The Wentzville School District plans to move forward with building its new high school, despite being denied a permit by the O'Fallon City Council.

The Board of Education on Thursday voted unanimously to proceed with construction of the district's third high school, scheduled to open in fall 2013. The district plans to break ground this spring on 80 acres it owns on Sommers Road, south of Highway N in O'Fallon.

The O'Fallon council on Jan. 12 voted 7-3 to reject the district's request for a conditional-use permit for the school. The tract, surrounded by subdivisions, is zoned for residential use.

Several neighboring homeowners urged the council to reject the plan. They said the school would increase traffic on residential streets, jeopardizing the safety of neighborhood children and reducing property values.

The school board meeting drew a smaller contingent of residents from the same subdivisions.

The board cast its vote without discussion, save for a short introduction by Superintendent Terry Adams.

"The need has not changed," Adams said. "I recommend we override O'Fallon's denial of the conditional-use permit and proceed with construction."

Phil Readinger, who lives in Countryshire Estates south of the school site, said he wanted the district to reach out to residents and make them an active part of the planning process. He noted the district engaged the community when it devised a plan to reconfigure attendance boundaries in preparation for a third high school. The board unanimously approved the attendance plan Thursday after hearing a detailed presentation that described how the district included residents in the decision process through multiple committees and public meetings. Readinger said the district should have formed similar committees when drafting the site plan for the new high school.

"We are asking for the same level of collaboration," he said. "This is just as important and has just as much impact."

Readinger said he did not understand the legalities of how the district could override the council, but was not surprised.

"I'm sure the high school is a foregone conclusion since they already bought the property," he said.

The district bought the land in July, using $6 million from a 2008 bond issue. The school is expected to cost $40 million; the money will come from a 30-cent property tax increase approved last April by district voters.

Matt Deichmann, the school district's spokesman, said city approval for these types of projects normally is 'something of a formality."

"Especially after the extensive background work we did with the site plan and our communication with the city," he said. "So it came as a surprise to us when the City Council rejected the plan."

Deichmann said the district had striven to be a "good neighbor" throughout the process, seeking input from residents through an open house meeting in December. The meeting included district administrators and the project's engineering and design team, who were available to answer questions and receive public feedback.

Deichmann said the district took the surrounding neighborhoods into account when it planned for a football stadium near the center of the property, as far from homes as possible, so that the lights would not bother residents.

The district also went to "great lengths" to preserve green space around the perimeter of the property, creating a buffer between the school and homes, Deichmann said.

One of the bigger concerns expressed by residents and City Council members was the extension of Paul Renaud Boulevard, located west of the site. The district planned to extend the road south of the site to connect it to Sommers Road east of the school. Residents said that would place a busy road along their backyards.

Deichmann said it was the city that wanted Paul Renaud Boulevard extended to Sommers Road, not the school district.

"We have been trying to work with the city to place the road on a mutually agreeable spot on the south side of our property," he said.