HIGH-TECH CORRIDOR ZONING ON FAST TRACK
By Ralph Dummit
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
May 9, 1996
New regulations to preserve the U.S. Highway 40-61 corridor in St. Charles County for high-technology development could be enacted as early as July, said Steve Lauer, county planning director.
A public hearing next week will be the first formal step toward adopting a new zoning district for unincorporated land between the Daniel Boone Bridge and Wentzville.
The hearing will be conducted by the county's planning and zoning commission at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Room 115 of the county Administration Building, 201 North Second Street, St. Charles. Written comments may be sent to the planning department at the same address.
After considering testimony at the hearing and written comments from the public, the planning commission is scheduled to vote in June on whether to recommend approval of the proposal. The measure, then, could be introduced as early as July 8 at a meeting of the County Council and be given final approval at the council's meeting July 30.
A copy of the eight-page proposal is available for public review from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the county planning department in Room 420 of the county Administration Building.
The proposal's statement of intent says a new zoning district is needed "to provide a controlled and protected environment for the orderly growth and development of high-technology businesses and industries within a park-like setting."
Similar measures have been approved - or are being considered - by municipalities along the route. Those cities include O'Fallon, Lake Saint Louis and Wentzville.
O'Fallon already has approved a 77-acre corporate center on the northern side of Highway 40-61 just west of Highway K. Lake Saint Louis has approved the development of Hawk Ridge Business Park on the southern side of the highway.
Wentzville city officials are close to adopting changes to the city's comprehensive plan and zoning regulations to incorporate the higher building standards, said Joe McReynolds, city administrator.
Further, he said Wentzville's high-technology corridor is expected to be extended northward from Interstate 70 along U.S. Highway 61.
McReynolds credits Ron Nelson, city administrator at Lake Saint Louis, with sparking interest several years ago in a high-tech corridor stretching from the General Motors Corp. assembly plant at Wentzville to the University of Missouri Research Park south of Weldon Spring.
The concept then became the subject of a comprehensive study sponsored by the St. Charles County Economic Development Council.
McReynolds, who heads a committee that has been studying the concept, said other communities to the east - including Chesterfield, St. Louis County and the city of St. Louis - had latched onto the corridor concept.
"Now, it's a 50-mile corridor stretching from Wentzville to Belleville, Ill.," McReynolds said.
Explaining details of the county's proposal, Lauer said the adoption of a new zoning district would not change the existing zoning for properties along the corridor. The land owner could develop the land under the current zoning classification. However, if rezoning is sought for a property within the corridor, the land owner would have to comply with the higher standards required by the new district.
For example, Lauer said, restrictions would be stricter in the new district than in existing business or industrial zoning districts for such items as landscaping and advertising signs.
In rare cases, Lauer said, the County Council - as opposed to a landowner - might seek a blanket rezoning of property within the corridor. County government in the early 1980s made a similar move to establish development standards for the GM site at Wentzville.
Here is a sampling of the uses that would be permitted in the corridor:
Offices serving educational, governmental, scientific, research and development, manufacturing and professional organizations.
Medical and telecommunications organizations. Educational facilities. Computer programming and other software services.
The manufacture of scientific, precision and research instruments. Research and testing laboratories.
Engineering, architectural and design services.
Optional land uses could be considered by the zoning commission "as to the use's compatibility with other uses in the district." Such conditional uses that might include:
Recreational facilities such as golf courses, tennis courts or fitness centers.
Restaurants, child-care facilities, banks, retail and personal-service establishments.
Hotels, motels and conference or training centers.
Light manufacturing and assembly facilities.
