More Rental Housing Headed To Osage Beach With Planned Triplex Units

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. — Despite some objections in the neighborhood, the Osage Beach Board of Aldermen on Thursday unanimously approved a special use permit for Revelation Construction and Development LLC to build two rental triplex properties on Port Lane.

The tract of land, which is zoned commercial, already has duplexes to the north and south, Stoneledge and The Ledges condominiums and Blue Moon Marina to the east and RT’s Cove Resort to the west. But it also has single-family homes nearby.

Jim and Sarah Stevenson live on Port Lane across the street from some of the duplexes Revelation built in the area and down the street the proposed triplex proposal. Sarah Stevenson said they opposed special use permits for the duplexes that were built three years ago, and they remain opposed to the new proposal.

“My husband and I have been at every meeting opposing this development,” she said.

Sarah said her husband’s parents bought their lot in 1948 and built the house in 1952. At that time, the area was a residential subdivision. Now, she said, there are only a few single-family homes in the area.

“I moved away from the city,” she said. “This is not what I consider residential.”

Jim Stevenson added: “It’s really changing the whole area into something it wasn’t meant to be and not something the people who moved down here want.”

Wilma Woolery, who lives on Stoneledge Circle, said she also opposed the development, and expressed concerns about damage to the streets that serve the area caused by construction crews working on the project. The streets are gravel and are showing wear from construction of the duplexes in the area, she said.

But City Planner Cary Patterson said Revelation’s proposal provides much-needed rental housing on an appropriate tract of land in an area that’s already zoned for mixed uses. He said in 1984, when the resort and marina were “taking over that area,” the city zoned the entire neighborhood commercial.

When the city went through its comprehensive plan process in 2005-2006, the city converted the area into “modern-diversity residential,” which codified a mix of commercial, single and two-family residential zoning.

He said the triplex rentals are two-bedroom units, which are in high demand in the Lake area.

“From a city perspective, our demand for rental units and housing in general is excessive,” Patterson said. “The property owner has the right to develop that property, and he could have built (a commercial development) without coming through the city. Instead of doing that, they’re asking to do the rental units, which is a more conducive use to a residential area.”

In response to Alderwoman Phyllis Marose’s concern that construction crews might further damage the gravel streets in the area, Patterson asked Matt Breuer of Revelation whether his company would be willing to ensure the streets in the area were repaired and graded after construction was completed. Breuer agreed.

In other business, the board:

Postponed the certifying of Tuesday, April 5 election results and subsequent oaths of office, since state law requires that to happen no sooner than the Friday after the election.
Authorized a new 25-year land lease extension with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for Peanick Park.
Authorized a transfer of city property to Lake Regional Health System.
Terminated a road and drainage project for Hatchery Road, Osage Beach Road and Church Drive. The project was approved before the Highway 54 Expressway was built. That route made the Hatchery Road project a much lower priority for the city, according to Public Works Director Nick Edelman.
Awarded a $20,000 bid from Leon Uniform Co. of St. Louis for new police department uniforms and equipment.