Katy Land Trust & Magnificent Missouri ask for public feedback re: proposed new housing development on the Katy Trail and Missouri River

The Katy Land Trust and Magnificent Missouri are testifying at a hearing and encouraging others to attend the hearing or give public feedback related to a major new housing development in St. Charles County adjacent to the Katy Trail:

The Katy Land Trust & Magnificent Missouri ask for public feedback re: proposed new housing development on the Katy Trail and Missouri River

There is a zoning hearing on December 20 in St. Charles.

• Zoning hearing details – Notification Letter
• Bluffs PUD Concept Plan
• STL Today article – Hundreds of homes planned on University-owned land

The Katy Land Trust and Magnificent Missouri will be represented at this meeting, but it is important that others in the community express their opposition by attending the meeting and voicing their concerns. Please let us know if you can attend – and if you have friends in St. Charles who might be able to attend, please pass this information to them.

The land that stretches west along the Missouri River past Highway 40 remains largely rural and undeveloped. Driving Highway 94 or riding the Katy Trail in that area feels much like a drive or ride deep in the Ozarks, not 5 minutes from suburban St. Charles. This area provides hiking, biking and sightseeing that are among the best in Missouri. It has retained that feel for decades because of the land protection provided by creation of the Busch and Weldon Spring Conservation Areas in the late 1940s.

The Bluffs PUD Concept Plan shows information about a large housing development proposed on property in this area that is currently owned by the University of Missouri. This land is on the Katy Trail and close to the Busch and Weldon Spring Conservation Areas just west of Chesterfield.

On behalf of the Katy Land Trust and Magnificent Missouri we are contacting those who love the Katy Trail, Missouri River and the Missouri countryside. We believe that the scale and the location of the project are cause for questions regarding the impact on the river bluffs from the perspective of plant and wildlife habitat, aesthetics and traffic.

Visit the Katy Land Trust web site for more information, or to sign up to tell the Katy Land Trust you are planning to attend.