Politics & Government

Residential Back in St. Charles Comprehensive Plan

Aldermen advance 2013 Draft Comprehensive Plan to the St. Charles City Council for Aug. 5 public hearing.

St. Charles aldermen on Monday restored residential components and mixed-use developments to the city’s East and West gateways less than a month after stripping them from the draft comprehensive plan, which now heads to the full City Council for a formal public hearing.


The reversal appeared to stun some of those in the audience and surprised some on the City Council, as well.


Fifth Ward Alderman Ed Bessner acted as chairman during Monday night’s discussion of the draft comprehensive plan by the City Council Planning and Development Committee.

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Bessner guided aldermen through a discussion of a dozen points that the committee had earmarked for change when it met June 10, asking the committee to discuss and vote on each of the 12 points with hopes that by night’s end, it could advance the plan to the full City Council.


The first nine of the 12 points passed committee muster with little or no discussion, an indication that they were less controversial and representative more of some tweaking and polishing by aldermen.

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But the discussion of residential and mixed-use developments around Charlestowne Mall — the East Gateway area, and the old St. Charles Mall area, known as the West Gateway, sparked more heated discussion by aldermen.


Ultimately, a divided committee voted 5-3 to rescind its own June 10 decision to eliminate  residential and mixed-use components in the two areas. Voting against the action were 1st Ward Ron Silkaitis, 2nd Ward Aldermen Art Lemke and 4th Ward Alderman James Martin.


First Ward Alderman Dan Stellato, the committee chairman, had recused himself from the comprehensive plan discussion and vote. In taking the gavel for that part of the meeting,  Bessner could not vote unless the committee cast a tie vote on the issue. That left only eight of the 10 aldermen voting on the plan.


Aldermen, and some members of the public, insisted the move to reopen the door to the possibility of new housing was not an endorsement of building homes or apartments in the city’s East and West gateways. They argued that should retail or commercial opportunities fail to draw developer interest in those areas, the city should not tie its hands now to alternatives such as residential, which at least could increase the city’s tax base by allowing homes to be built on undeveloped properties.


Ultimately, at the urging of 2nd Ward Alderwoman Rita Anne Payleitner and freshman 3rd Ward Alderman Todd A. Bancroft, the committee built a consensus against too narrowly defining what types of development ought to be recommended for the East and West gateways. That meant restoring the possibility of residential development and the idea of mixed-use development.


Retail and commercial development at the gateways would remain a priority, they said, and ultimately, any variation from that goal would require City Council approval.


Another change the aldermen approved Monday was to further refine the plan’s definition of a mixed-use development to include educational and medical offices or developments.


Mark Armstrong, who chaired the task force that shaped the draft comprehensive plan over the course of some 18 months, said the members of his panel envisioned a mixed-use development, generally, as retail or commercial development on the ground floor with offices or residences in upper levels.


Fourth Ward Alderwoman Jo Krieger asked that medical and educational uses be included in that definition with hopes that a community college or similar institution, as well as medical offices, one day might want to locate in either of the two gateways.


Community Development Director Rita Tungare said after the meeting that the committee’s decision to send the plan to formal City Council consideration sets the stage for an Aug. 5 public hearing on the draft plan. A public comment period would follow that hearing, she said, which means the 2013 draft Comprehensive Plan likely would not be adopted until the fall.


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