A new commercial development is headed toward Union's Board of Aldermen after the city's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of a preliminary plat for a project by Ed Schmelz and ELS Properties. The proposed Parkside Business Center would sit on Progress Parkway in east Union, within a B-2 highway business district, and would carve the property into six lots anchored by an office, warehouse and maintenance building.
According to the Missourian, ELS Properties is preparing the site, which is bordered by Veterans Memorial Park to the east, the Little Wildcats Early Learning Center to the west, and the Union Corporate Center industrial park to the south. The learning center next door is currently under construction, per the same report. Kris Wolfe, who represents Wunderlich Surveying and Engineering, laid out the plan during the commission's meeting on Monday.
Roads Built to Link School, Cul-de-Sac and City Utilities
Wolfe told commissioners that Parkside Business Center will connect a new school to a road built through the property, with that road then tying into a short street within the Schmelz development that currently ends in a cul-de-sac, the Missourian's report notes. Because roads, sanitary sewer and water lines will be extended and eventually handed over to the city, Wolfe classified the project as a major subdivision rather than a simple commercial lot split. The development will also include two retention basins to manage stormwater.
Road widths became a point of discussion at the meeting. The park road across from the proposed entrance measures 24 feet wide and is primarily used during non-business hours in warmer months, while the planned new road in the development will be built to 33 feet wide, per the Missourian's coverage. Streets will carry sidewalks on one side, with Wolfe noting that city code suggests that approach and that the development will follow it. City engineer JD Kelley countered that the city's comprehensive plan suggests sidewalks on both sides of Parkside Court, though the station's report does not indicate how that difference was resolved.
Sign Placement and Entrance Alignment Raised as Concerns
Developers have proposed a monument sign at the development's entrance, but the sign as submitted does not meet the city's sight-distance requirements, according to the same account. JD Kelley also expressed concern that the Parkside Business Center entrance is offset from the Veterans Memorial Park entrance across Progress Parkway. Wolfe responded that a triple-box culvert in the area makes it difficult to line the two entrances up precisely.
The preliminary plat process stretched over several weeks before reaching the commission. Developers submitted an initial version on Sept. 21, then resubmitted the plat after receiving comments, per the Missourian's reporting. Wolfe said the future uses of the remaining lots are not yet known, but that no residential development is planned for the site. Commissioner Richard Purschke said the project ties into the industrial park nearby, and Kris Wolfe himself described the ELS project as a good use for the land.
A Site With a Different History Next Door
The ELS development sits on a site that had previously been planned for 48 new apartment units by Golden Management Inc., the Missourian reported. That company had also developed the nearby Oak View Village senior apartments just north of the ELS site, but according to the same report, Oak View Village did not move forward after its developers failed to obtain a grant approval they had sought from the Missouri Housing Development Commission.
ELS Properties traces back two decades to when Ed Schmelz purchased his first four-plex apartment building in Union in 2004, according to ELS Properties. The company now says it manages more than 2,500 apartments, villas and townhomes. Separately, Realtor Jacob Stallmann has noted that ELS Homes expects additional new residential sites coming to Union, Warrenton and Washington, part of a broader pattern of growth tracked on Jacob Stallmann's site, which also points to the completed first phase and recently sold final homes of Union's Park Place subdivision.
The commission's recommendation now heads to the Union Board of Aldermen for consideration. The city's plan board has also backed expansion plats before, including a unanimous approval of the preliminary plat for Union Development Corporation Phase XIV, an expansion of the city's industrial park.
