen will be asked to vote on the sale of the city owned parking lot on the corner of Clayton Road and Seminary Lane and approve a development plan that violates the City’s commitment to protect the homeowners in the historic Hi-Pointe/DeMun neighborhood. In light of the August vote against eminent domain, it is important that the City demonstrate its commitment to the protection of the rights of existing private property owners and reject the current proposal. Opus, a private developer, has asked for approval to buy this public property at a deeply discounted price for a mixed-use development that violates the City’s legal commitment to over 300 property owners and residents of Hi-Pointe/DeMun.

Just one year ago, the City approved an Urban Design District (UDD) ordinance codifying the requirements for development of a four-block frontage on Clayton Road. The UDD process was difficult and consumed many months of study and debate. No one was fully satisfied with the final product. However, the Board of Alderman hailed this law as a compromise that would end the contentious battle between outside developers and commercial investors and residents of the neighborhood. The UDD was hailed as a promise of certainty and protection of the important historic residential family-friendly Hi-Pointe/DeMun neighborhood. The UDD would define future development in the area.

In October, the Plan Commission overrode the City’s $30,000 UDD and ignored the hard fought legal agreement with the citizens of Clayton. Instead of following the UDD’s mandatory standards, the Commission approved a site plan that violates building lengths, impervious surface and shadow study standards designed to protect the neighborhood and, instead, opted to use only the standards in the UDD that allow the developer to build a more dense structure than would be allowed in any other area zoned C-2 in Clayton. Architecturally, the building owes more to Opus’s background as a builder of Wal-Mart stores, than what is expected in an area hailed as the gateway to Clayton. Breaking both with the UDD requirement for solid masonry construction and a tradition of demanding quality, the Commission approved a building with _ inch brick veneer caulked together every sixteen feet. The flat solid red colored brick veneer, forest green metal roof, sparse detail and square blockish style are all out of conformance with the standards of the UDD. Please see ClaytonCityReviews.org for more detail.

In order to disregard the UDD the Commission decreed that the situation was “unusual” thus invoking a provision of the law that allows an override of the requirements of the law. When Commissioner Marc Lopata asked for time to review the intent of the UDD, Chairman Harold Sanger stated that they certainly could do that, however, it wouldn’t matter because the Plan Commission could do whatever it wanted. Ward One Aldermen Wagner said the UDD ordinance was a guideline only.

SALE of PUBLIC PARKING LOT – WAY BELOW MARKET!!

Clayton concrete contractor Dan Wagner’s Opus has offered the City $45.00 per square foot for the City Parking Lot for this development. However, early in 2006 Opus paid $111.61 per square foot for the four lots adjacent to the parking lot. The total offer for the lot is only $419,895. The parking lot is prime property, it is a corner lot, 40% larger than the lots to the east, there is no demolition cost, and the UDD allows 40% more development on this lot than any other lot zoned C-2.

The area from Seminary Lane to St Mark’s Church has recently been surveyed. Statements made by city officials indicate that this entire area will be developed like the Opus proposal. This could mean about 42,000 square feet of strip commercial space with only 142 retail parking spaces provided off the alley. Although the City has not performed a parking study, a forecast based upon the project’s traffic study estimates 500 cars (arriving and departing the site) looking for parking in the neighborhood. At these peak hours thirteen cars per minute will be added to the traffic on DeMun and Seminary at the alley. Shouldn’t the City be building a parking garage and NOT selling the lot if they hope to foster successful retail development?

Citizens are asking:
•Why “give” Opus the only public parking lot in Ward One? Why encourage high- density commercial development with insufficient parking? What have we learned from the Bread Co.? Why program failure for both homeowners and retail? Why consider a mixed-use development and state that restaurants will not be part of the development?
• Why encourage such extensive commercial development when the intent of the UDD and the City’s Master Plan is to protect the residential Hi-Pointe neighborhood? Neighborhoods thrive with family friendly areas where children can play. Children need quiet, safe neighborhoods and homes.
•Why ignore the petitions of 300 property owners and encourage the destruction of a nationally significant planned community? Why not follow that plan and encourage multifamily condos or town-homes mid block? Residential requires less parking.
•How can any project on these lots be considered “unusual”, when the UDD was designed specifically with development for this site in mind?
•Why have zoning ordinances, if the City discards them for the economic benefit of the developer and at the expense of existing property owners? How can our City be trusted if this type of governance is allowed? Is any neighborhood safe?

PLEASE ATTEND THE BOA MEETING DECEMBER 12 AT 8:00PM AT CITY HALL TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR HI-POINTE/DEMUN.

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I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH OTHERS TO RESTORE GOOD GOVERNANCE TO CLAYTON
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Mail to: 6349 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO 63117   For more info see ClaytonCityReviews.org