CREVE COEUR, Mo. – The Creve Coeur City Council approved the site concept plan for a new development at the former Bayer campus on Olive Boulevard. Neighbors discussed their issues with the green space buffers, wall height, and sewage drains during Monday’s council meeting.
“I think the interest of the community speaks to the unprecedented nature and size of it and I think there is a lot of interest because there is a lot of constituents here that want to make sure this is done right,” Steve Melnick said.
He lives near the boundary and said visibility and safety are issues neighbors brought to the developer ahead of Monday’s vote.
“Everybody is listening to the others and I think it’s been very, very helpful. There’s no walls up and the developer has change plans several times and I think today the residents have also moved a little bit,” Mayor Bob Hoffman said.
The mayor said the plan is more than a year in the making.
“We have a lot of restaurants, hotels, apartments, townhomes, and other office space available for people to reside in,” he said.
During the meeting, neighbors said their issue is with the timeline of the development and not hearing about it until the planning and zoning meeting. Residents also addressed their concerns with the 70-foot buffer, 50-foot retaining wall, the number of trees near the retaining walls, and the types of businesses potentially going into the development.
Melnick said neighbors on his street want to work with the developer each step of the way.
“Each time there is a property being built, we want to make sure that we’re involved in that process to make sure that it’s being held to those requirements, but also not being modified in a way that would adversely affect us or in a way that would maybe help us and help the development itself,” Melnick said.
