Minimum Lot Size, Home Size Bills Voted Down

After two contentious meetings with residents, the Board of Aldermen voted against changing several zoning ordinances. The proposed changes would have lowered minimum lot size and square footage requirements.

Residents argued lowering minimum standards wouldn't increase new home sales and would adversely impact their home values.

Aaron McPherson, an interim trustee in Stone Ridge Canyon, noted that his neighborhood was already impacted by market demand.

"There is a difference if you look at the houses built before the housing troubles and those built at the end," he said. "They are smaller."

McPherson said the was okay with changes to subdivisions that were not built out; but was against changes in subdivisions with existing homes.

Herb Lessor, the builder of Crystal Creek Subdivision, told the board of aldermen he felt he should wave a white hanky at the audience.

"There is no magic bullet to solve the real estate problem," he said. "People clearly hate the idea of smaller homes. They have optimism that the market will return in a reasonable amount of time. I'm not as optimistic."

Lesser said he feared market demand had changed forever with people not wanting bigger houses for investment purposes, owing to the cost of maintenance.

"You still have to heat, cool, furnish and clean it," he said.  

The theme of the residents complaints was that they bought their homes due to a certain standard of living in Wentzville and standard of housing in their respective neighborhoods. It was not right to change either of them at this point, they argued to the board.

The regulations were proposed after months of meetings with the Home Builders Association (HBA). The city initiated the talks in an attempt to jump start the housing market in Wentzville. 

There are over 3,600 vacant platted lots in Wentzville with city utilities running to them. There are thousands more that have not been platted and don't have city water, sewer or streets yet.

The board voted against the following ordinances. The rejection from the board means the legislation is dead.

• Bill No. 3266 — An ordinance amending Title IV. Land Use, Article IV, Schedule of District Regulations, Section 405.085: "R-1A," "R-1B," "R-1C," "R-1D," and "R-1E" Single-Family Residential Districts, Paragraph A, Pertaining to Minimum Lot Size and Paragraph D.1.E Pertaining to Minimum Lot Area of the Zoning Code of the City of Wentzville. 
• Bill No. 3270 — An ordinance amending Title IV. Land Use, Article IV, Schedule of District Regulations, Section 405.085: "R-1A," "R-1B," "R-1C," "R-1D," and "R-1E" Single-Family Residential Districts, Paragraph D.6 of the Zoning Code of the City of Wentzville Pertaining to Minimum Dwelling Size.
• Bill No. 3291 — An ordinance adopting the Revised Engineering Design Criteria Manual and Matters Relating Thereto. 

The board of aldermen passed the following bills.

• Bill No. 3278 — An ordinance amending Title IV. Land Use, Chapter 410, Article IV, Submission and Review of Subdivision Plats, Section 410.090: General and Section 410.110: Pre-Application Meeting Procedure, Paragraph A “Purpose” and B.1 and B.2 of the Zoning Code of the City of Wentzville. 
• Bill No. 3289 — An ordinance extending the Period of Validity of Certain Preliminary Development Plans, Final Development Plans and Preliminary Plats. 

A final vote on a bill dealing with procedures for Planned Developments was tabled. A vote to approve the bill was made and received three votes in favor and two against. It needed four votes for passage.

Alderman Vann Sample was excused from the meeting due to work obligations. The board decided to table the vote until the next meeting to allow for a vote of the full board.