It's a Puzzlement: City Ponders Voluntary/Involuntary Annexation

At the Feb. 21 public work session at Lake Saint Louis city hall, the board of aldermen and city staff discussed the issues involved with annexing a 16-acre parcel of land on Old Highway N.

"It gets kind of complicated real fast," said City Administrator Paul Markworth.

He explained that the parcel, which belongs to Don LaBrayere, is on the April ballot for an involuntary annexation if voters approve. 

But Markworth is in discussion with LaBrayere on the terms of a Voluntary Annexation Agreement which would set conditions for the annexation to occur before the election.

One of the issues in the annexation is that the land, which is located between Old N and new Highway N, is part of a larger parcel that includes 60 acres south of Old N. Both tracts together are currently part of a contract negotiation between LaBrayere and a retailer who wants to bring in a "Big Box" store.

The new store would sit on the land south of Old N, which is in O'Fallon. The 16 acres that would become part of Lake Saint Louis would eventually be developed as outlots to the Big Box store.

One concern, Markworth said, was that revenues in nearby Lake Saint Louis businesses would suffer.

LaBrayere is requesting conditions for the voluntary annexation that would allow for residential construction if the sale to the Big Box retailer doesn't go through, Markworth told the board. Particularly, LaBrayere is asking for 24 dwelling units per acre, and permission to construct a building up to 10 stories tall.

Markworth said that staff compared other nearby city's maximums for dwelling units per acre. "O'Fallon's is at 15 although WingHaven is 18, St. Peters is 14, and (St. Charles County) is 20. Nobody we can find allows 24," Markworth said.

Markworth said that the city could continue negotiations under the condition that the builder would be required to follow certain standards for stormwater and access for traffic, as well as the current codes and engineering standards for building.

The Big Box retailer is also asking for certain conditions, like having the same standards as the Hawk Ridge commercial development, keeping the "right in, right out" access on Orf Road, and having Old N vacated to the retailer.

Markworth mentioned that Old N belongs to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and that MoDOT would probably offer it first to the city.

Vacating Old N could be complicated by a piece of ground that is not part of the proposed development and is privately owned and occupied.

Markworth also said that city staff have not yet seen a site plan for the development, although they were told that it is in progress. "We've told them that we need certain assurances," Markworth said. "We'll agree to keep this one open and close this one—if the retailer agrees to grade and prepare the outlots so that they can be sold right away."

"We've been down this road before, with high-rises and density," Ward 3 Alderman John Pellerito said. "It's never been popular and previous boards have never approved it."

"I know this is a terrific opportunity. Hopefully it all works out," Pellerito said, and added that they really needed to see the site plan before making decisions.

Ward 3 Alderman Ralph Sidebottom said, "We've lived through the agony . . . because a former board made decisions that we couldn’t change.  I caution the board that before we start thinking about 10-story buildings, that it’s a very bad situation for the board to be in. Now that the clock is ticking, he (LaBrayere) suddenly has some very big demands."

"As far as density and height, we have standards already set, I don’t think we need to change them," Sidebottom said.

Markworth suggested that if the city got a site plan by Feb. 29, he could get the annexation agreement to the board for the March 5 meeting. He also said that the city could "get the ball rolling" on having Old N vacated to the city.

The risk of that, Markworth said, is that if the project didn't happen, the city could get stuck maintaining the road.

Ward 2 Alderman Kathy Schweikert asked about the condition of the road.

Public Works Director Derek Koestel said, "Fairly poor. The biggest risk is that if this development doesn't go through, a different development on the O’Fallon side might need access and we would have to maintain it—without any revenue generation."

Steve Schertel, director of community development, said that the city might want to build in some other provisions that would guarantee the quality of a development, even at 15 units per acre. "You might ask for common space, recreational facilities, swimming, tennis, similar to the Waterways."