最新杏吧原创

"I think this is maybe not a place that should be developed at all,鈥� said Majorie Ivy,聽one of nearly two dozen residents who spoke to the Ladue Zoning and Planning Commission and was applauded by an audience in the auditorium at Ladue Horton-Watkins High School.聽

Creve Coeur-based TriStar Properties is pitching a 235-unit apartment and retail complex, an 11-house subdivision and 31 villas on 50 acres near Litzsinger and South McKnight roads.聽The commission is considering a request from TriStar to rezone the area.聽

The apartment building would be the first in Ladue, an affluent bedroom suburb of single family houses where city planners in 2023 amended zoning rules to allow for high-density residences such as condominiums and apartments.聽

The project would repurpose a long-standing industrial site, at 1200 N. Rock Hill Road. The property is the old headquarters for construction giant McCarthy Holdings Inc., which still maintains a construction yard there.聽It surrounds, on three sides, a landfill that was once a rock quarry.聽

Sebago Creek turns onto the land from the south. Deer Creek cuts through the middle of it.

TriStar says it would build three "distinct but complementary" sites around the landfill: 11 single-family houses on the northeast corner of Old Warson Road and Kortwright Avenue, 31 single-family villas on about 17 acres north of Deer Creek along what is currently a private road, and the 235-unit apartment complex on about 6 acres at the northwest corner of McKnight and Old Warson.

The City聽of Ladue has said that the project expands housing options and walkability. Experts hired by the city reviewed flood plain and traffic studies submitted by the developer and found the new construction would not negatively affect flooding at the site and upstream and downstream, nor would it weigh on road traffic, which would gain new commuters but lose travelers associated with McCarthy's business.聽

"There was enough evidence there to state that they were keeping people reasonably safe from flooding," Steve Stumpf, Ladue Stormwater Engineering manager, said during the meeting Wednesday.

TriStar plans to reengineer the creek to contain the floodway by widening and improving the creek banks, adding retention ponds, raising buildings out of the flood plain, and adding culverts and minor gradations in the land to better drain water back into the creek bed. The plan, which would cost between $10 million to $15 million, would not raise water levels or increase velocity upstream or downstream, the developer has said.聽

George Stock, a prominent engineer working with TriStar, said Wednesday the creek聽is currently too small for the volume of water that flows through it. Stormwater also flows south from Tilles Park past Park Lane and onto the property. TriStar's plans will better drain that water into the creek, he said.聽

He said the plan will need approval from Ladue, the City of Rock Hill, the 最新杏吧原创 Metropolitan Sewer District and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.聽

"We have a good plan and we will continue to work on this plan and work with officials from cities and agencies to make sure we鈥檙e getting this right," he said.

Residents said they were doubtful.聽聽

Homeowners along Deer Creek said their basements and houses have flooded during heavy rains. Some have had to be rescued. They said it is too risky to approve new construction in the floodplain based on engineering assessments.

"What does this development do for Ladue that is worth putting our residents at risk?" Andrea Prosperi said.聽

Other residents raised concerns the project would worsen quality of life for surrounding neighborhoods.聽

McKnight Road already backs up with traffic for nearly a mile during peak hours and can't handle more daily travelers. They questioned whether the Ladue School District could handle an influx of new students. And they said the site's use for construction and a landfill make it unsuitable for housing.聽

"The best thing would be to turn it into a park," said Ron Leidenfrost.

The planning commission is expected to review the plan for several weeks before making a recommendation to the City Council on whether to approve rezoning for the project.聽

The commission next meets June 24 at the 最新杏吧原创 County Clark Family Branch Library.聽