Update 9/10/24:
The Board of Adjustment seems to have voted down the variances requested by this project at last night’s meeting. While I do not have the official final tally, two members seem to have been broadly supportive based on their comments, while three were opposed.
While seeing such a high-quality project stymied is frustrating, the blame rests on our overly restrictive zoning code, and a council that has so far declined to address its flaws rather than the Board of Adjustment itself, which seems to have ruled more or less correctly on the merits.
Variances to allow a front yard setback of 13.67′ instead of 35′, a front yard encroachment for architectural feature of 21.33′ instead of 32.5′, a rear yard setback of 11.17′ instead of 30′, and a 17′ wide driveway instead of 22′ all probably do not represent a practical hardship. What they do represent are examples of a city refusing to get out of its own way.
I expect the developer to come back with a project that adheres to the existing R-5 Multifamily standards, perhaps just with attached rowhomes instead of detached ones and minus the two mature oak trees that exist on the property. Happy Greentree week, everyone!
Update 8/12/24:
The Board of Adjustment announced at their 8/12 meeting that this project had been pulled from the agenda and that its public hearing was rescheduled for the September 9th meeting. More details to come.
Kirkwood is on track to complete an extension of Grant’s Trail to Downtown Kirkwood, and now, with a new proposal called “The Maje Residences,” people want to live next to it. I think we should let them. I guess I should go into a little more detail than that.
The Maje Residences
Tonight, a proposal for seven detached townhomes at 507 S. Holmes known as “The Maje Residences,” by the architecture and development firm House of Hoard, are headed before the Board of Adjustment to seek four variances from the city’s zoning code. The Maje Residences would be two stories each and feature a two car garage for each unit. The seven units that are planned are the max allowed on the two R-5 Multifamily-zoned lots that comprise the site. The four variances requested pertain to the front and rear yard setbacks, the encroachment of an architectural feature, and for a narrower driveway than is allowed by code.
The variance request letter submitted by the developer implies that another version of the project would still be viable without the granting of these variances, but that denial would require them to remove two mature old-growth oak trees at the rear of the property.
The seven homes would replace two small single-family homes that currently occupy the southwest corner of Holmes and Elliot. This is where the Grant’s Trail extension will eventually make its westward turn off of Holmes and onto Elliot before eventually tying in to the abandoned rail spur.
Info on the proposed asking prices for these homes is not yet available, but given the unique architecture and the inclusion of private swimming pools for some of the homes, we can assume that they will be steep. Nonetheless, turning two homes into seven means improved affordability and a larger tax base for the city to draw from. Our investment in Grant’s Trail was significant, now it’s time to start reaping some of its returns.
Phase 2 of the Grant’s Trail Extension
To catch you up a bit on the nature of that investment, last Winter, Kirkwood applied for a Surface Transportation Program (STP) grant from East-West Gateway in order to gain funding for Phase 2 of the Grant’s Trail extension. That funding would be used to close the gap between —the already funded but not yet constructed— Phase 1 of the Grant’s Trail extension and the existing trail. Unfortunately, Phase 2 didn’t quite score high enough to be chosen for the competitive STP grant, but luckily, we had a plan B.
Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by congress and signed by President Biden in November of 2021, there is a new grant program known as Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) grants, and, as the highest scoring STP proposal to not get funded this round, East-West Gateway recommended Phase 2 receive it. The structure of these CRP grants are very similar to the STP grant we narrowly missed out on: The city pays 20% of the cost of the project, and the federal government picks up the other 80%. In the case of Phase 2, that means that Kirkwood will pay $967,180 towards the project and the feds will pick up the other $3,868,720.
That’s great news for the city, and I’m glad to see the whole project funded, but I also think the city isn’t doing enough to capitalize on its significant investment. While the vast majority of the land next to Phase 2 of the Grant’s Trail extension is set aside exclusively for industrial uses, I’ve repeatedly made the case that the city should loosen its zoning regulations to allow the construction of more productive uses next to the trail, like houses, shops, restaurants, and boutique hotels, all of which are currently banned from the area.
Allowing more varied land uses —in addition to allowing the light industrial uses that are already there— will grow the city’s tax base so that we can do more projects like these in the future, but that’s not the only reason to do it. Allowing developers to build here would make Kirkwood a more attainable place to live for the city’s teachers, police, and firefighters, as well as retirees looking to downsize or young adults looking to return to the community they grew up in. More residents also gives local businesses a larger pool of people to higher from (important given the tight labor market).
Perhaps most importantly, though, allowing more development along a multi-use path routed directly to Downtown would mean that we could realize all these positive benefits with fewer of the downsides development brings with it. If you live along the trail you can walk to Kirkwood Station Plaza for a Thursday night concert, or to Billy G’s for happy hour instead of driving and contributing to traffic/occupying one of Downtown’s limited parking spots. Instead of driving your bike to Grant’s Trail for some exercise, all you have to do is walk out the front door. Of course you’re not literally going to replace all your car trips with the trail, but even if you replaced 5% of them, that would make development here much more valuable to the city than development somewhere more far flung.
Good Projects Need Strong Support
The Maje Residences would be a great start, and I hope the Board of Adjustment approves the variances requested. Doing so would move us towards a more walkable, more sustainable, more attainable, and greener Kirkwood. The public hearing is tonight at 7:00 at City Hall, and I encourage everyone who can make it to show up and speak in support of the project. Those who cannot make it can email their statement of support to City Clerk, Laurie Asche at ascheLb@kirkwoodmo.org.