During their May 23 meeting, the Wright City Board of Alderman considered two zoning changes related to housing developments. 

First the board heard a request for a zoning change from Myers Select Homes, looking to build several townhomes on a property they own in Wright City. Rachel Myers said the townhomes would be used for temporary housing while buyers wait to move into their new homes in The Shire development in Wright City. 

“These are intended to be hopefully year-long contracts,” Myers said. “Some of the other concerns were rentals, people not taking care of the property, but we are keeping these as rentals for ourselves so we will be taking care of the property, mowing, landscaping, all of the above.”

In order to construct the townhomes, they were requesting a zoning change from C-4 commercial to MR-2 multifamily residential, but they faced steep opposition from citizens.

“It’s a great idea, but it’s just not the right place. Everything that I’ve ever seen like that has came into an area has wound up, for lack of better words, as low income or Section 8 property over a period of time and I just want to protect my investment in that area,” said Bill Rohlman, a citizen at the meeting. 

The townhomes would have been located on Highway H near The Shire housing development in Wright City, and traffic, as well as the property’s proximity to the railroad, was of concern to board members and the public. 

After some discussion, board members voted unanimously to deny the zoning change.

Following that decision, aldermen considered another change, this time for a residential planned development area for a new neighborhood development on Westwoods Drive. 

“What we’re proposing is a development that consists of 134 lots and we’ll have a variety of homes, these lots will have a different makeup that will include villas, and two sets of single family homes that will be on these properties,” said Doug Tiemann, an engineer for Civil and Environmental Consultants LLC.

The development would include 134 homes which would be divided between a number of price points, sizes and designs. 

Board members were open to the changes however, members of the public wanted the strain the new development could place on surrounding infrastructure to be addressed. 

The group of developers at the meeting felt that they had taken adequate precautions and pointed out that they had earmarked a significant portion of their roughly 51 acre development for green space. 

While board members were not making a decision on the planned development area that evening, they seemed open to moving forward with the project, and were appreciative of the concessions that the developer was making to accommodate the city’s needs. 

The public hearing for the Serenity Woods development will officially remain open until June 27 at which point the board will then consider their zoning change and preliminary plat.