West Newsmagazine 2-7-24
Local news, local politics and community events for West St. Louis County Missouri.
Local news, local politics and community events for West St. Louis County Missouri.
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WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM<br />
Fischer & Frichtel seeks to expand<br />
The Villages at Brightleaf in Wildwood<br />
By CATHY LENNY<br />
Fischer & Frichtel Custom Homes is<br />
looking to do an expansion of The Villages<br />
at Brightleaf in Wildwood’s Town Center.<br />
While a concept plan was presented to the<br />
city in July, the public hearing was just<br />
held on Tuesday, Jan. 16.<br />
At the Planning and Zoning (P&Z)<br />
Commission meeting, Chris DeGuentz,<br />
of Fischer & Frichtel, explained that The<br />
Pointe at Brightleaf expansion would be<br />
structurally similar to The Villages.<br />
The expansion is proposed for an 8.34-<br />
acre lot at the northeast corner of Hwy.<br />
100 and Hwy. 109, adjacent to The Villages.<br />
The 31 single-family homes would<br />
have the same villa concept with grounds<br />
maintenance included.<br />
When Fischer & Frichtel constructed<br />
The Villages, they extended Taylor Road,<br />
parallel to Hwy. 100 and connected it<br />
to old Eatherton Road, DeGuentz said.<br />
Access to the new property would be off<br />
of the new Taylor Road.<br />
“The intent is to carry that planning<br />
concept further by enhancing Taylor Road<br />
along the frontage of this property, widening<br />
it so that it’s the same standard as<br />
the rest of it ... and creating side streets<br />
that have these small pockets of homes on<br />
them,” he said.<br />
A continuous buffer would surround the<br />
site, DeGuentz added.<br />
The site would also have a walking trail<br />
and stormwater would drain down to a<br />
lake with a fountain, which would help<br />
serve as a buffer and also a beatification<br />
feature at that corner, DeGuentz said.<br />
Vegetation outside the property boundary<br />
lines would remain as well.<br />
He pointed out that the proposal would<br />
have a consistent planning concept, architecture<br />
and design standards and serve<br />
as a continuation of Brightleaf. It was<br />
implied that those features would be more<br />
desirable than the commercial 3-story,<br />
The Villages at Brightleaf (Source: Fischer & Frichtel)<br />
60,000-square-foot building that could be<br />
built there.<br />
But commissioner Scott Jackson was<br />
hesitant.<br />
“You’re going to take a commercial<br />
property, you’re going to clean up an<br />
unkempt property,” he said. Then asked,<br />
“You’re going to put residential with no<br />
direct access to 109 or 100?”<br />
Other residents were skeptical too.<br />
Felecity McGowen thinks it looks like<br />
a “lovely plan,” but she wanted to know<br />
more about how the developer planned to<br />
handle the traffic.<br />
“There’s probably at least one accident<br />
a day, if not more, that block the entrance<br />
to our neighborhood,” she said. “It’s quite<br />
hazardous.”<br />
Steve Collins noted that the firehouse<br />
on Hwy. 109 already produces a lot of<br />
noise for nearby residents.<br />
“Removal of all the green space in there<br />
is going to make that worse,” Collins predicted.<br />
“It’s an environmental injustice to<br />
us ... the noise level in that area is going<br />
to be ridiculous.”<br />
The developer is seeking a request for<br />
modification to the Town Center Regulating<br />
Plan and a change in zoning from<br />
commercial to residential to enable The<br />
Pointe at Brightleaf.<br />
No vote was taken at the meeting.<br />
February 7, 20<strong>24</strong><br />
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE<br />
I NEWS I 13<br />
EXPECT<br />
THE BEST<br />
DEMAND<br />
THE BEST<br />
ANNE RIORDAN, MD, FAAD<br />
• Board-Certified<br />
Dermatologist<br />
• 25 Years<br />
Experience<br />
in Cosmetic<br />
Procedures<br />
• Advanced<br />
Injector<br />
for Botox<br />
and Filler<br />
FENTANYL, from previous<br />
water contamination. Nar-Anon Midwest<br />
Region had a booth to share information<br />
about their support groups for people<br />
affected by someone else’s addiction. The<br />
Alliance for a Healthy Community was<br />
there and so was H.E.A.L: Heroin Education<br />
and Awareness League were giving out<br />
lock bags for medication kept at home to<br />
keep prescribed drugs safe. Ellis Fitzwalter<br />
of H.E.A.L. gave a demonstration on how to<br />
administer naloxone, also known as narcan,<br />
to someone having an opioid overdose. St.<br />
Louis County offers narcan for free at all St.<br />
Louis County Public Library locations.<br />
Larry Shelton, a Ballwin resident, said<br />
he came to learn about resources available<br />
for those with family members who are<br />
addicts because he has adult children who<br />
are addicts and wants to get them help.<br />
“I’m searching for answers,” Shelton<br />
said. “A lot of parents, especially of older<br />
children, don’t understand addiction.”<br />
For more information about the DEA’s<br />
fentanyl initiative visit dea.gov.<br />
636.458.8400 • WWW.FOREFRONTDERMATOLOGY.COM<br />
16516 MANCHESTER ROAD • WILDWOOD, MO 63040
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