Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 4-5-17

10 I NEWS I
April 5, 2017
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
@MIDRIVERSNEWS
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
St. Charles County Council approves McClay Mansion plat, final plan
By BRIAN FLINCHPAUGH
Historic McClay Mansion
The approvals and permits are nearly in
place for a controversial wedding and
banquet center being developed on a
10.25-acre tract off of McClay Road in St.
Charles County that includes a 193-yearold
historic home.
Now the focus may shift to what will
be built on the tract, particularly an ornate
7,200-square-foot building by a company
that specializes in largely hand-crafted
barns, custom homes and large buildings.
Ruth Choate and Michael Stanford
sought something unique when it came
to the wedding and banquet center. They
found B & D Barn Builders, a company
from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
which offers custom building work and has
connections with the Mennonite religious
community, they said.
Mennonites are a diverse group whose
members sometimes adopt conservative,
and often 19th century, clothing similar
to the Amish, although they are separate
groups. They are known for their barnbuilding
and woodworking skills.
“We went up there to Pennsylvania and
met with them and just fell in love with it,”
Choate said. “They are amazing in what
work they do.”
A sawmill and forge will arrive on site
via four 18-wheel trucks. The house will
feature curved trusses, a 31-foot-high ceiling
and the building will featured handforged
iron hardware. “It’s going to blow
people away,” she said.
Choate and Stanford say they will house
and feed the company’s work crews while
they put up the barn, starting in June. The
barn is expected to be finished by Aug. 18
– the date of the first scheduled wedding.
Choate said she has 26 weddings scheduled,
which will be held on weekends.
The crews will be housed in the nearby
historic stone house. “They are all excited
to stay in a stone house,” Choate said. She
said workers and company members have
seen pictures and they are thinking of
bringing their wives. “They said they are
not used to such fancy accommodations,”
she said.
Choate spoke enthusiastically about
the building after the St. Charles County
Council took action at its March 27 meeting
on an issue that moves the development
one step closer to reality. The council
unanimously approved a preliminary plat
and final development plan for the site, to
be known as the “McClay Mansion.”
Plat and plan approval is one of the
final steps before construction can begin
to develop the site. The county still must
issue a building permit and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers also has to issue a
permit for a bridge planned to span a small
creek.
The approvals are the latest chapter of
a lengthy review process
and contentious debate
that started last year over
development of the property,
which is in the middle
of a residential area.
Choate and Stanford
requested to rezone the
property from residential
single-family to a planned
unit development [PUD]
designation that allows
commercial development
on about eight acres and
residential on two acres
for their own home. They
wanted to develop the
eight acres as a banquet
center to hold bridal showers and weddings.
The tract is located on the north side of
McClay Road, about 400 feet east of St.
Peters-Howell Road and about 300 feet
north of McClay. The property features
green space and trees and is largely surrounded
by homes. The stone house and a
70-year-old barn are the property’s major
features.
Choate said the property was restored
after it was purchased in 2013. She said
she wants to open up the historic house to
the public and the banquet center would
support upkeep of the property.
The old house will not be used for banquets
and the center would be built with
materials that limit noise, Choate said. She
said the center was not a party center but a
place for “elegant weddings.”
The banquet center plans were not supported
by some residents, who said traffic
is already heavy on McClay and St. Peters-
Howell roads and nearby ball fields have
bright lights and a nearby Elks Lodge
hosts weddings and other events.
Some of these residents said after the
meeting that they are looking into filing
suit to reverse the decision, which several
called “spot zoning” – allowing an inappropriate
commercial property in a residential
area.
Last September, the council approved a
rezoning request for the property that has
gone back and forth between the council
and the county’s planning and zoning commission
over the last several months.
A procedural error delayed approval and
it had to be heard twice by the county’s
planning and zoning commission before
the September approval. With a planned
unit development overlay district approved
as part of the zoning, the property owners
had to submit a preliminary plat and final
development plan to the planning and
zoning commission for review.
The county’s planning and zoning commission
recommended the council approve
the preliminary plat and final development
plan at its Feb. 15 meeting.
A nearby property owner, Lisa Portilla,
wrote a letter to the commission objecting
to approving the plat and plan because of a
concern that a historic cemetery might be
disturbed. County officials said there was
no clear evidence of a burial site. Under
state law, it would be up the property
owner and developer to properly handle
any marked or unmarked graves, they said.
Choate said work on the site will include
the new center, parking and landscaping,
which may cost more than $3 million.
“I think it’s going to be one of the most
beautiful places in Missouri to get married,”
she said. “I think it’s going to be one
of the most beautiful places in the United
States to get married and it’s right here in
St. Charles County.”
April once again brings showers of love
By BECCA NEWTON
Having a young child at home means joy
and laughter, but many families also experience
sorrow during this time. Another
child at home means another mouth to feed,
another body to clothe and another diaper
to change.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s
official poverty measure, more than 16
million children were living in poverty in
2011. The St. Charles area is looking to
change that.
“The Shower of Love was created to
provide access to baby-care necessities,
thereby reducing parental stress and lessening
the risk of child abuse and neglect,”
Michelle McElfresh, event coordinator,
said. “Donations from the Shower of Love
stock the shelves of the nine non-profit
agencies with baby-care essentials for 6 to
12 months for St. Charles County families
in need.”
Throughout April, nine different nonprofit
agencies will work together to assist
families in need that have babies and young
children. Those organizations, including
Nurses for Newborns, ThriVe, Sts. Joaquin
and Ann Care Service, the Community
and Children’s Resource Board and Youth
in Need, will partner with local business,
schools and churches to collect various
baby items for those in need. The Shower
of Love is looking for all types of babycare
products, such as formula,
diapers and baby bottles. Requests
also include pacifiers, sippy cups,
clothes and car seats. Gift cards and
cash donations also are welcome.
In addition to those separate
drives, volunteers from the partnering
agencies will be in 17 different
stores such as Walmart, Shop
& Save and Dierbergs on April 27
to collect donations. Last year, a
recorded $118,000 in total donations
was collected. Shower of Love hopes
to achieve that number this year as well.
“People are recognizing this as a real
issue and are getting into the habit of looking
for an opportunity to help others in
A volunteer with Our Lady’s Inn sorts donations from
the Shower of Love event.
[Shower of Love photo]
need and trying to reduce this stress that
can occur, especially with the costs being
so high for diapers and formula.” Bruce
Sowatsky, executive director for the Children’s
and Community Resource Board,
said.