(UPDATED)

St. Charles Mayor Patti York today returned unsigned two recently-passed ordinances allowing the construction of a controversial 252-unit, multi-building apartment complex near the Family Arena.

That means the bills will go into effect. The project, at the northern corner of the intersection of Arena Parkway and Friedens and South River roads, is one of the few building projects to come before local governments in St. Charles County during the current recession.

The project, which has been opposed for months by nearby residents fearing traffic congestion and the development’s density, was approved last week on a 6-4 vote by the City Council.

York

York, in an e-mail to Councilwoman Laurie Feldman, said she disagreed with critics’ concerns that the development “will bring all the problems” and hurt neighboring property values.

“It has not borne out to be true with the last apartment development we had in the city; the Boulders at Katy Trail,” the mayor said in the letter to Feldman, a leading opponent of the new project.

York pointed out that the Boulders units - also in the city’s south end - ”were so successful that they converted into condominiums.”

The new plan, by Michigan-based Edward Rose Properties, calls for three two-story buildings and 10 three-story buildings.

An earlier version of the proposal was narrowly rejected in April by the council. On that vote, five council members were in favor, four were against and one was absent. Six “yes” votes are needed for passage.

Timothy Huff, an attorney for nearby resident Cordelia Stumberg, had alleged in June that the changes in the plan proposed by the developer were not substantial enough to allow it to be voted on again in a one-year period.

He pointed out in a letter to city officials that a city ordinance prevents an application “or one substantially similar” from being reconsidered sooner than one year after a council decision.

Asked today if he would go to court using that argument in an attempt to block the project, Huff said he had yet to discuss that with his client.

York in the e-mail to Feldman, whose 3rd Ward includes the Rose Properties project site, didn’t explain why she let the legislation become law without her signature instead of simply signing the measures. Feldman had asked York to veto the project, the mayor said.