Master Plan Citizen Oversight Group - 2026 - Regular Meeting

meeting. Joe, I'm exceptionally excited about hearing how many we have left. So if you'll bring that up when we're done, look forward to that. I want to especially thank everybody for coming on this wonderful evening. We have a good turnout tonight and it's highly appreciated. So thank you for that. Does it look like we have any comments from the mayor? So Would you please have roll call? Thank you.

Mayor Garitano? Chair Routon?

Here.

Vice Chair Loyal?

Here.

Member Avery? Member Baker? Member Beatty? Member Boomer Schlegel? Here. Member Boren? Member Clark?

Here.

Here via Zoom. Member Clayton?

Here.

Member Coleman?

Here.

Member Depler? Member Helfrey? Here. Member Homan? Member Rubis?

Here.

Member Jackson?

Here.

Member Cohn?

Here.

Member McCutcheon? Here. Member Metz? Member Pick? Council Member Rambo?

Here.

Member Wren.

Here.

And Member Shakin. We have a quorum.

Thank you very much. I appreciate everybody coming out. If you could all join me now in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Any questions or comments about last month's minutes? Do we have a motion to accept as is? I'll make that motion. Second? Second it is. Minutes are approved. Thank you. Okay, thank you. All in favor of accepting those as it is? Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'll begin. Thank you. Mr. Chair and members of the group, I too, like the chair, would like to extend my appreciation for you all being here tonight. Obviously, quorum is a magic number at times, and certainly you've done your fair share of them. So it would be inappropriate if the Department of Planning, the four members sitting in front of you, did not acknowledge your attendance and certainly show our appreciation. So thank you. As always, we have coffee soda and water available, along with some treats in the back of the room, so please help yourself my thanks to melody and dawn for arranging them and getting them out here tonight for us as the Chair mentioned. We will have a revised schedule relative to our meetings that will be the last item to be discussed at tonight's session. The reason we're doing a revised schedule relates to a conversation we had with our public relations person, Debbie Ward. of Silver Tablet Marketing. And you'll recall she was with us in the early months of our meeting schedule and assisted us in developing the survey that we conducted in March and then had results in April of 2025. And so her schedule, the availability of the building, et cetera, brought us to this conclusion that we needed to adjust a few dates to make sure it worked for everyone. And then finally, the item that is first on tonight's agenda relates to the fifth and final land use category change. And I would note that Mr. Pasiglia is here. And with the permission of the chair and the group, I'm sure he'll have some input. And maybe it would be best not to wait till the end of meeting to hear that. So When the department concludes its presentation and any questions or comments from the group members are made, the department would appreciate an opportunity at least to introduce Mr. Pasiglia, and if he has anything to say, certainly give him that opportunity. Speaking of that particular property, as you know, it's the compilation of three properties that are situated on the west side of Clayton, excuse me, on the west side of Route 109 at its intersection with Clayton Road. It has, for the better part of three decades, been a plant nursery with greenhouses and a accessory or a permitted sales room. Over time, that particular intersection has changed substantially. Quite frankly, when the Siglia's nursery opened, Clayton Road did not extend to Route 109. It ended in the winding trail subdivision and ultimately was extended with the development of Lafayette High School. So as you can imagine, The Pasiglia's nursery has seen a lot of changes in the vicinity. The most recent set of changes have been the improvements made to Route 109 north of Route 100, now extending all the way to the intersection of Route 109 with State Route BA or Babler Park Drive. Those improvements include a traffic signal, multiple turn lanes, improved pavements, pedestrian lights and touch pads, etc. So it is, for the purposes of Wildwood, a major intersection by any measure that we have here in this particular city. However, the area around it does not necessarily anticipate a commercial designation of the property. The conditional use permit grants the current use, and that use is protected by the conditional use permit. Conditional use permits are not with the business or the individual or entity they are granted to the property and stay with the property regardless of ownership and any changes associated with such. So from the perspective of the property, it is designated non-urban residential area, which almost the entirety of the surrounding properties are as well. is non-contiguous to town center and certainly many miles removed from the industrial area designation of the master plan. It's complicated because we have a commercial business in many ways in a non-urban residential area under a conditional use permit. The request of Mr. Pasiglia at the last meeting was not necessarily to open the doors wide open, I'm sure he would appreciate it, that being maybe a fast food restaurant with drive-through, a convenience store with gas pumps and a car wash, et cetera, but have more flexibility. and you as group members spent much of the discussion trying to feather through what more flexibility meant. The department was stern to a degree in saying that the town center designation of these properties would be inappropriate given it would be non-contiguous and certainly lead to potential problems on the remaining corners of the intersection. As the discussion concluded, the group and the department agreed to not take action and allow for the department to look at how an accessory determination might work for the property. And so tonight, that's what is before you from the department. There are three types of uses in each of our zoning districts generally. There are those permitted by right. So in the non-urban resident district, the zoning district, single family dwellings on three acre lots are permitted by right. If you own a three acre lot and want to build a home on it, if you meet all of the other codes, tree preservation, stormwater management, the city is obliged to issue a permit. Conditional uses require special action from the Planning and Zoning Commission and review by city council. Conditional uses are those that are considered supportive of the residential fabric of the particular district, those being non-urban in all the R districts, and then in R commercial, as well as in industrial. So view them as supporting services to the primary use. The third is accessory. Those have a very specific definition, and the department provided that. It relates to when such is customarily found in conjunction with the primary use, is reasonably necessary incident to the primary use, clearly subordinate to the primary use, And then finally, serves only to further the successful utilization of the primary use. So those are the four criteria the department reviews when determining if an accessory use is appropriate or not in conjunction with the established primary use. View the conditional use almost the same as the primary use in this particular case. And so what the department has provided to you is what it believes would be a list of appropriate accessory uses or activities to be considered in conjunction with the plant nursery, greenhouses, and associated sales rooms. Those include an art gallery in conjunction with a coffee shop, an event venue, including cafe, but no fast food, flower or plant store, maybe close to what we already have in many regards. Office warehouse facility for nursery-related products, which in the department's opinion could be tools and equipment that further the benefit of our residents in terms of managing their properties and doing things along those lines to maintain them. Open-air market for retail purposes. Think of a farmer's market. and then finally a childcare center, which is a conditional use already in the non-urban resident district. The department believes that this list of uses, when taken in the context of the defining words associated with the uses, could be considered accessory and occur on the property. believe that based upon the department's opinion that given the network of roads, the level of traffic, the traffic improvements such as the signal, and the surrounding land use, the property could accommodate it and not have an impact. Final component of this presentation the department is providing to you regarding Site 5 is that if you're concerned about the 10-acre vacant property on the northeast corner of the same intersection, it doesn't have an established primary use. And if it were, it would have to be a plant nursery with breed houses and a sales room. And then it could be considered for similar accessory use. It can't be anything other than what the primary use allows and the primary use has not yet been established, which means it stays non urban residential area and it's probably a topic for future discussion many years down the road. So that's the department's proposal to you tonight. As I said, Mr. Pasiglia is here, but if there are any questions or comments before the chair accommodates maybe some input from the property owner, the department would be glad to answer them at this time.

