Concordia Seminary & Washington University Proposal

On Tuesday, November 12th, the Board of Aldermen held a public hearing for the proposed text amendments and rezonings related to the South 40 Overlay and the Big Bend Overlay. During the meeting, the BOA proposed a number of amendments to the draft Big Bend Overlay District. Staff have updated the draft to reflect the proposed amendments. The redline draft is available for review under the "Board of Aldermen Meeting Documents" folder and is titled, "2024-11-15_Big Bend Overlay District_draft amendment(redline)." The BOA will host another public hearing for these items on Tuesday, November 26th.

On Friday, October 18, 2024, the Board of Aldermen (BOA) held a monthly discussion session on the proposed institutional overlay zoning districts, specifically the Big Bend Overlay. The discussion began with a short presentation by City staff introducing recommended changes based on continued community engagement. The BOA then asked questions of staff. Representatives from Washington University were also in attendance and answered questions posed by the BOA.

A recording of the session is available below. The slides presented by City staff may be viewed under the documents tab of this website. In addition, staff has added a document titled, "Overview of Existing WashU Facilities", which summarizes information about current varsity, club and intramural sports. The information contained in the document was researched by City staff and/or referenced by Plan Commission members.

The next scheduled meeting is a public hearing before the BOA on Tuesday, November 12th. Details about the meeting are provided under the Key Dates tab of this website.

On October 7, 2024, the Plan Commission reviewed the Conditional Use Permit, Site Plan Review, and Architectural Review applications from Concordia Seminary related to their new housing and hosted a public hearing regarding the proposed overlay districts.

For Concordia Seminary's housing proposal, designers for the project presented information and answered questions from the Plan Commission-Architectural Review Board and the public. The Plan Commission voted to approve the Site Plan Review and voted to recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit to the Board of Aldermen. The Architectural Review Board voted to approve the Architectural Review.

For the South 40 Overlay and the Big Bend Overlay, staff presented a summary of the proposed regulations, followed by questions and comments from the Plan Commission and the public. The Plan Commission voted to recommend approval of the text amendments and rezoning for each proposed overlay to the Board of of Aldermen.

To watch a recording of the October meeting, please see the video below. Under the "Documents" tab on the right-hand side of this website, there is a folder titled "Plan Commission Documents." The presentation slides for Concordia Seminary and the staff presentation regarding the overlay district have been added as pdf documents. The Concordia Seminary CUP request and the proposed overlay districts (text amendments and rezonings) will be considered by the Board of Aldermen after a public hearing held on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at 7pm at City Hall.

On September 16, 2024, the Plan Commission reviewed the Conditional Use Permit, Site Plan Review, and Architectural Review applications from Concordia Seminary related to their new housing and hosted a public hearing regarding the proposed overlay districts. For Concordia Seminary's housing proposal, designers for the project presented information and answered questions from the Plan Commission and the public. For the South 40 Overlay and Big Bend Overlay, staff presented a summary of the proposed regulations, followed by questions and comments from the Plan Commission and the public. The Plan Commission-Architectural Review Board continued consideration of the applications and proposals to their meeting on October 7, 2024, at 5:30 pm. The next meeting will again be held in the Council Chambers at City Hall and available via Zoom.

To watch a recording of the September meeting, please see the video below.

Concordia Seminary Housing Proposal: begins at 7:30

Proposed Institutional Overlay Districts: begins at 1:26:49

City staff is pleased to share the revised drafts of the proposed overlay districts known as the South 40 Overlay and the Big Bend Overlay. The revisions reflect changes made to address comments and concerns gathered of the last year. To review the redline versions of the draft regulations, please look under the “Documents” tab on this website. The redline versions show what has changed from the original drafts posted last March. To further assist with understanding what has changed as well as to provide additional information related to questions the City has received, we have also published a document titled, Introduction to the Proposed Overlay Districts and Revisions. This document includes four summary tables to help organize information about the current regulations and the proposed regulations.

