Residents, applicant spar over Redbud rezoning; applicant asks to table revisions

At a Jan. 7 Dardenne Prairie Board of Aldermen meeting, resident Cheryl Bratton told the board she opposed the proposed Redbud development at 7393 Highway N and Stump Road and urged aldermen to follow city ordinances and the comprehensive plan. "When the Prairie Encore was approved, Dardenne Prairie's Board of Aldermen voted to violate the city's established height restriction, parking space, and apartment size ordinances," Bratton said, adding that Planning & Zoning had voted 7–1 against the most recent plan.

The applicant's representative, Charles Bordel of Bax Engineering, told the board he and his team are revising the area plan to reduce housing counts, increase floor plan sizes and alter the PUD elements, and he requested the board table the item while the changes are completed. "We're making significant changes to our area plan ... so we would like to table it as of right now until we get the area plan updated with the responses from planning and zoning," Bordel said.

Board members and staff discussed whether the applicant should withdraw and refile — which typically requires new application fees — or legally table the item and return with a revised plan. Several aldermen advised the applicant that if the revisions exceed a de minimis threshold (discussed by staff as commonly around 5%), the revised plan likely would need to be treated as a new application and return to Planning & Zoning for review.

Given the applicant's stated revisions, the board voted to continue (table) the public hearing for now with the expectation the applicant will work with staff and Planning & Zoning and return when ready. Bill Nos. 2602 (rezoning to R1D/PUD) and 2603 (conditional use permit) were read by title as first readings related to the same property; no votes were taken on those ordinances at the meeting.

The hearing's immediate outcome is procedural: the applicant will revise plans and coordinate with staff and P&Z. A future meeting will be required for the board to consider any resubmitted or revised application.