Brenda, or Deborah, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I'm a little confused. So Mr. Pasiglios is wanting to change the designation, make the lot bigger. What's he wanting to do?

From the perspective of the department's investigation, no. The property would stay its current size. But on the property, Mr. Pasigli is seeking greater utilization, different uses than what's allowed at this time. But under the recommendation of the department, the use would stay, but additional accessory uses might be considered.

And is he wanting additional accessory?

Pardon me?

Is he wanting more accessories? And what are they?

Again, the accessories are an art gallery in conjunction with a coffee shop, event venue, flower plant store, office warehouse, facility for nursery-related items, open-air market for retail purposes, and then finally a child care center, which could be considered right now under a conditional use permit with the current zoning district designation.

But those don't seem to go with this current operation, so why is that the request?

Well, from the perspective of the department, I'm certainly... the director more so than probably or less so than the others around me. Oftentimes at sales rooms, at plant nurseries, I've seen art displayed, sculpture, et cetera. People put those in their yards in conjunction with their gardening. An event venue was discussed at the last meeting in the opportunity to take advantage of the aesthetics a plant nursery offers and hold maybe small receptions, things along those lines. And then a flower plant store, kind of what's there now, so to speak. Office warehouse facility for nursery-related items. That could be a lawnmower. It could be a wheelbarrow. It could be trimmers, things like that. Open-air markets, the setting would be great. Parking's available, and there's traffic control on the street. And then finally, the child care center.

The child care center just throws me. I don't understand why that would be part of what it currently does or even expanding it. Why a child care center?

Well, a child care center was added by the department based upon the fact that in the non-urban resident district at this time, it is a conditional use that can be considered in the non-urban resident district. So it's an intensification, the use in many regards to the department. That's why it was added. But it's already something that could be considered if no change was offered by the group to the property. So it's already kind of plugged in, so to speak.

So no change was allowed by the group last time?

No, the action was to postpone and consider what uses might be considered accessory to what's there now, the plant nursery and related components.

He's not asking for town center designation. He's not asking for industrial use designation.

Well, it was discussed, but the department, as I said, was a bit stern and said adding a town center island non-contiguous to its current boundary would not be a good step. And the industrial area is just too far removed. And at an earlier meeting, I believe in April, We denied the request for an industrial designation at Route 109 and Route BA on the north end because it was an island and non-contiguous. So if we did it there, I felt it would be inappropriate to do it here.

Yeah. As former council member for Ward 5, I really don't think what he's asking for is appropriate for that area, nor do I think the residents would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Ed?

You know, given the stoplight, the access that the nursery's been there literally for decades, I think it's a very appropriate request. I don't think it's going to have any detrimental effect on traffic. If there is a concern, then like any other type of business or zoning, look at a traffic study. But with a stoplight there, they've owned it for years. It makes perfect sense to approve something.

Thank you. Teresa.

Thank you, Chair. Yeah, let me back up. Let me wait until I hear what Mr. Peseglie has to say before I speak.

Okay, we'll come back. Joe, I have a specific question. We're not going to change the zoning designation for the property. That's so, can the Pasiglia's petition the planning department at any given time for unconditional use permit when they have a plan or they locked out for 10 years?

Well, as we discussed at our last meeting, in the past, when developers or property owners that come forward to the Planning and Zoning Commission and requested a master plan change in conjunction with a new zoning designation, the Planning and Zoning Commission has generally said, we don't do them unless they're part of the update of the master plan. That's a nod toward the significance of our land use plan and the components associated with it. So to answer your question, certainly any property owner can petition the city first through the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council and say, I want a master plan change, whether it's a year from now, five years from now, or eight years from now. However, past actions have indicated they have limited success. And that's why it's important that we cover all the bases when we discuss these items at this meeting.

Isn't the conditional use permit, though, kind of a different animal?

It is because it's granted by the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the City Council only has review authority. Now, they can, under that review authority, change it. But generally speaking, it then requires a supermajority to change what the commission has granted or not granted.

Do the 10-year guardrails necessarily apply to a cop?

I think so, yes.

Okay. Okay.

Vicki.

