The Wright City Board of Aldermen postponed votes on two new developments at their meeting on Nov. 25. 

The first of those two was a recommendation from Wright City Planning and Zoning from a developer looking to build a strip mall at Roelker Road and Veterans Memorial Parkway. 

While the board could have made a decision on the development at their meeting, there were no representatives from the developer present and Alderman Karey Owens said they were waiting on an update from the Wright City Fire Protection District as well. 

“Josh (Riebe) reviewed the plan today and there were some updates that he requested, because there’s no way to get fire into this and get it back out,” said Owens. 

She continued saying Riebe, the assistant fire chief at the WCFPD, had requested the developer add an additional entrance, which would require a new site plan. 

“Well we can’t vote on this if it’s gonna change, right,” said Alderman Ramiz Hakim. 

The board decided to postpone a decision on the development until the amended site plan had been submitted. 

Later in the meeting, the board received yet another request from the developer for the District at Roelker development to postpone a vote on their zoning change request. 

The developer, Houston Homes LLC, has requested to rezone the roughly 58-acre property on Roelker Road and Veterans Memorial Parkway from M-1 light industrial to a residential planned development area.

That 58-acre property would become a large housing development with some retail frontage and has been the subject of controversy as it was described as “affordable” housing, although there are no plans for the development to be used as low-income or Section 8 housing. 

The development has come before Wright City meetings for over two months now. It was originally brought before the board following a positive recommendation from the Planning and Zoning board at the Aug. 22 board meeting where they voted to send it back to planning and zoning for further review. 

The developer then requested the board postpone a decision on the zoning change request the next time it came before them at the Oct. 24 meeting. 

They made the same request on Nov. 25. 

Aldermen have been divided on the subject, with some, including Owens and Kim Arbuthnot expressing support for the development and saying the type of housing it would provide will be a need in the community. 

Hakim has said he would vote against the development in its current state and feels that the city would be making too many accommodations to the developer without enough in return. Alderman Don Andrews has declined to state whether he would vote one way or the other but has said he does not want to lose the city’s limited industrial zoning districts. 

The developer requested that the board postpone the decision to the Dec. 14 meeting, which the board agreed to.