Neighborhood outcry over safety concerns delays action on villas project in O’Fallon

The fight isn’t over for Southview Gardens residents upset and confused after Monday’s O’Fallon City Council meeting, which stalled a final vote but shot down an amendment that would have dropped Whitehall Drive as a thoroughfare in the proposed Brandywine Villas development.

The project includes 174 attached single-story villas, a 50-unit memory care facility, a 12,600-square foot retail building and an 11,400-square-foot office building on 53 acres of an undeveloped agricultural site known as Rasp Farm.

Steve Valentine of Lombardo Homes plans for a mixed-use development at the northeast corner of South Lincoln Avenue and Interstate 64.

During 45 minutes of public comments, about 20 residents citing safety concerns gave multiple examples of how their neighborhood — with congested parking on their narrow street — increased speeding cars on Whitehall, Dartmouth and Desoto, and drivers ignoring the stop sign, will be impacted if the plan proceeded. An estimated 60 residents attended.

Residents said they fear an influx of traffic that darts through their narrow streets to avoid U.S. 50 to get to South Lincoln Avenue. Lincoln is a county road, therefore, under St. Clair County jurisdiction.

“It’s already unsafe,” a Whitehall Drive resident named Tom said. “I have no problem with progress in O’Fallon. I ask that you respect us, and we’ll respect you. Not using Whitehall would make us feel safer.”

Several votes were taken that seemed to confuse more people — including aldermen — and twice Mayor Herb Roach broke a 7-7 tie.

Julia Skrabacz, one of the outspoken residents, said they plan to be vocal at the next Community Development Committee meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, June 13, at city hall, which is where the rezoning proposal landed after being tabled from a final approval vote. The goal is to compromise between development and residents.

If aldermen are satisfied with an alternate plan, it could be up for final approval at the June 21 council meeting (Monday, June 20, is a federal holiday observing Juneteenth).

On Tuesday morning, Skrabacz said more petitions are circulating and signs are being made. They are also planning a door-to-door campaign. She said after the two-hour meeting, residents were frustrated.

“It was really confusing. And I think there were red herrings. I don’t understand why some aldermen were against us,” Skrabacz said, noting she thought both the development and the neighbors could exist together and work on a solution.

“Ten days ago, we had 30 people — now we have 80. It was an excellent turnout last night. The residents who’ve lived here 30, 40, 50 years have seen a lot of changes in O’Fallon. They are used to it. They just want to be heard,” she said.

She and her husband, Mike, hosted a neighborhood gathering in their front lawn before the meeting that was attended by 58 people.

They all signed a petition, which was presented to the council.

At the meeting, she mentioned her frustration that a project of this magnitude had not been communicated well to residents, but she thought they could work out a compromise because most residents weren’t opposed to the project, just the access of their street.

“A delay could benefit the development and a better proposal would keep us safe,” she said.

Valentine was there and said they did not need Whitehall for the development.

“I’m fine with or without the amendment,” he said.

The proposed planned use and preliminary plot seeks to divide into four lots:

• Lot 1: Memory care facility on 3.65 acres.
• Lot 2A: Retail building (12,600 square feet) with drive-thru on 1.80 acres.
• Lot 2B: Office building (11,400 square feet) on 1.11 acres.
• Lot 3: Townhome/villa Residences on 26.37 acres. Estimated rent for a 2-bedroom is $1,900 to $2,100 a month.

First round of votes

A preliminary plat up for approval was also tabled.

Ward 1 Alderman Ross Rosenberg had proposed an amendment to remove Whitehall Drive as a connection, but Mayor Herb Roach cast the decisive no vote to break a 7-7 tie.

The roll-call vote was as follows:

• YES: Christopher Monroe, Tom Vorce, Jim Campbell, Dan Witt, Rosenberg, Roy Carney and Todd Roach.
• NO: Nathan Parchman, Dennis Muyleart, Jerry Albrecht, Jessica Lotz, Andrea Fohne, Stephanie Smallheer, Gwen Randolph.

On May 23, the same amendment had failed in the community development committee because of a 3-3 tie.

After the public outcry then, the Community Development Department staff recommended the Public Safety Committee consider the following as a possible ordinance to mitigate residents’ concerns at its June 13 meeting:

• Add a 4-way stop sign at Dartmouth Drive and Whitehall Drive and a potential stop sign further north on Whitehall Drive.
• Design and construction of a sidewalk along one side of Whitehall Drive.
• Prepare an ordinance to add Whitehall Drive to the snow route.
• Traffic along Whitehall Drive will be monitored before and after the connection.

Public Safety Director Kirk Brueggeman said their departments did not need a second emergency access — that one was fine.

A traffic study is currently being conducted at Dartmouth.

‘This is not a bad plan’

In explaining why he was going to vote no, the mayor cited keeping tabs on the traffic and creating more stops to slow down speeders as a reason he voted against the amendment. He said he has lived in that vicinity more than 40 years. He had talked to other developers who did not feel the project would create further unsafe traffic conditions.

“This is not a bad plan. We need to monitor it and the chief of police will. We need to establish a sidewalk,” he said.

Some residents booed and audible gasps and reactions could be heard.

Vern Malare, a resident of another ward, shared residents’ concerns.

“You are going to have blood on your hands,” he said.

Several upset at the outcome spoke again, pleading with aldermen to visit their neighborhood and see the problems for themselves. Rosenberg also encouraged aldermen to spend an hour there.

Citizens express more concerns

The Laverna Evans Elementary School is in that neighborhood, but school is out for the summer, so the traffic problems during the school year can’t be witnessed now, Mike Skrabacz said.

He said he liked the city’s 2040 Master Plan, which encouraged more pedestrian traffic, trails and easier access for walkers and bikers, but that creating more traffic hazards was not the way to honor the master plan’s goals.

Skrabacz also said he felt working on Lincoln’s traffic woes was a logical solution but that few seemed to care about making that happen.

“Convincing aldermen to listen to us seemed to be the bigger issue,” he said.

Several senior citizens expressed concerns about plans for a sidewalk and a trail to bring strangers into their backyards. A few other residents cited water drainage issues.

But mainly people talked about being afraid to let their children and grandchildren play in the neighborhood because of the traffic.

Another tie vote

In the first action, Albrecht proposed tabling the ordinance vote and send it back to the committee “to work out all the details.” That motion failed, then the amendment vote happened, then procedural vote according to Robert’s Rules of Order, to reconsider the tabling option ended in a 7-7 tie, with the mayor voting yes.

• YES: Rosenberg, Muyleart, Witt, Albrecht, Carney, Smallheer, Randolph
• NO: Lotz, Fohne, Roach, Monroe, Vorce, Campbell, Parchman

The vote to table it passed, with a 9-5 vote:

• YES: Muyleart, Carney, Smallheer, Randolph, Vorce, Campbell, Witt, Rosenberg, Albrecht
• NO: Lotz, Fohne, Roach, Monroe, Parchman

Witt thanked the residents for attending and “being respectful, thoughtful and considerate.”

Southview Gardens history

Southview Gardens, a subdivision annexed to the city in 1957, was developed from farmland to meet the growing demand for housing from Scott Air Force Base, starting out with 29 homes and eventually building 90. It was during the city’s growth spurt during the 1950s. O’Fallon Township High School opened at Smiley in 1958 and the Southview Place opened a year later.

Most of the homes were built with one-car garages, and now, families often have more than one vehicle, so residents park on the street. There have been 14 additions to the original plan.

This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 1:27 PM.