So I appreciate the effort that you put into this and the time you took to do this. I would have a question about classroom to add to that, you know, for educational purposes, for, you know, I don't know, planning classes or pottery or whatever. But I do have a question about the word warehouse. And it just goes back to the houses that back to this property. And so when you say warehouse, it's a scary word, I think. You know, if I lived there and somebody used to... Just use that word, right? I would be like, well, what are they putting in behind my house? So I think that maybe my ask would be that we were a little bit more descriptive with that and maybe explain what that was so that it isn't that somebody. you know, thinks that or that they can come in and put a warehouse warehouse with large earth moving equipment or a landscape company buying it and putting all their storage equipment there because we said we can have a warehouse. So that would be my only ask. But thank you for doing what you did.

Well, Ms. Humphrey, if I may, Mr. Chairman. In terms of the educational component, I didn't think of that, so thank you. I think that could be a perfect addition to the list of accessory uses. And certainly, we'll look at the warehouse description.

Yeah, I agree with everything Vicky said. I also agree with Ed sort of philosophically. An art gallery, a coffee shop, plant store, open-air market, those are enhancements to the community is the way I see them. And they're also just, they're classically ancillary uses for that property, given that it's been a plant nursery for decades with a retail store already there. So I think this is, I think we're on the right track here, but my question is, How how do we have to think about the Chihuly folks now? Because they're kind of doing the same thing on on St. Albans Road. And they have a similarly sized property and they might want they they when they were in Manchester on Manchester, they had a beautiful property. you know, retail facility and all those kinds of things. If are they precluded from asking for such things or should we incorporate them somehow in this discussion? I don't know. I'm just asking. I'm just trying to think ahead.

Well, Cholula does now have a conditional use permit. Very similar. In fact, identical, so to speak, to the Pasiglia nursery or plant nursery, greenhouses and sales room. They can sell, within the context of the sales room, things related to their primary use, which is the plant nursery and greenhouses. So I don't see them not necessarily being able to replicate what they did on Manchester Road in the city of Manchester, minus some of the signage that obviously we warned them about on State Route T. However, circumstances are very different. There is no institutional uses next door across the street. There is no Route 109 with multiple lanes. There is no Clayton Road with signalization at the intersection. So when I look at the two, they may be under the same umbrella of a conditional use permit, but the areas are very, very different to me.

So their business seemed like an art gallery. in nature and having a coffee shop there or something like that, that would be a wonderful addition to their business. And I'm just, I'm trying to make sure that they have an avenue to pursue that if they decide to do so.

With the concurrence of the group, we could certainly add to the lily, that particular property to the, to the list and make a number six, so to speak.

Does everyone know what I'm talking about? That business? Yeah, it's a, it was a great business down there and I hope, I hope for the same up here. So.

What I will say is the other nursery, Zick's Great Outdoors, they're under a C8 plan commercial district, so it's a very different type of animal, so to speak.

Jim?

Right now, could the Cygnus sell lawn garden equipment, trimmers, lawnmowers?

From the perspective of St. Louis County, and I think the logic is appropriate, those handheld tools, certainly. The concern was is that we become a hardware store. And a hardware store has mowers and other equipment that can be used in your garden and yard. So typically the dividing line is if you can hold it in your hand and use it, great. If it's on four wheels, two wheels, has a motor, probably not.

The other thing is, and I was trying to look up the name, there is a nursery in downtown St. Louis. And I can't remember, it might be mid-city somewhere. It's very typical. I don't know if you know the name of it, but they have a restaurant and classes and all kinds of things like that. And it's right in a residential neighborhood.

I think it's Bowood Farms or something like that. Was it named Bowwood Farms?

Yes, that's it. It's a great place and it's a kind of a happening place for wedding showers and things like that. I would not have any problem.

I think that's a great example of what the department is trying to do here is take advantage of the aesthetics that a plant nursery offers and build on that to create something that the community would embrace. We certainly don't want to create problems. But if you've had the opportunity to make a left-hand turn off of Route 109 to Clayton Road, you'll know there's a lot of traffic there because people are complaining a lot about the backup. So I guess what I'm saying is it's a very unusual site. And I think some latitude in terms of the accessory uses would be reasonable.

Yeah, I was going to say this part of what Joe said. The traffic there is tremendous, especially during the school year with the students coming and going. That section from 100 up to Clayton Road is busy all the time. And so is the portion on Clayton Road down to probably Westland Farms. The traffic is always very busy. So I don't think adding to the traffic is appropriate. We have lots of complaints by residents who live there. We have coffee shops in town center and how successful are they? The open-air market is successful, but is that a good location for that? While some of these things sound wonderful, I think it sounds wonderful because you don't live there. And if you're gonna, you're there all day, you're coming and you're going and that's next to your property, what impact is that gonna have on your property? what impact as far as noise is it gonna happen um you know it sounds some of these things sound wonderful but i really don't think the residents are going to be happy about living in that kind of environment

I'm just going to speak just to that, what Mrs. McCutcheon's just said. So I live by there and I drive there all the time because I work part time at St. Albans and I drive there all day long. I'm firmly convinced that the reason that the traffic is bad is because MoDOT messed with the lights. So, in addition to that, I don't think that this kind of activity that we're talking about expanding this fork would grossly inflate the traffic. And the hours that his business is in, I don't think would be during the high traffic hour. Because it's awful. It's an awful mess when the schools are there rush hour in the morning and then in the afternoon. I will give you that all day long because MoDOT messed with the lights. But I don't think that the hours that these things would be in use would materially affect the traffic. And I say that driving it multiple times a day. So I have to say thank you.

