WashU and Concordia withdraw zoning request for athletic facilities, evaluate future options

| Managing Sports Editor

The withdrawn proposal included facilities that would have been used by varsity, club, and intramural sports. (City of Clayton)

WashU has been working on plans to develop athletic facilities on nearby Concordia Seminary land for the past year. The University recently withdrew their request for zoning permits and will now evaluate other potential options which could include submitting a new proposal for an overlay district and developing the land under current zoning guidelines.

The proposed overlay district, which met resistance from some Clayton residents due to concerns over increased traffic and noise, would have allowed construction to occur outside of the existing zoning laws that currently govern the Concordia land.

On Jan. 8, WashU sent a letter to the Clayton Board of Alderman asking for a withdrawal of their current request, and the next day, Concordia Seminary followed suit. On Jan. 14, the Board of Alderman unanimously agreed to withdraw WashU and Concordia’s current zoning request.

The two institutions’ previous proposal would have led to the construction of a fieldhouse, softball and baseball fields, a soccer field, a gym building, and tennis courts. The facility also would have been home to WashU’s varsity baseball and softball teams, and would have seen use from intramural and club sports.

In a statement to Student Life on behalf of WashU, Erika Ebsworth-Goold, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, wrote that the University listened to many different stakeholders in the project — including Concorida Seminary, Clayton residents, and city officials — when making their decision.

“The project sought to plan for WashU and Concordia’s long-term futures, while supporting and protecting our surrounding community,” she wrote in her statement. “After careful consideration, we believe the current overlay version is not feasible to meet the primary objectives of this effort. We will continue to evaluate our future options.”

Concordia President Tom Egger spoke and responded to comments at a Jan. 14 meeting regarding the seminary’s plans to withdraw their current request.

“The situation has evolved … especially because WashU’s posture on this has evolved our sense of the path forward,” he said. “We now need time to regroup, think, and I can say, in all honesty, [that] there is no behind-the-scenes shared understanding of exactly what we’re angling for.”

In a written Request for Board Action at the Jan. 14 meeting, Clayton City Manager David Gipson and Anna Krane, Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of Clayton, wrote that given the specifics of the overlay, the Board should vote to approve WashU’s request because of “the lack of desire on the part of WashU to move forward at this point in time.”

At the Jan. 14 meeting, Mayor Michelle Harris said that WashU and Concordia’s decision to evaluate the project does not stop the institutions from pursuing future development.

“I want to encourage them to continue their collaborative efforts, since the synergistic uses proposed with this plan do conform to our comprehensive plan just completed,” Harris said.

However, WashU’s proposal was met with criticism and concerns from the Clayton community. During a Board of Alderman meeting on Nov. 12, residents voiced concerns about loud noises and increased traffic resulting from the facility’s construction.

Debate at the November meeting also centered around the type of zoning permit that the city would issue to WashU. An overlay zone, which the city believed was the appropriate zoning option for the project, would limit WashU to certain construction regulations. However, some residents, who feared that an overlay zone would give WashU too much freedom, preferred a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) that would give the city increased control and oversight of the project, as CUPs must be amended anytime the scope of a construction project changes.

As Larry Mooney, a Clayton resident, said on Nov. 12, “The overlay process only exacerbates the worries and fears of the neighborhood residents.”

“I look at [Clayton’s] relationship with WashU like I look at my relationship with my kids,” Clayton resident Andrew Lieberman said at the November meeting. “I love my kids, and I love WashU, but in my household, me and my wife pay the bills. We, the taxpers of Clayton, also pay the bills. Like with my kids, sometimes you’ve got to say, ‘No.’”

Branko Marusic, a Clayton resident who graduated from WashU Law, said at the January meeting that the University’s plan seemed to evolve beyond its original scope throughout the process.

“This could have been done a lot differently,” Marusic said on Jan. 14.

Despite the Boards’ decision to agree to WashU’s request, Harris reiterated on Jan. 14 that “the use of an overlay for a project like this remains the best way to regulate such a development.”

She also added that the last year of discussions with residents, the University, and other partners have generated valuable information for the city to use on future construction projects, which was a sentiment echoed by Gipson and Krane in their January request.

“This process has yielded significant information about resident concerns, goals of our institutions, and potential future land-use scenarios,” Gipson and Krane wrote in their request for action at the Jan. 4 meeting.

With the two institutions’ plans now withdrawn, WashU and Concordia aim to revisit plans for future development on the site.

At the Jan. 14 meeting, Gipson said that he believes WashU will resubmit a proposal under current zoning guidelines, not an overlay district.

“Maybe the project is over, but I’d be willing to bet almost anything [that] it is not,” he said.

However, Gipson also said that WashU needs to clarify to the city and Concordia their future intentions.

“I think it’s time to put it politely that Washington University … [needs to let] us know what it’s going to be, instead of having us guess,” he said.

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