City Seems Willing to Re-Zone for Church On Schoettler Road

While Chesterfield's City Council delayed its regular monthly meeting until Wednesday because of the Presidents' Day holiday on Monday, it is still expected to vote on rezoning a corner parcel for use as a church.

The parcel is 5.23 acres on Schoettler Road at South Outer Forty at I-64/40.

The building on the lot was bought by Church of the Resurrection. It is a dark chalet-style house, which looks atypical for the neighborhood.

(See church house and nearby houses in photos with this article.)

Despite public hearings over the re-zoning, city officials said no more than three residents showed up on the matter. The only concern seemed to be traffic congestion, officials said.

Zoning would move from "non-urban" to "residential" which means renovations and changes simply follow regulations for the zone, not requiring preliminary plans or other checkpoints.

Church spokespersons said they want to host 250 members at typical Sunday services, and hold other smaller events during the week. The church wants to expand the building at the back, increase parking area, and put a cross atop the building.

There was no information about signs at the site. Previously, there were small, handmade signs on the edge of the road, or stuck on a pole.

Residents along Schoettler Road have voiced concern in the past over increased traffic, when Logan College of Chiropractic expanded and developed its campus farther down Schoettler Road toward Clayton Road.

Now, the city has further agreed to spend on a study to consider "improvements" to Schoettler Road, which would likely mean adding shoulders, sidewalks, widen a bridge over a creek, and other changes.

Anecdotally, some residents said they noticed more traffic and higher speeds on Schoettler Road since Logan's expansion.