There's no question that the traffic at that location is brutal at times. The addition of a coffee shop or whatever there, it's really not going to make a bit of difference. You know, there's no real gap time, but when you factor in, it's a signalized intersection. And just like Vicki said, the hours of operation aren't going to impact it. The residents aren't going to be hurt because when I, that's my belief. I mean, Others will disagree. Residents always don't like things, the vocal minority. But it really seems like an appropriate use. It'll attract more people. And we talk about the heavy traffic. Look at it another way. It's a plus. More people drive by there, which would go towards the sustainability and success of the operation. Unfortunately, when you compare it to the town center, we're lacking all of those. So this really does make sense.

Thank you.

Mr. Siglia, would you like to address the group, please?

Yes. First of all, thank you for everyone showing up. I do appreciate it. I know it's a subject that, you know, I want to... It's a... Yeah, at some point you want to sell your property, but, you know, but it's a business that I've built on my life and I'd love for that property to, you know, be a revenue generator for me for the rest of my life. So, you know, that's the ideal plan. The only way to do that, I think is, especially with the way I don't fall into the town center plan is, you know, to maybe try and masterfully do better and expand a little bit on what I have And with a artful touch with, with design, with, uh, uh, something that will, you know, maybe be a landmark and wildwood would at some point in time, you know, that that's, that would be my goal. Um, and in order to do that, you know, I may not even build this. I may not be able to, you know, I, but I want to take a, I do want to design it. I do want to lay it out. I do want to, uh, um, you know, create something that is special, that's unique. And, you know, if it's not me, maybe it's an opportunity for somebody else to build, you know, this vision. So, and, but, you know, I want to do something that's, you know, it's community driven, that we can, you know, the Basiglias, you know, can, you know, generate some income from, you know, a lifelong of years spent there, you know, in the nursery business, being a taxpayer here in Wildwood for 30 plus years. So we would just like to continue at some point, but just, you know, with the, you know, just additional uses than what I have right now. And, you know, to address the warehouse, you know, portion of it, I think there would need to be storage, you know, so storage, you know, facility, you know, because if the landscape company, you know, designs and creates this special space around this maybe future event center, you know, well, I'll need warehouse space or some type of facility to house some, you know, supplies for my landscaping company. Um, but, um, you know, we want to do it tasteful, you know, and, you know, that would all, you know, before you put all the, all the planning into place and, and, and design and all of that, it's, you know, that's, that's expense that I'd like to feel comfortable, you know, um, putting forth, you know, that effort, you know, with the, you know, the, the Wildwood, um, green light that maybe something like this could be built, you know, and so that's that's what I'm here looking for.

It's a question for Mr. President. Does the uses that have been laid out by the department, the accessory uses, is that consistent with your plan or desire?

You know, it is. I think, you know, I can't say from 20 years what I would love to see there. You know, is it something different? Is it, you know, but I do see... You know, I see the need, I think, for out here in Wildwood. I think if it's a unique spot, you know, you have, of course, you got the free French hens that's got that unique feel and draw. I'd have to say that I think we work really hard at trying to have a unique place and a nice garden center. And when you drive by, you know, that garden center that we work really hard at, you know, making it look presentable for the city and not run down and although I do need new siding on my house and I need to get that it's expensive. So, but there's, you know, but that's, that's also part of it. You know, I want to put siding on my, on that house and, and I want to landscape it to the nines and I want it to be.

What's been proposed would be acceptable to you.

Yes, I think so. Yes. You know, you know, and then especially for the next 10 years, I think that's going to be,

something that maybe the city you know we could work on together you know uh and you could be acceptable and then you know in 10 years we can revisit thank you so teresa thank you chair yeah i i had a few questions um um firstly the the the location of it right across from the school and and not too far from the elementary school What is the Missouri law about selling alcoholic beverages at something like an event center or a cafe that close to school property? I know that there's some laws about that, but I don't know how close you could be. And also, what is our anticipated, and maybe Mr. Brown would need to answer this, at some point, but our anticipated percentage of increase in traffic, instead of us just assuming we know, well, it's not going to be much more, or I think that it won't cause a problem, or I think it will cause a problem. If we have some idea of what that would bring if we had these different, say, more business, what is it going to bring in on the roads? And having the school across the street, is that going to encourage, if we had like a coffee shop, encourage a lot of teenagers to be crossing back and forth across the road? Will we need to talk about who is going to, who would, increase the safety measures for students crossing back and forth across the road. I just look at this as the overall city and I feel for Mr. Paseglia and his point of view. The second man that spoke last time also mentioned about selling the property and what that would do. And although I feel that's very important to each of our residents that own property like that, the master plan in my mind is focused on the property itself. And will that be something that is gonna protect the public health and welfare of our city and not specifically benefit the, say the owners of one one particular property, just to be fair in the zoning proportions, so to speak. The plan to expand, I still don't feel like it's solid in what we're hearing. These ideas that are in our write-up, the art gallery, the event venue, we still don't know how big these things are and is a warehouse facility, just like Vicki was talking about, what is this warehouse facility? And I have to agree with a lot of what Deborah was saying also about the residents that live around that area. We need to make sure that we're keeping it compatible with the surroundings. And I know that, you know, and you said that it is compatible and, and I just don't want to see Wildwood have a urban sprawl all the way there when we're trying to keep it in our, our town center and keep the town center busy and, um, bringing in a lot more foot traffic there. I guess I just still have so many questions in my head that I, um, I'm not convincing myself one way or another, so I still want to hear what everybody has to say.

Thank you, Vicki.

Thank you, Chair. I am going to make a motion to approve the city's recommendation with the addition of an education facility in a better defined use of the warehouse. Because I firmly believe that this can be very tastefully done very nicely done. There's a place out in Warrington called Long Row Lavender. You're aware of it. It's a small farm. It's not huge at all. Farm is probably not the right word. They have a barn. They have a small little tea cafe. They have a place for a classroom. It's beautiful. And Pasiglia, their property is always beautiful. And I think that they absolutely could pull these things off that are listed that the city took the time to specifically list. I think they could pull this off and do a very good job of it. So that's my motion is to approve what the city recommended with the addition of education and with a more narrowly defined or better defined use of the term warehouse.

