This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 11, 2013: The St. Louis County Council passed a resolution on Tuesday to send an Oakville project for low-income seniors back to the county’s planning and zoning commission.
It was a move that pleased hundreds of residents of the south St. Louis County township that jammed Tuesday’s meeting.
Last May, the County Council unanimously approved an ordinance for National Church Residences to build housing for low-income seniors on Telegraph Road. The project is receiving funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Recently, Oakville residents have protested the development, saying the project is too large and too close to the Goddard School, a pre-school. They also said that insufficient notice was given to residents before the proposal was approved last year.
After a standing-room only hearing last week at Oakville High School, Councilman Steve Stenger – who sponsored the ordinance last year – promised to sponsor a resolution to send the matter back to the county's planning and zoning board for review.
Stenger, D-Affton, told the crowd:
“I think we all understand that perhaps the most fundamental element of democracy is the voice of the people and the people’s right to be heard. The residents of my district deserve to be heard. They clearly deserve a voice.”
When asked by Councilwoman Hazel Erby, D-University City, why he decided to ask for this resolution after the project got underway, Stenger said, “All these people have gathered and they’re saying that they didn’t get notice.”
In the end, Stenger’s resolution passed by a 5 to 1 margin, with Erby abstaining. The lone dissenter was Council Chairwoman Kathleen Burkett, D-Overland, who said, “We can’t go back and change the rules nearly a full year after this group has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying the property, getting the permits and paying for design and construction services.”
“Dumping this project back on the planning commission when we know we can’t change the outcome might feel good tonight, but it’s not going to change the fact that I don’t want to pretend to you that it would,” Burkett said.
For his part, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said that project had the proper notice and all the correct procedures were followed.
"The council had three separate public readings of the proposed ordinance, which was passed unanimously," Dooley said. "The council cannot lawfully go back and take away the development rights they already gave to the church for the project. I certainly hope there can be some resolution to this problem that doesn't end up costing the county -- and ultimately citizens -- millions of dollars in lawsuits by the developer.”
Dooley declined to speak to reporters after the meeting. Stenger left the council chambers before he could to speak to the press.
Public speakers overwhelmingly opposed proposal
Before the council voted on the resolution, Oakville residents spoke in overwhelming numbers about the proposed development. In addition to residents, two state lawmakers from opposing parties -- state Rep. Marsha Haefner, R-Oakville, and state Sen. Scott Sifton, D-Affton -- supported Stenger's resolution.
Sifton said. “The constituents that I represent have expressed very serious concerns about the intensity of the [project] that has been proposed.”
Oakville resident Richard Dohack told the council that his son attends the Goddard School.
“I have an issue with anyone I don’t know being able to look down at my son on that playground every single day. We don’t know what any of these people are capable of,” he said.
But at least one speaker said that opponents of the development were sending a troubling message.
Miles Larson – an Oakville native who attends St. Louis University – said, “There are legitimate reasons to oppose this project – such as the height of the building. However, the reasons why people are getting infuriated have nothing to do with those concerns and more to do with thinking that poor people are criminals.”
Economic development partnership
Meanwhile, the council advanced a measure to combine some economic development efforts of the city and St. Louis County.
Earlier this year, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley announced a joint venture called the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. While both jurisdictions will still have their own economic development agencies, the partnership will combine programs aimed at fostering business development, job creation and entrepreneurship.
The arrangement needs approval from the council and the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to go into the effect. The Board of Aldermen initially approved a bill last month and are expected to finally pass the bill this Friday.
The measure needs another vote from the council to receive final passage.
