Town and Country delays Deer Hollow preliminary plan after residents press tree and stormwater concerns

The Town and Country Board of Aldermen on June 24 voted to continue consideration of the Deer Hollow planned residential community to the council's July 8 meeting after residents and council members sought stronger, enforceable protections for trees and stormwater.

George Stock of Stockton Associates, speaking for Grand Communities LLC and Fisher Homes, outlined changes to the Deer Hollow site plan that he said were made after resident comment: relocating the stormwater detention basin away from the property line, increasing setback distances (he said the retaining wall was moved 25 feet), and enlarging buffer plantings. Stock told the council the project team had submitted a stormwater analysis and that “when we put in the stormwater measures … we reduce those flows by 82%,” a figure he presented as a modeled reduction compared with current site conditions.

Residents and nearby homeowners raised unresolved issues. Fred Strassheim, who said he represents homeowners adjacent to the site, urged the council to let related proceedings in neighboring Creve Coeur play out because part of the development depends on a boundary adjustment there. Strassheim told the council he was concerned residents lacked an enforceable legal remedy if trees on their property were damaged by construction activity.

Stock said the developer had offered a one-time $5,000 payment to the homeowners association to compensate for potential tree impacts and described additional design concessions. Several aldermen and residents pressed for that commitment to be recorded in a legal instrument so the HOA would have standing to enforce the obligation; city staff and council members discussed using a recorded site-development plan or a separate agreement to capture the terms. Council members also asked whether an independent arborist review paid by the applicant could resolve lingering disputes over root impacts and tree health.

Alderman Allen moved to accept a substitute version of the Deer Hollow bill that updated plan-date references and the permanent-open-space percentage in the packet; the council approved the substitute by voice vote so the revised text would be the formal draft under consideration. After the developer requested a short continuance to allow parallel proceedings in Creve Coeur and additional arborist review, the board voted unanimously to continue the preliminary development plan to the July 8 meeting.

Next steps include the developer and city staff coordinating scope and timing for any independent arborist review and drafting a recorded condition or agreement to memorialize the $5,000 payment or other enforceable mitigation. The council signaled a willingness to require recorded terms in the site plan or a separate enforceable agreement before final approval rather than rely on an unrecorded promise.