The City has scheduled the next round of meetings. As outlined in the previous post below, the next set of meetings will take place before the Plan Commission. The first public hearing is scheduled for Monday, September 16^th at 5:30 pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 10 N Bemiston Avenue. This meet will also be streamed via Zoom, with the link to be posted closer to the meeting date. During the meeting, staff will present the proposed overlay district regulations. There will be an opportunity for questions and comments from members of the Plan Commission as well as the public. The tentative schedule including future meeting dates is as follows, these dates are subject to change:

• Monday, September 16, 2024, at 5:30 pm: Plan Commission, public hearing
• Monday, October 7, 2024, at 5:30 pm: Plan Commission
• Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at 7:00 pm: Board of Aldermen, public hearing

Any questions or comments can be submitted through this website using the “Feedback” or “Questions” tabs or via email (see the "Who's Listening" on the righthand side for contact information).

The City has spent the last few months engaging in discussions with the community regarding the proposed overlay district regulations and making revisions based on the feedback. With the busy summer schedules, the City has decided to postpone the next round of public meetings until after July. Revised draft overlay regulations will be published for public viewing prior to the next public meeting. Once the draft regulations are ready for review, the City will post the documents on this website and notify residents via multiple communications channels. Below is a summary of the upcoming process.

While the next public meeting date has not been determined, the meeting will be part of a regularly scheduled Plan Commission meeting agenda. These meetings take place at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month. The proposed overlay regulations will be reviewed for adoption through the Rezoning and Text Amendment process as required by the City's Zoning Regulations. The Rezoning applies the regulations to specific property through the adopted Zoning Map and the Text Amendment creates the regulations within the adopted code. The process requires that a Public Hearing is held by the Plan Commission prior to making a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen, where an additional Public Hearing is held.

The City has facilitated many public presentations and discussions with the community and neighborhoods surrounding the two proposed overlay districts. These meetings have established a positive working relationship with the community and institutions to incorporate community desires and concerns into the draft regulations. Once the Public Hearings begin, the community will continue to have opportunities to speak on the proposal directly to the Plan Commission and the Board of Aldermen. Questions or comments may also be submitted through this website or via email. The Plan Commission plays a vital role in evaluating proposed text amendments. City staff feel that it is an appropriate time to officially involve the Plan Commission and continue the working relationship with the community, institutions, and staff at the next level. Specific meeting information and schedules will be posted once finalized.

On March 27, 2024, the City of Clayton hosted a second community meeting at the Clayton High School Auditorium to present an update on the proposed draft overlay district regulations and the Big Bend Blvd traffic analysis. A recording of the information can be viewed below. City staff has drafted proposed overlay regulations for the South 40 Campus and the proposed athletic campus. The regulations strive to address the concerns voiced by residents and the community through the process so far. We encourage the community to view the recording and read through the proposed regulations. Any questions or comments can be submitted to using the feedback or questions tabs or via email (see the "Who's Listening" on the righthand side). The next step is to set neighborhood level meetings, similar to the previous round of neighborhood engagement, to allow for more detailed discussion of the concerns and priorities of each neighborhood. As feedback is submitted, City staff will continue to refine and revise the proposed overlay regulations. To download and view drafts of the overlay regulations and conceptual traffic analysis, please see the "Documents" tab on the righthand side of the webpage.

The City of Clayton has continued to analyze the proposed projects for Washington University in St. Louis and Concordia Seminary. We are now ready to present an update to the community regarding the proposed overlay zoning districts for the portion of Washington University’s campus known as South 40 and the western portion of Concordia Seminary’s campus. This presentation will cover what we have heard from the community during engagement activities as well as professional analysis related to traffic and zoning. The presentation will take place in the auditorium at Clayton High School on March 27^th from 7pm – 8:30pm. Staff will present information and there will be an opportunity for members of the community to ask questions and make comments. A recording of the presentation will also be posted on the website the following day. The project scope has not been amended to include the Fontbonne campus. Representatives of the institutions have been clear that the Fontbonne acquisition does not change their intentions for the western portion of the Concordia site (athletic fields) or the South 40 (student housing) and therefore, the City intends to move forward in establishing the protections and guidelines of the overlay districts as previously presented. Below is the official community meeting notice that has been mailed to property owners of the surrounding neighborhoods.

