Mosley Road Development Project Dominates Council Session

Creve Coeur risks losing residents in the city who no longer have the need for the type of home they raised their children in, according to community members who came to Monday's Creve Coeur City Council to back a Mosley Road development proposal. 

Benton Homes has proposed a Residential Designed Development (RDD) project on 4 acres for 10 villa-style homes that would cater to "empty nester" couples who don't need 4 bedroom homes on large lots they once wanted for their children.

Using the city's Comprehensive Plan as his defense, Benton's William Levinson told council member the project improves upon an 11 home development proposal which was approved years ago but that was never built. He added that for land known in city parlance as a "transitional property", the proposal clearly stakes the area's future as residential, as opposed to being consumed by expanded commercial development nearby.

The property would be just south of the future Goddard School near the intersection of Mosley and Olive.

Ellen Lawrence, a Mosley Road resident, implied the project did not live up to the Comprehensive Plan's test for changing zoning from single-family, and because of the density of the project, was not compatible with area homes.

"We are the target audience for this project," said Barry Spielglass, a Ladue Downs resident who, with his wife, is looking to downsize. "Where would we go, I'll tell you. there's only one place right now, and that's Chesterfield. There's Chesterfield or West. There's nothing like this at this price range with this quality in this neighborhood, and if you want to keep good residents that are aging, the population is aging, this is a development, it may not be this particular one but it's this type of development," he said.

A handful of the residents who spoke against the project mentioned the stormwater runoff implications, which is where Ward 2 Councilwoman Tara Nealey focused her questioning, especially when Levinson suggested that the proposal would be an improvement over current conditions.

"I would like to see some thought given to if it doesn't turn out the way it's predicted," Nealey said of some of the development's stormwater assumptions.

One possibility floated at Monday's meeting was the idea of establishing an escrow fund.

The project could come back for a second hearing before city council January 28.