Second.

Before we vote, Joe, can we accomplish the same thing? We've got six things listed. They're not defined. We don't know what they are. We kind of know what they are. But could we put verbiage in the master plan that we agree to review within the next 10 years a conditional use permit when it's presented and not lock it out? Is that an option? Or do we have to vote on something very specific tonight?

This is not specific, though. This is broad. This leaves it so that they have the opportunity to come and be specific.

But again, is there verbiage available that says they have a cup? Can they further that cup with additional businesses at a later date which are synonymous to his business?

Mr. Chair, the conditional use permit process would be limited to a non-urban resident district. And if not listed as one of the conditional uses as part of that district, they could ask for one from another zoning district, but the master plan would put it.

That answers my question. Vicki, please restate and we'll vote. Deborah?

I don't know that it means.

Well, according to, if I understand Mr. Vunich correctly, this is an accessory use list that we're doing, which is different from the CUPs and different from the zoning. So you've got the zoning, then you've got the CUPs, is that correct? And then you've got the accessory uses. So if we specify the accessory uses now, then they're in there for the 10 years. As a general rule, the planning and zoning can't add the accessory uses, right? Because it's not in the master plan. Am I stating that correctly?

I think you are. Again, the direction I left last meeting with was to ensure that the non-urban residential land use designation is retained on the property, but maybe to consider opportunities for accessory or complementary uses to be accommodated there within the context of the plant nursery, greenhouse, and sales room.

So it still has to meet the non-urban rules. It still has to fit into the non-urban and it still has to, he still has to have a CUP, but this allows him to request these items.

But some of these items are the issues that I think the residents are going to have an issue with. And I think if you want to make this announcement plan change, then you need to be more specific about What those items are, like she said, the warehouse. What is that? I mean, do you want to live in the same neighborhood with a warehouse?

I did ask Mr. Vunich to just more clearly define it. And so I think that that's if we give them the reins that they'll do it.

I mean, well, I think it's clearly defined. I don't think we want to do it all the time.

Motion is second, right?

Well, yeah, the whole lot. We're still discussing, but then we'll go. Rob?

Yeah, I'll make this quick. I'm having trouble thinking right now because Jim has me thinking about my last meal at Bowood. And I am thinking back even further to Pond Inn. It was a great, great thing for the community. People drove out here when there was a whole lot less going on in Wildwood. To dine at that restaurant, it was, I'm confident it was no problem, even for the neighbors and whatnot. And so I'm hoping that we open up the opportunity for some finer dining type of establishment there. It only had a few tables. It was, you know, didn't cause a ruckus. I'm salivating over that, but I don't really see that. It wasn't a cafe. And so I'm not sure that our definition is quite broad enough in that particular way. Other than that, I support the motion on the table. So I just want to throw that out there. Joe, do you think we're covered or is that a bad idea?

The intent of the word cafe is to limit the size to something lesser than, let's say, a sit-down restaurant. To me, that's more of a commercial use deserving of commercial zoning.

Okay, so it's not appropriate for the same situation. Okay. Okay.

Again, the intent of this approach was there's the body of the dog and the tail. The non-urban is the dog and the tail can only be wagged by the non-urban. And so the non-urban has the most restrictive set of requirements relative to setbacks and other items related to such. And so the true intent is to minimize impacts by using the non-urban resident district as the governor on the engine. So it'll always be in context of a residential district, and that means the scale will be somewhat limited, and the context would have to be relative to the primary use. The department wouldn't be proposing this, again, not to be contrary, but on two sides of this property is St. Albano Catholic Church. Across the street is Babler Elementary, a 10-acre vacant parcel of ground, and then a 900-spot parking lot that supports Lafayette High School, the largest parking lot in all of the city. Now, there is residential to the south. There's two, three-acre-plus slots, and that's a concern, but that's the area that we would spend the most time protecting if anything were to happen other than what's there now. But again, I wouldn't be bringing this to you if it was surrounded by residential subdivisions or additional homes. It's a very unique property to the department. And again, the direction I thought I left the last meeting with was, let's look at the accessory uses and see if it might work. If you feel it doesn't, that's fine. The conditional use permit that's in place now is part of the property. It's not with the Pasiglias per se. So if the Pasiglias wanted to sell, someone could step right in and use the plant nursery greenhouses and sales room. Thank you.

Vicki, would you please restate before we welcome?

The motion I made was to accept the city's recommendation while adding educational use and a little more clearly or narrowly defining the word warehouse.

I think she probably said, yeah.

Melanie, would you please do a voice vote, please?

Chair Routon?

Yes.

Vice Chair Loyal?

Yes.

Member Boomer Schlegel. Member Clark.

No.

I believe that was nay.

She said no.

Okay. Member Clayton.

Yes.

Member Coleman. Yes. Member Helfrey. Yes. Member Rubis.

Yes.

Member Jackson.

Yes.

Member Cohn.

Yes.

Member McCutcheon. No. Council Member Rambo.

Yes.

And Member Wrenn.

Yes.

And it passes.

Motion passes. Thank you very much. Great discussion.

Mr. Puskin. Thank you, everyone.

Hey, we appreciate your time and we appreciate what you do for the community.

Thank you very much. Thank you so much. I will work on some plans. Thank you.

What's that? Thanks again.

Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'll jump into the next item on the agenda, which is the narratives. So your math isn't bad. There is four described in the agenda title. You receive three. The economic development narrative is still in process with the four of us. So my apologies. Narratives took a little more time than I think collectively we thought. So my apologies to all. You'll have that narrative very shortly. But before you tonight are three of the six narratives. As you'll recall at our last meeting, The narrative for the environmental and planning elements were adopted or approved by the group, which leaves four to proceed. And then, as I've mentioned, you have three tonight. The first narrative relates to the community services. And the department took a different tact here, in fact, on all three of the narratives. For many years, we've replicated more so than not what was done in 1995, 1996, and the feeling was maybe it's time for a bit of a different approach. So in the community services narrative, it speaks to first and foremost that all of the elements are very important. But in this particular case, community services is what we hear about day in and day out. As it's mentioned in the text, it's the police car passing by your house or business. It's whether your street gets plowed and salted when it snows. It's whether when there's a storm and a tree branch falls on the trail or on the road, it gets removed so that access is restored. That's community services to the department. And that is why, in many ways, this element is the most important of all. because this is the true interaction between the city officials, whether it be the mayor, the council people, or the employees themselves, and the residents. It's one-to-one, so to speak, in many instances. It goes on then to speak that Wildwood did something very unusual when it incorporated and has continued to do it now for 30-plus years, and that's to maintain a small staff of professionals and to use private contractors and consultants for other services. So why? The idea was is that each year the services from those contractors and consultants would be bid and the bidding process would render the best available contractor or consultant at the least cost. And I think in many ways, it's been very, very successful. And as you know, in the element, the actual goals, objectives and policies, this group endorsed continuing forward in that practice. Also, the quality of services is maintained in many ways because as Ms. Clark mentions, the benefit cost is always considered. Are we getting the most for the cost we pay? And is that benefit worth the cost we pay? And through that process, our community services, the department then lists the number of things that have been achieved using that model and working day in and day out to serve our residents. The list you can read yourself. It concludes with what we always conclude with. There's a lot of, there's a lot of, Foul winds blowing around our revenue sources. And some of it isn't necessarily anything that is bad, but it does impact revenue sources. For example, the cigarette tax used to be a lot more, but people don't smoke as much. That's good. But on the revenue side, it's less money. Also, houses are more energy efficient. So the cost of utility has, in many ways, leveled. And that is a tax that we receive, a utility tax. The bull tax is the one that is buffeted by those foul winds. Obviously, there are other pooled cities that support it. There are other point-of-sale cities, and there are some pooled cities that think they don't get their fair share of the collected sales tax. I will assure you that the city leadership from day one has always looked at that as a point of no return. We'll put all of our energies, all of our resources to preserve that or ensure that if there are changes, they do not impact the level and quality of services provided to our residents. So that is identified there as part of the last two paragraphs or so of the narrative. So that's community services. Engaging our residents day in and day out because this is what is important. This is what makes the quality of life Acknowledging our process, the contractor consultant-based approach, the successes we've had from that and the things we've done in the last 10 years that are, I think, worth mentioning in a document of this nature. And then finally, as we've said before, be vigilant, as always, with our revenue sources, ensuring that we're at the table when discussions are held. If there are any comments or questions, or I can go on to the next group. Mr. Chair.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding something. And I apologize. This master plan, it says proposed revision, and that's in red. And the group's member submittal is at the end. Which one are we voting on, on the red or on that end? The red. The red, okay. Thank you very much. Sorry about that.

Yes, it's not identified very well, but under the title, it says proposed revision.

I just didn't know if that was.

Yep.

Thank you.

Certainly.

Regarding that, the items in the red, in some areas, they're not as specific as was previous versions. And I refer specifically to referencing police services. As you know, I'm on the Board of Public Safety as well. And was it the intent to not have any specifics regarding minimum number of officers and beats and such?

Well, certainly public safety is a key component. And in many ways, it's the majority of our budget these days, our operating revenues. So if the group would like something added to that regard, that'd be easy to do.

Well, as you know, it seems as though there's an effort at least or discussions about minimizing or trying to get the greatest efficiency out of the cost for police services. And just as a member of that committee and with my history, I would not be in favor of any efforts that would lessen in any way our police services. So if that means that we should have some specifics at minimums, I would say, OK. If, on the other hand, what we feel is here does adequately address Because I know there's other components that there's a negotiation and contracts that exist regarding that. So I don't want to handcuff that in any way. But I just want to make sure that we're not diluting a minimum level of police services by adjusting the master plan.