We appreciate everyone who has continued to follow this process and provide comments. The City of Clayton's traffic engineering consultant is progressing with the preliminary analysis of potential traffic impacts to Big Bend Boulevard. We hope to have results of the traffic analysis completed in a few weeks. Once the analysis is complete, it will be reviewed by City staff and St. Louis County, who controls and maintains Big Bend Boulevard. City staff also continues to work on the draft regulations for the proposed overlay districts. Upon completion of both the draft regulations and traffic study, another round of public meetings will be scheduled to present both items to the community for review and feedback. We anticipate the community meetings to be late January or early February.

Based on some of the questions from the community, we have provided a brief overview of the traffic analysis and zoning overlay districts. For additional information, please submit a question through this webpage or view the recordings of the previous community meetings.

What is the goal of the preliminary traffic analysis?

• Determine potential locations for new vehicle access along Big Bend Boulevard to the proposed athletics campus at the western end of Concordia Seminary.
• Complete a preliminary analysis of traffic impacts for the proposed athletics campus on Big Bend Boulevard.
• Inform a discussion between St. Louis County and the City of Clayton.
• Address some of the community questions about vehicle safety and access along Big Bend Boulevard.

What is a zoning overlay district and how would it apply to this proposal?

• Zoning codes are a legal tool that allows local government to define what can be built on a piece of land and how the land can be used. The City of Clayton is divided into different base zoning districts, each with regulations including development standards and permitted land uses. Each base zoning district is oriented towards residential or commercial primary uses such as R-2 Single-Family Dwelling District or HDC High Density Commercial District, but some districts allow for a mix of uses. The City also utilizes overlay districts, which modify the base zoning district regulations for specific areas. The City adopted a zoning map, which delineates the location and boundaries of each base zoning district and each overlay district. The City's zoning code and zoning map can be viewed on the "Zoning Regulations" page of the website.
• In this case, City staff are proposing to create two new overlay zoning districts. One would be located over Washington University's South 40 Campus to govern the development and use of this area primarily for residential campus purposes. The second would be located over the western portion of the Concordia Seminary campus to govern the development and use of the area as an athletics campus for Washington University. Each overlay district would modify the base zoning of R-2 Single-Family Residential. The overlay districts would create the "box" regulating long-term, phased development that is oriented towards the specific university uses proposed in each location. The use of overlay districts is recommended because they will create predictability, transparency, and a better level of certainty for the community as to how the areas can be developed and used. Currently, institutional uses such as a university are permitted in the R-2 Single-Family Dwelling District with a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The existing base zoning district regulations are clearly established to govern single-family uses and the community must react to a CUP proposal with various conditions to address concerns of the specific application. With an overlay district, regulations are provided to better address the proposed university uses prior to an application for development. With the overlay district adopted into the City's zoning code, it would take legislative action from the Board of Aldermen to change the provisions in the future.
• As the City staff draft the overlay district regulations, they are seeking to address the following concerns that have been voiced by the community:
  • Preserve neighborhood character and quality of life for nearby residents.
  • Don't want to see it.
  • Don't want to hear it.
  • Don't want traffic or parking in neighborhoods.
• To address the concerns listed above, the proposed overlay districts will contain some of the following regulation categories:
  • Development standards: lot coverage, building height, building density, layout and orientation, lighting, setbacks, transition zones, grading and drainage, accessory buildings, parking, trees and landscaping, etc.
  • Use standards: permitted primary and secondary uses, noise, etc.
  • Permitting: site plan review, architectural review, special events, etc.
• Each zoning overlay district will require a text amendment and zoning amendment. The text amendment establishes the zoning overlay district within the City's zoning code. The zoning amendment modifies the City's adopted zoning map to add the location of the overlay district. Both require a public hearing before the Plan Commission and the Board of Aldermen. Prior to the public hearing, the City will host community meetings to review the draft overlay regulations and solicit feedback, comments, and questions.

Thank you to all who have participated in the engagement process so far. The City has been reflecting on the comments and questions posed during neighborhood meetings and collected through this engagement page. Currently, there are two parallel analyses taking place related to the proposed project. City staff are working on draft regulations for the proposed overlay that seek to establish protections for the neighborhoods and community and create a framework for expectations moving forward. At the same time, the City has engaged our traffic engineering consultants to perform a preliminary traffic analysis related to Big Bend Boulevard. Upon completion of both the draft regulations and traffic study, another round of community meetings will be scheduled to present both items to the community for review and feedback.