The Warrenton Board of Aldermen put a temporary hold on development of more than 90 homes west of Binkley Woods Park last week.

Developer Beckmeyer Construction has been clearing land for more than a month for a subdivision that would be on the opposite side of Morgan Street from the park. But to move forward with construction, the company needs the city government to designate the area as a residential zone, and to also approve the layout of the subdivision.

Beckmeyer is asking the city to approve high-density zoning for 97 homes to be built on 35 acres. The subdivision would also include a road connecting Morgan Street to the area of Highway U.

During a May 18 hearing with city aldermen, Warrenton Planning and Development Director Tim Burks said city staff  and the city’s planning and zoning commission all recommend approving the development, with some conditions to mitigate construction nuisances and repair any street damage caused by construction vehicles.

Company owner Ben Beckmeyer said he has already been through multiple rounds of plan revisions with city staff and the planning commission. He said it hasn’t been an easy process.

“We’ve worked extensively with the city ... we’ve had some significant troubles getting (the development plan) through,” Beckmeyer commented. “We changed it around three or four times. We moved on to a new comprehensive plan, and we tried to make everything fit within what the city wanted. We feel like we’ve met those requirements now, and we’re ready to move forward.”

Warrenton’s aldermen, however, said they weren’t ready to approve the project. They listened as four area residents expressed concerns over the development, and said those concerns were enough to give them pause.

Among those questioning the project were Charlie Nordwald, who said his farm south of Warrenton has experienced more flooding as the city develops. Beckmeyer responded that extra water retention is part of the plans for the development.

Morgan Street resident Brad Busekrus, who is also a city employee, predicted that the influx of new traffic from the subdivision will damage Morgan Street.

“South Morgan is one of the second-smallest streets in the city,” Busekrus said. “It was a park road. It wasn’t really meant to be a city street.

“I’ve been here long enough, I’ve seen all the stuff that the city has to go in and fix. The developer builds it, and then we go in and fix it,” Busekrus commented.

One person spoke in favor of the development. Cliffton Woolf, whose subdivision is on Highway U, said he and his neighbors would appreciate a connecting road to town that lets them skip the rural highway.

Ward 1 Alderman Larry Corder said he shares the concern over the new traffic being too much for Morgan Street to handle. He also worries for families that use the street to walk to Binkley Woods Park.

“That park is used frequently. My concern is that if we push a bunch of traffic in there, we’re going to have a problem with people not even wanting to go to that park (anymore),” Corder worried. He added several other concerns he has about how close houses would be to each other and to the street in the high-density development area.

Corder motioned for any approvals of the subdivision development to be delayed until a future board of aldermen meeting. That got unanimous agreement from his fellow aldermen (minus Scott Schulze of Ward 2, who was absent). In the meantime, Corder called for a special meeting with aldermen, city staff and the developer to discuss the subdivision plans.

Beckmeyer said he has made efforts to cooperate with the city, but he also expressed frustration over the setback.