TODD BANDUCCI- Mr. Chair, with your permission, what I would say, Chief Loyal, is I don't think the narrative probably does what you want. What I would like to do with the group's permission is look at the goals, objectives, and policies and see if we could strengthen them. Those are kind of the nuts and bolts that make things work. This is kind of the, let's say, this is your greeting at the door. But once you get in the door, the goals, objectives, and policies. So if there's no objection, we'll look at that as it's described in the goals objectives of policies of this particular element and see if we can strengthen it and address the concern or the request that we've heard. The transportation element. Again, I apologize. The department took some liberties with regards to the new narratives. But I think it's very important to kind of ground ourselves each and every 10 years in how Wildwood became Wildwood and what was the impetus. And in many ways, it was... A gentleman from the Missouri Department of Transportation standing in front of the community when this was an unincorporated area and said, we're going to build a third outer belt. It's going to be where Route 109 is. Talk about galvanizing a community of unincorporated residents overnight. Shortly thereafter, you saw bumper stickers that said, save the green belt, stop the outer belt. And as discussions entailed and ultimately were successful in stopping it, It became clear that St. Louis County wasn't necessarily on board to the degree that the unincorporated residents thought was sufficient. And as they created that nucleus of involved citizens, the incorporation effort came out of them. And that's what the first part describes. The next part of this particular narrative then goes into the process that Mr. Brown and his team, along with the city administrator, used to basically program transportation improvements, which include roads, bridges, trails, and other items, including traffic calming and traffic safety. And we talk about the half-cent sales tax that was approved by the voters in 1998, the successful efforts that the city has had with federal and state and other grants to subsidize many of our road improvements, major road improvements, in fact, The traffic management efforts that Mr. Brown and his team have undertaken to improve safety. And those include accessibility, meaning the replacement of ramps within our sidewalk networks throughout the city. And it goes on then to talk about our trails. our multimodal approach to transportation, whether it's Metro and the bus that serves this area, the trail systems that offer an alternative for bicyclists, the things that we do to ensure that the vehicle isn't the only mode of transportation available in Wildwood to its residents and visitors. And then finally, it talks about just, safety enhancements relative to accessibility. And this was a key component that we talked about in transportation when we were doing the goals, objectives, and policies. The things we do to ensure that anyone relative or regardless of ability has the unobstructed access to sidewalks, trails, streets, et cetera, and that from the perspective of design, there are safety enhancements in all of these things to ensure that the vehicle and the pedestrian or the bicyclist are separated as much as possible. So the transportation element grounds itself in how we got here, talks about how we basically plan our improvements, the funds we use to complete those improvements, and then ultimately how we'd like to do multimodal transportation in the context of accessibility for all. Thank you. The last item is open space and recreation. The narrative starts with an explanation. So in 1995, You had a 16-member city council, all appointed by the St. Louis County Council. Eight were anti-incorporation and eight were incorporators. So obviously they had a lot on their plate at that time and certainly may not have agreed on everything. So open space and recreation wasn't necessarily at the top of each of their list. However, shortly thereafter, it became, I think, obvious to them that these camps, incorporators versus non-incorporators, we needed to form a community. And there was a lot of discussion. How do you do that in a 67-square-mile area? And the thought was, let's create community facilities, that being parks and trails, and let's have community events where people can actually see that an incorporator doesn't have two sets of horns, nor does a non-incorporator have two sets of horns. We're all in this together. And so it kind of explains what was done thereafter in those early years and highlighting the first trail segment. Then after that, what's happened in the past 10 years, which includes, I think, some very worthwhile endeavors on the part of the city, the Village Green Phase 1, Community Park, Wildwood Farms Community Garden, and Green Pines Park. These are all consistent with the 2018 update of the parks and recreation action plan. The narrative then goes on and explains in 2021, the city council had some tough decisions to make regarding revenues and expenditures. And in many ways, parks and recreation was the first to go to the chopping block. The strategic plan that was completed at that time basically said no new facilities enhance the ones we have, which is a very reasonable approach, given that our residents, our visitors, are not only depending on our parks and trails, but we have Babler State Park, Rockwoods Reservation and Range, and Greensfelder County Park. The department then goes to say that this approach it believe was consistent with the update of the action plan for parks and recreation and identifies the 5 major action points that came out of that volunteer committee that were adopted by the planning and zoning commission and endorsed and ratified by city council. It concludes with I believe an appropriate that a paragraph in that Pandemic taught us a lot of lessons, and those lessons came to fore with regards to open space and recreation. Almost immediately after the stay-at-home orders were issued, people wanted to be outdoors. People wanted to be a part of the community, and the city of Wildwood adapted very, very well. In fact, there were times on Al Foster Trail we had to close it because there were so many people using it, and they were in contact. We went online and offered bingo and trivia and things along those lines that gauge people and keep them involved in the community. And I think it concludes by saying that, as is typical, Wildwood first looked at Parks and Recreation when the Budget Act had to fall. And that is typical of many municipalities. And certainly there are public safety items, police, roads, and bridges. But I would argue that creating community starts when the community is together. And where do you get together? It's not in the middle of a roundabout unless you have an accident. It's not when you cross a one-lane bridge. It's when you're at an activity or in a park or on a trail. And so the value of open space and recreation remains, regardless of the funding it receives. And I think this narrative explains that. That is the three that were prepared tonight.

It was interesting, the first concert. And I was interested to see if the lack of free hot dogs would have an effect. And it didn't seem to be a non-starter. In fact, I think people enjoyed the food trucks there and a diverse selection of food. So that's probably a good action to the city.

And certainly, that was a simple approach to saving taxpayers' funds. And certainly, we had done it for many years. In some regards, it became something more of a problem for us than not because costs were escalating, and we were trying to control those. Some of the early arrivers, which had been typical in past years, they get there early, they get in line for their free hot dogs. There was no line, and the question came, there's a city tent, where's the hot dogs? They're not having them this year. And a couple of people left. But by the time we were into the first half hour of the concert, The parking garage was full. The lot next to the senior center was full. The theater lot behind the theater was full, sorry. Main Street was full. Plaza Drive was full. So I concur. And we'll have a third food truck for the June concert. So there is even more opt-ins. Because both of the food trucks ran out of food before the end of the concert. That's how popular. Mr. Rand, you were there.

Yeah, I'm a Lions Club member. And the only comment we heard was, wow, you guys don't look as hot as you usually do when you're grilling hot dogs. And as a result of us selling beverages, we had one of the best nights we've ever had at a concert. Everybody seemed happy. Nobody was complaining. So it was a good evening for us and the city, I think.

Very much the city, we felt. It was our test run. And we think we did okay. Teresa.

Thank you, Chair. First, I want to thank Joe, Director Brennich and your team for putting together the narratives and going through and updating them so efficiently. It's a large task, and I think you've done an excellent job putting that together. Secondly, is there Is there a way that we could add maybe one sentence at least about the donation of Pertner Park in that verbiage so that we could just have it on record that that has already happened, even though we're not moving forward quickly with some of the plans that we had at the beginning?

