Planning commission recommends approval of Olia Village tree-plan amendment, citing extra excavation for retaining wall

Creve Coeur — The Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of application 24-035 on Jan. 7, forwarding the amendment to the City Council for final action on Jan. 13, 2025. The amendment changes the Olia Village site concept and Phase 1 site development plans to allow additional clearing and a revised tree preservation and Phase 1 planting plan needed to construct a portion of the project’s retaining wall.

Jason Jagie, director of community development for the City of Creve Coeur, told the commission the request is a narrow amendment to work that was previously approved by ordinance and that recent site work and engineering have revealed the need for more excavation in the buffer area to structurally install the Phase 1a retaining wall. “The revised tree preservation plan … actually looks at all the individual trees in here because we’re looking at it in much finer detail,” Jagie said in the staff presentation, adding the city has used consulting engineers, a landscape architect and a certified arborist to review the work.

Developer representatives described the engineering reasons…