Wright City's Board of Aldermen gave their unanimous support to a proposal from Cochrane Engineering to rezone the Wildcat Ridge property, located at Veterans Memorial Parkway and Highway H. The property will now be designated as M-1, light industrial, and C-4, general and highway business commercial. Under the plan approved last Thursday, nearly three-quarters of the property (38.14 acres) will be devoted to light industrial development, with the other 13.54 acres developed as commercial property. Cochrane officials said they had been originally planning to develop the property primarily for a single- and multi-residential development with less than 25 percent slated for commercial use. "This new request falls in well with what we have discussed with the city," said Cochrane representative Curt Daniels. In March Cochrane officials sought approval of a plan to rezone the property entirely as a light industrial development, citing the sharp downturn in the real estate market. The aldermen rejected that proposal and asked Cochrane to consider other options. Thursday's approval, city officials believe, will help speed the development of the property adjacent to Interstate 70. "This seems more in line with the city's 2004 comprehensive development plan," said Ward 1 Alderman Richard Denkler. "This is a step in the right direction to get one piece of the puzzle," said Jim Schuchmann, president of the board of aldermen. "With industrial growth, you get commercial growth as well." Schuchmann said his concern with rezoning the property entirely for light industrial development was the potential for the location of a large manufacturing/warehouse building, a facility Schuchmann referred to as "a big brown box. "If this property was developed 100 percent for industrial use, it would not be attractive to the city," Schuchmann observed. Schuchmann said the property's proximity to I-70 made it an ideal location for commercial development. "It's a site with huge commercial possibilities," Schuchmann said, "and one of the things it could possibly lead to is restaurants such as O'Charley's, Outback Steakhouse and Red Lobster deciding to settle here." The I-70 corridor in Warren County carries more than 50,000 vehicles a day, with higher average daily traffic counts on weekends, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. That traffic, coupled with the right lure, could serve to stimulate rapid growth in Wright City, according to Schuchmann. "On the weekends, you've got lots of people coming back toward St. Louis from Lake of the Ozarks," Schuchmann said. "A lot of them are families and they are typically looking for a place to stop and eat. "If we had visible, popular restaurants, those families might be inclined to stop here," he added. "The further east you go, into St. Charles County, for instance, the longer the wait is likely to be for a table at a restaurant right off I-70."