Mr. Chair, if I may. Ms. Clark, I think that's an excellent suggestion because it also shows to the rest of the community that philanthropy and gifts are welcomed by the city. They may not immediately develop them, but they're land banked and preserved for the future. And the generations that follow all of us will benefit from the decisions made today. So thank you for the suggestion.

Joe, are you looking for a motion for these three items?

The department would respectfully request if the group feels agreeable that a motion and then a second and a vote be made to adopt the three narratives presented to the group tonight.

Make that motion.

Okay. A lot here. How about a voice call? Voice phone.

Chair Routon?

Yes.

Vice Chair Loyal.

Aye.

Member Boomer Schlegel. Member Clark.

Yes.

Member Clayton.

Yes.

Member Coleman.

Yes.

Member Helfrey.

Yes.

Member Rubis. Yes. Member Jackson.

Yes.

Member Cohn. Yes. Member McCutcheon.

Yes.

Council Member Rambo. Yes.

Yes.

and member wren and it passes thank you thank you the four of us appreciate it good job staff thank you mr chair the next item is the six elements and all of the related goals, objectives, and policies. I do want to extend my thanks to Ms. McCutcheon. We talked about several of the goals, objectives, and policies today. And that's actually what I'm going to ask tonight. I do not expect you to be prepared to act on any of the six elements and their related goals and objectives and policies. This is the first time that you've seen them all together, so to speak. And so what I would ask is over the next week or two, if you would take time and if there's a particular element that has more interest than the others, or there were gold subjectives and policies that you championed, this would be a great time to make sure that we got them right. We got them in there. or if we didn't, why? And so tonight, the department is just respectfully requesting that you take the six items that are before you and over the course of now and to the next meeting, if you have any questions, any suggestions, any changes, submit them to Mr. Newberry and we'll put a list together and then we can go through that list at the next meeting and then once we've settled on In, out, change, no. We can then ask for the adoption of the elements and their respective components. So no action tonight. But you should all pat yourself on the back or shake the hand of the people next to you. There's a lot of work here that you all did. And it's very, very good, I think. We had Miss Ward, our public relations consultant, we provided this information to her. And she said, there's some great stuff in here. I think the community is going to be very happy.

So you don't have a revised schedule.

I have one.

Okay.

And that is the last item on tonight's agenda. And again, if there are any questions about the request relative to the elements, please, I'll be glad to answer them now or after the meeting. Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'll conclude with the schedule. So to get the horse out of the corral, if all goes well, we'll only see each other four times or more times. It's not probably what you want to hear. It's probably, could we be done tomorrow? So as I mentioned at the start of the meeting, Ms. Ripito, Mr. Newberry, and I met with Debbie Ward via Zoom. We talked about the survey process. So again, reference it as the bookends. We started the process March with a survey. We received 800 responses. As McCutcheon mentioned the survey today and that we talked about a community center and we talked about less density in town center. That came back from our residents. The other side of that is the bookend that will close it. And the idea is to give them the information that we've added to the master plan. and ask them, is this what you were thinking? Are we on target, off target? Or what did we miss? Or what would you like added? And so that's the intent of the survey. That survey process changed our approach a little. So at the next meeting, you'll receive on June 9, the draft plan, the six elements plus the additional narrative. And actually, I think we'll have the draft survey for you to review. She has provided to us already the survey instrument. Collectively, the four of us need to review it and see what we think. But I think I'll have the draft for you as well. So next meeting, June 9th, you'll have the final versions, so to speak, of the six elements with your comments provided to Mr. Newberry. you'll have the draft survey as well and then the final narrative economic development on june 15th which is approximately five weeks later roughly we'll have the survey results and the discussion of them and that'll be where you'll be able to see if we hit the target or not, what people are thinking about what you've done, not just us as the four saying you did a great job. And then we'll be able to take your input and incorporate it into the document, so to speak.

Joe, could you clarify? We're meeting on the 9th, and you mentioned the 15th, and then you mentioned five weeks.

July 15th. I'm sorry. Okay. My apologies. So July 15th is the survey, the survey meeting, like we did in March of 2025. On July 22nd, yes, sir?

Do you remember the survey ?

I believe it was 800? 870? Yeah, it was a great response. I actually expect more. because they're looking at something new now. And that always generates interest. On July 22nd, it is our intent to have an open house. We don't just want to depend on the survey. People may not access it via their computer, internet. They may not have the time. Or they may just want to come and touch it, talk about it, see the graphics, illustrations, et cetera. On July 28, which is proposed to be the last meeting of this group, the input from the open house would be provided along with, again, a summary of the survey results. And then we would have the updated elements, the narratives for your final action. If all were to go well, we've got two months left. A lot to do in those two months. Two months left. Thereafter, it's a process with the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council, which will take us all the way until October this year.

Will we be present to present to PNZ, our council?

You'll receive an invitation, particularly as the chair and vice chair. We would hope that you'd be able to attend. Obviously, if there's 23 of you that want to speak, I'm going to be clapping and urging you on. But if some of you don't want to speak or can't make it, certainly. I think the most effective tool to our Planning and Zoning Commission and certainly to City Council will be your individual's inputs or your collective inputs on, hey, it took a long time and here's what we did and why we did it and we think it's right. Or if you have a dissenting opinion, that's the time as well.

Thank you, Joe. Travis, any public comments? Yes, ma'am.

I would just like to say, I really do think that we have the best city staff out there because you guys work tirelessly and I am always a fan of your work. So I just want to say thank you.

Thank you.

And you all get a free parking spot.

I'm going to take the liberty to propose a motion to adjourn.

Do I have a second? Second that. All in favor?

Aye. All opposed? Have a wonderful evening and thank you all again.