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LSL overlay district gets back on track to redevelop business district

By Jeannie Seibert

It’s an exemplary example of representative government at its best.

Lake Saint Louis City Hall responded to property owners pressing for redevelopment of the city’s original business district, which is now beginning to show its age.

City Hall hired professional consultants to study the matter, was given a recommendation and proceeded to form an official overlay district targeted for redevelopment.

A developer came forward with an initial proposal for a high-density residential condominium project.

The residents became concerned.

Then, they got involved.

All progress on the project stalled.

Now, two residents will serve on an advisory committee made up of representatives from all aspects of the issue. The committee will study the overlay redevelopment project in depth and make its recommendation to the Board of Aldermen.

With the spirit of compromise in the air, the June 16 Lake Saint Louis Board of Aldermen work session and regular session seemed almost celebratory as months of conflict that resulted in delay had gotten back on track toward making some progress.

Mayor Michael Potter has presided over the entire process that, at times, became quite emotionally charged.

And, a resident, Kathy Schweikert, who had become the unofficial spokesperson for the opposition, has now emerged as a new partner to City Hall.

Schweikert will serve as one of two residents who will make up an advisory committee that the Board of Aldermen wants to be structured so as to include a cross-section of interested parties.

Along with Schweikert, there will be two aldermen, Harry Slyman (Ward 1) and John Pellerito (Ward 3), a representative of the Lake Saint Louis Community Association, two property owners from within the overlay district, an urban planner, one or two developers and the city’s arborist, Lorri Grueber.

The committee will have 60 days to refine draft language for amendments to the overlay district ordinance addressing building height, the number of residential units, specific locations of those units and forest preservation strictures.

After the committee reports its conclusions to the board in a work session, a second Town Hall meeting will be set. But when the board finalizes its amendment bill it will go through the normal Planning and Zoning process where there will be another public hearing.

Planning and Zoning will make its recommendation back to a formal Board of Aldermen regular session agenda for two readings.

That’s a long way in a relatively short time.

Just a few months ago one handful of the opposition had called for the entire overlay district to be bought out by City Hall and turned into a park – a suggestion that most have come to realize is economically unfeasible.

Through months of public hearings, a Town Hall meeting, one-on-one conversations, mass email communiqués and ward gatherings, most have learned that redevelopment is necessary and City Hall is willing to structure the rebuilding guidelines reflecting the residents’ concerns.

“This has been a real learning experience for me,” said Schweikert, who impressed all sides with her organization and communication skills.

Another who has been impressive has been Skip Defore, of Edgewater Point Condominiums, one of the partners in the development company with the first proposal for a building within the overlay district.

Defore and his partners have invested a great deal of time, money and unusual patience as the process has played out.

During the public comment period of the regular session, Defore recounted Edgewater’s history with the city to date.

Now, Defore said, Edgewater is waiting for a “clear sense of when a development might begin.

“We’ll just sit back and wait and see what develops,” Defore said. “We’re still very, very hopeful we can bring the project to the city.”

A resident, Jeff Schneider, who frequently joined Schweikert at the podium, also took a much more conciliatory tone from his initial stance.

Thanking the aldermen for holding the June 9 Town Hall meeting and taking the additional step to create the advisory committee, Schneider said, “We can debate. We can compromise.”

This is what the Founding Fathers had in mind when representative government was first proposed as the Great Experiment.