Creve Coeur planners review preliminary ‘Grazier Station’ concept amid neighborhood concerns over density, parking and drainage

Developers seeking to redevelop a vacant commercial site at Olive Boulevard and Graeser/Grazier Road presented a preliminary site concept for "Grazier Station" on Aug. 4, and city staff and residents spent more than an hour pressing the applicant for more detail on density, parking, traffic and stormwater mitigation.

Joel Glasscock of Steadfast City, the planning consultant for the project team, said the proposal is a primarily four‑story mixed‑use building with about 10,500 square feet of ground‑floor commercial space and 168 rental units above. The applicant provided a unit mix of 39 studios, 118 one‑bedroom units and 11 two‑bedroom units, an on‑site amenity area for residents, a publicly accessible corner plaza, a pool and a fenced dog area. "So the development, Grazer Station, as you can see, is the name," Glasscock said during the presentation, adding that the plan calls for 250 on‑site parking spaces and that a parking study with Lochmuller Group is underway.

City planner Bethany Moore told the commission the site totals 4.42 acres made up of six parcels that would need to be consolidated and rezoned under the city’s planned mixed‑use development procedure. Moore said the plan shows a 35‑foot landscaped buffer along the south property line abutting single‑family homes and a detention basin intended to manage stormwater on‑site. She also confirmed the proposed 250 spaces "do not meet the city standards in terms of what would be required for that amount of units" and that the applicant will submit a separate parking study and a traffic impact analysis with a formal application.

Jason Jaggi, the city’s director of community development, placed the project in the context of Creve Coeur’s comprehensive plan — referred to in materials as the city’s long‑range plan — and flagged density as the key issue for the commission. Jaggi noted the proposal’s residential density of about 38 units per acre and contrasted that with other recent developments and the city’s informal density categories: "For multifamily, 6 units per acre is considered low; medium density is up to 20, and then high is anything greater than 20," he said, adding that the planned‑district rezoning provides flexibility but also requires a detailed application and ordinance with development standards.

Neighbors who spoke at the public hearing expressed strong concerns that the project is too dense and too tall for the immediate area, and they listed potential consequences if the plan is unchanged. "This is clearly too dense for the size of the property and not in line with the density described in the comprehensive plan," said Lynn Berry of Graeser Road. Multiple speakers said they fear traffic will worsen at the Graeser/Grazier‑Olive intersection, that on‑site parking counts are insufficient and that stormwater runoff could harm downhill homes in Mary Meadows.

Several residents asked for rear‑elevation renderings and clearer cross‑section drawings to show how the building will appear from adjacent yards and sidewalks; commissioners asked the applicant to show how a 70‑foot setback and the 35‑foot buffer would appear in reality. Critics also raised school capacity questions for the Ladue/Spady attendance area and asked staff to coordinate school‑impact estimates with the traffic and parking analyses.

The project team responded repeatedly that the presentation is preliminary and that the parking study and traffic counts (scheduled for late summer to capture school traffic) will inform the final submittal. "We look forward to getting the parking study findings back. We look forward to getting the traffic impact study findings back and ultimately taking all this forward," Glasscock said.

Next steps outlined by staff: the applicant will submit a formal package that consolidates parcels, supplies detailed engineering and landscape plans, completes the traffic and parking studies, and files a rezoning request under the planned mixed‑use development procedure. Public notice and a formal public hearing before the commission will follow the rezoning application. The commission did not vote on the project tonight; it was a preliminary review to gather feedback and identify information needed for a complete application.

The commission also announced several unrelated pending items for future meetings, including NAICS code updates, a lighting‑requirements text amendment, and a site plan for new lighting at Congregation Temple Israel. The meeting adjourned at 7:53 p.m.