Developer returns to Troy for public hearing on proposed hotel for Edwardsville Road
By Charles Bolinger
Editor • After an introductory meeting in mid-March to “test the waters” or “kick the tires” about building a three-story hotel in Troy, the developer returned on June 11 for a public hearing on the matter.
This hearing was before Troy’s zoning hearing officer, Luke Behme (say beam). He requested that anyone who wanted to speak during the public hearing stand as a group to be sworn in en masse.
Grant Ramsey is the representative from AAIC who attended the hearing on behalf of the property owner.
Troy City ordinance dictates that hotels in general commercial zoning areas will have a maximum height of two stories. Ramsey requested a variance to add a third story to the building, which if approved, will go up at 430 Edwardsville Road, next to the Casey’s gas and convenience store. The site plan depicts a 55-unit microtel with 73 parking slots and four more for disabled access. There would be two ingress/egress points. One would be on Route 162 at the far eastern end of the site while the other would connect to the adjoining Casey’s property. A large area of greenspace would remain on the site’s eastern end and southeastern corner.
The city’s five existing hotels are clustered together at the west end of Troy along Interstate 55-70.
“City staff met to discuss this plan,” City Administrator Jay Keeven told Behme. “We do have some concerns about a three-story building at that location, just as it is the approach to our downtown on 162. We’re trying to create that small-town atmosphere after you leave a bigger, more commercially developed area along 162. We would prefer if we could have a two-story building.”
Behme asked if there are other three-story buildings allowed in town. The hotels that are near the interstates are zoned differently, highway-commercial, which carries a height limit of four stories or a maximum height of 55 feet, per building and zoning director Ann Byrd. They did not require any variances. The same maximum height is part of the industrial zoning areas to the north on Formosa Road, city officials said.
Ramsey said the owner consolidated multiple parcels and now owns them all. There is an existing 15-foot easement on the site for a currently inactive, high-pressure natural gas pipeline that BP owns.
“On the south side is a 25-foot easement for a sewer line,” Ramsey added. “That creates a lot of hurdles for any type of structure going into this [site.]
“Our concept is a three-story hotel that is really compact and fits nicely in this; it has appropriate parking and amenities. It still leaves the easements and landscaping that align with city requirements.”
Ramsey said they need the third story to make the project financially viable. The site is located within a transition zone between the downtown core and the more commercial/retail district further west.
“As you enter from the highway into downtown, this would make a nice starting point,” he said. He thinks the hotel would serve as a driver to get more people into downtown.
Ramsey told Behme that 55 is a threshold number for Wyndham and that 40 units, for example, would be a real challenge.
He said they had talked to BP about building other options like spreading out the building, but again, Ramsey building over the top of that easement is challenging.
“In my experience, to do anything above that easement, you’d have to build it like a bridge just so you don’t put any weight load on their pipes at all.”
The owner, Arjun Shrestha, has owned the property for 11 years.
Ramsey said he and Shrestha reviewed other possibilities for the past two years. One of the hurdles is that scenario was retail below with residential above but the return on investment is not there and putting residential on the first floor but the ordinance does not allow that.
Several people attended in opposition to the project but only two spoke. No one else spoke in favor of it.
First was Dan Munch.
“This will be literally in my backyard; I will never be able to see a sunset again!” he said.
He said he owns two properties nearby and this would be in one’s backyard and in the front yard of the other one.
“I do not want this monstrosity in my back yard or my front yard. I think the city should be able to find something better to put in there than a 35+-foot-tall building. It’s just too big of a thing. Any hotels, I believe, should be in the hotel district, which is by the interstate.”
A previous online story on this topic generated three comments from residents who all are opposed to the plan.
Behme tried to illustrate the open space that would separate the hotel from his homes but Munch replied that would still put the hotel within 100 feet of one of his houses.
“It’s zoned commercial,” Ramsey said in rebuttal. “Something, I don’t know what, will go there.”
Munch asked what this development will do to his property taxes?
“If this is built, I’ll be selling both of my properties but what am I going to get out of ‘em when somebody knows that there will be a three-story hotel built beside my buildings?”
Jennifer Mott echoed Munch’s comments.
“He kinda lives on the opposite side [from me],” she said. She said the hotel would stick out like a sore thumb.
“We have children and grandchildren running around the neighborhood and you don’t know what kind of riff-raff will come and rent a hotel room for the night,” Mott said. “That needs to be taken into consideration.
“I’m not opposed to some kind of business coming in there but it doesn’t need to be a three-story building. It needs to be something that will drive some business for Troy but it needs to be something we know that our families and kids are safe [around.]”
As a final rebuttal, Ramsey said while he understands neighbors’ concerns, if the project only had two stories, they wouldn’t be at this hearing.
“We’re asking for a three-story because in my mind, it will enhance the neighborhood,” he said. He noted they are still below the 35-foot height and they are diligently working to make it appealing to everyone in the vicinity.
Behme took all comments and details from the public hearing under advisement and will issue a written report at a later date. The earliest that the Troy City Council would vote on this matter is at its July 6 meeting. Behme’s ruling is final 21 days following the decision unless the city council exercises its power of administrative review.
To review the ruling, the city council must approve a motion of administrative review by majority vote within 21 days of the zoning hearing officer’s decision. Within 45 days of the vote to review, the city council may affirm, reverse or modify the ruling of the zoning hearing officer. A favorable vote of 2/3 of all aldermen holding office is required to overturn the ruling.
