Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 6-27-18

8 I NEWS I
June 27, 2018
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
@MIDRIVERSNEWS
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
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East Terra Lane detour map
news
briefs
DARDENNE PRAIRIE
City clears the way
for rehab facility
The Dardenne Prairie Board of Aldermen
has given its OK to a rezoning from
residential to commercial, a conditional
use permit and a site plan that will clear the
way for a once-controversial $8.5 million,
38-bed rehabilitation facility.
The facility rests on 5.19 acres near the
Canvas Cove subdivision; city officials
are saying it’s an example of cooperation
between residents and developer that
could be emulated by other cities.
The board voted 4-0 at its June 6 meeting
to approve the conditional use permit for
a surgical and elderly rehabilitation facility
on property zoned general commercial
district along with a site plan on the tract at
7275 Hwy. N at Monet Drive.
The permit and site plan had been
reviewed and recommended by the city’s
planning and zoning commission. Aldermen
John Gotway and Dan Koch [both of
Ward 3] were absent.
The board’s action is the latest chapter
in the ongoing saga involving the rehab
center that began in September 2016 when
the St. Charles County Council voted to
approve a conditional use permit to allow
the rehabilitation facility on the property,
which at the time was unincorporated. The
tract was largely surrounded then by the
city of Dardenne Prairie with the Canvas
Cove subdivision to the north and west of
it.
The proposed facility would primarily
serve elderly patients in need of short-term
physical therapy. The one-story, 38-unit
facility would cater to patients staying two
to three weeks. Subdivision residents were
worried about the safety issues involving
school children using buses, lowered property
values and entrance into the subdivision
if a Monet Drive entrance became a
reality.
At the time, city officials told the subdivision
that having the project on unincorporated
land limited the city’s control
because it was outside the city’s jurisdiction.
Ultimately city voters approved an involuntary
annexation of the property in the
November 2017 election. Sunterra Springs
of O’Fallon, the owner of the property,
requested a voluntary annexation of the
property that the board accepted, which
spared the city from further expenses to
complete the involuntary annexation process
in circuit court.
Subdivision residents were still worried
at a public hearing in May about the
[Courtesy City of O’Fallon]
impact of delivery trucks bringing food,
medical supplies and for removing trash.
At a continuation of the public hearing
on June 6, Matt Fogarty, project manager
at Premier Engineering, Architecture &
Survey, LLC, presented a new drawing,
reflecting changes to off-street and loading
dock facilities, that limits the use of Monet
Drive.
The board went along with the changes,
with Mayor David Zucker noting that the
city may adopt traffic regulations based on
what happens in the future.
The board voted and Sunterra and Fogarty
drew praise from Zucker and Mike
Costlow, president of the Canvas Cove
Homeowners Association. “This has been
a long journey,” Costlow said, thanking
the city for its consideration of the issue.
“It definitely could have been much worse.
This plan looks very different. It’s much
kinder to the neighbors. I believe [Sunterra
has] tried to address all the concerns that
have been brought forward. We wish this
was something else – we would love to
have the apple orchard back.”
Zucker congratulated the developer and
nearby residents. “I commend everybody
who has addressed this issue,” Zucker
said. “I think you have done it in a professional
way, in a respectable way, and set
an example that other cities would do well
to follow.”
Work could begin on the facility as early
as this fall.
O’FALLON
East Terra Lane closed
East Terra Lane will be closed to traffic
at least until early August as work on the
I-70 Traffic Flow Improvements project
continues.
The project contractor will be installing
the new slip ramp in this area. Once this
area re-opens in August, East Terra will
become a one-way only [westbound] road.
During the closure, drivers will be able
to access Country Life subdivision via
Hilltop Way, with East Terra remaining
open as a two-way street from the junction
of Hilltop Way to T.R. Hughes Boulevard.
However, access to East Terra from
the Sonderen Street loop and Harmony
Lane will be closed. Veterans Memorial
Parkway and I-70 will be open and provide
alternate routes for driving from one
interchange to the other during construction
related to the planned improvements
to the I-70 corridor.
Construction on the new south outer
road will be starting once the final utilities
are adjusted. That work is expected to continue
until late Fall 2018.
In July, the City’s street department will
be connecting Vine Street to the Sonderen
Loop road.
Owner of Gus Gus Fun Bus dies
O’Fallon resident Michael “Mike”
Arnold, 54, died on June 21 from injuries
sustained on Saturday, June 16 when he
was struck by a vehicle during a carjacking
in downtown St. Louis. Arnold was locally
known as the owner of Gus Gus Fun Bus, a
14-passenger rentable party bus that operated
out of O’Fallon.
Arnold had been receiving treatment
from the intensive care at SSM Health St.
Louis University Hospital. He suffered
from multiple injuries, including broken
vertebrae, femur, elbow and ribs and a
punctured lung.
Arnold and another man were hit by a
stolen Ford F-150 truck during a robbery
attempt along Chestnut Street. The men
had witnessed the carjacking and were
intentionally struck by the driver of the
stolen vehicle.