The City of Platte City Planning and Zoning Commission held a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5 to discuss the Nelly Hills Preliminary Plat.
Attendees who had completed a citizen participation card were recognized by the chair and given three minutes to address the commission.
The proposed subdivision development is a 137.80 acre site located east of Interstate 29 and north of Highway 92.
The site was rezoned from C-2 General Business District to R1-8 High Density Single-Family Residential District in 2022.
In the preliminary plat the development is shown as a one-parcel plat consisting of 225 residential units, divided into six phases of development. It will begin at the south-east corner of the site, and expand across to the west, then north.
The comprehensive plan does not propose a park on the parcel, however the developer has provided a total of 59,705 square feet on the south side of the development for a future public trail system.
One of the chief concerns expressed at the meeting by residents was that the residential zoned property proposes only one access point off of Highway 92.
The proposed development is estimated to generate a total of 2,223 total trips on an average weekday including 163 trips for morning peak hour and 223 trips in the afternoon peak hour.
Another concern was the proposed grinder station and a disagreement with the city wanting to go to a single lift station that would only serve about 90 lots. The resident making the comment said the rest of the subdivision isn’t able to be served by a gravity sewage system.
Someone pointed out that the grinder system for sewage has become much more popular in the last 10 years and has an individual unit that the homeowner maintains so the burden is actually off the city when it comes to maintenance since the area is at the tail end of the city and the infrastructure isn’t there, so the pressure grinder system would, in his opinion, be a good solution.
Some residents in the Timber Creek Drive area expressed concerns about the lighting on 92 Highway and requested there be another entrance off the highway to the new development for the best interest and safety of the residents in the subdivisions and the public.
The widening of Highway 92 was also addressed. The 1.3 mile long, two-lane roadway segment for Highway 92 between Interstate 29 and Bethel Road is planned to be widened to a four-lane roadway with curb and gutter and sidewalks as a part of “Missouri Route 92 Capacity and Safety Improvement Project from Interstate 29 to Bethel Road”. This project is currently in the design stage with an anticipated construction beginning in 2025.
Concern that the greenway would be considered for a roadway was a topic that came up at the meeting. Another entrance off Highway 92 was encouraged.
One concerned resident of Timber Creek said he was concerned that the sewage port was in his backyard and that he wanted to make sure the new division sewage would not be tapped into that because the system was solely designed for his neighborhood.
While the green space that is between Nelly Hills and Timber Creek was a popular concern at the meeting, several people were worried that a dead-end street in Timber Creek might be turned into a through street in a very quiet neighborhood, and the additional cars and trucks would add to an already busy and dangerous traffic area.
School capacity in the area was also a concern to someone who commented that the school her kids attended is full right now and how would the local school accommodate the hundreds of new students in the area and if the schools had been asked about their opinions on the possible growth.
One attendee said he was concerned about the subdivision being approved before the highway improvements. He said he was surprised the city would approve the houses in the subdivision before addressing the traffic questions.
The city plans will be available later this year and the city will have initial designs and they will then have public hearings related to the Highway 92 project.
There will be separate and specific meetings to communicate with the public about the highway and attendees’ concerns will be considered.
The difficulty in giving the precise timing of construction of the subdivision along with lining it up with the construction on Highway 92 will be a challenge until they get further into the process with the developers.
It’s anticipated the city will have a preliminary view sometime in October to address the additional vehicles that will come through the subdivisions.
A motion was passed to approve the preliminary plat as was presented with the caveat that they work through some of the items with developers.