Community Development committee backs rezoning for swim school and gymnastics center at Old Collinsville Road

The Community Development committee voted to forward a zoning amendment and planned‑use approval for a proposed youth swim school and gymnastics center at 5634 Old Collinsville Road to the full city council.

Greg Anderson, the city's director of community development, presented the item and said the applicant (identified in staff materials as Josie of SAB Enterprises LLC) is proposing a one‑story, 23,641‑square‑foot building: roughly 5,333 sq ft for a swim school in the front and an approximately 18,000 sq ft gymnastics center in the rear. The parcel (parcel ID 03-35-0-0100-021) is currently zoned B‑1 Community Business and the applicant requested rezoning to B‑1P Planned Community Business to allow the planned use.

Anderson said staff recommended approval with multiple conditions: incorporation of recommendations from a 2022 traffic study or a new traffic study approved by Saint Clair County; cross‑access maintenance agreements with adjacent properties; restriction of the northwest access along Old Council Road to entrance‑only; a landscape buffer along the eastern property line abutting multifamily residential; a 6‑foot vinyl fence screening the dumpster enclosure; photometric plans and lighting to meet city code; and hours of operation limited to 10:00 p.m. "Staff ultimately does recommend approval with the following conditions," Anderson said, listing the traffic, access and screening requirements.

On site planning details, Anderson said the proposal provides 117 parking spaces (including five ADA spaces), meeting the code requirement of 106 spaces for the proposed gross floor area; ingress/egress includes a northwest shared access (recommended to be entrance‑only) and a southwest access through the Centerfield Park property. Stormwater design calls for a detention basin on the east side of the site; Anderson provided basin elevations and said public works reviewed the design and found it adequate for the project.

A committee member asked whether the site had been tested for old mine workings. Staff responded that "a significant portion of [the area] will found is undermined by former coal mines" and that remediation is typically the responsibility of the property owner or developer; staff added that single‑story construction often does not trigger remediation in similar cases.

Following discussion, the committee recorded affirmative roll‑call votes and agreed to forward the ordinance to the city council for initial reading on Dec. 15; staff said the item will return to committee for a second reading Jan. 12 and to full council for final reading Jan. 20.

Next steps: the committee recommendation will be presented to the full city council at its Dec. 15 meeting.