June 19, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the June 19, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All of the commissioners were present.

At the beginning of the meeting, Commissioner Gohagan clarified that the jail grocery bid from the previous meeting had been awarded to Springfield Grocery, not Sysco Foods.

This meeting was a Planning and Zoning meeting so it was a pretty full room. The Camden County Planning Commission hears re-zone requests and then votes on them. The re-zone requests are then forwarded to the Camden County Commission and the commissioners make a final decision on whether they will approve the re-zone request.

The first agenda item was “PZ25-0041 Wright.”

This involved a re-zone from R-1 to R-2 in the area of Hyde Park Drive and Maple Hill Drive. The Wrights wanted to build affordable housing on the property, but neither the Wrights nor any of their supporters attended the meeting.

A large percentage of the crowd attending was there to oppose this re-zone. A handful of them spoke to the Commission and I will summarize their issues with the proposal.

Most did not feel that the the water resources in the area could support the increased number of year-round residents that a residential project with higher density would bring. It would also create problems with water runoff and erosion because the planned development was uphill from the current lakefront homes. The roads in the area were narrow and steep and could not safely handle the increased traffic. It was even brought up that some sort of endangered bat lived in the trees in the area.

There is also a Scout Reservation nearby and the road to this development bisects their property. One of the representatives from the Scouts was in full uniform as he explained their concerns about the impact that the increased traffic would have on their road.

A Planning and Zoning representative did mention that even with the current zoning, the owners could build 24 duplexes on their lots.

In the end, it seemed that the fact that nobody in support of it was even at the meeting doomed the re-zone. The Commission voted unanimously to deny it.

And then practically everyone left.

The second agenda item was “PZ25 -0042 LOTO Land LLC.”

This was a re-zone request from R-1 to B-2. The owner’s attorney was present and she explained that the owner wanted to build several climate controlled storage garages.

Nobody was present to oppose the request.

The Commission approved it unanimously.

The third agenda item was “PZ25-0066 Davis.”

The owner wanted to re-zone the property from A-1 to AR so he could divide the property into smaller lots than A-1 zoning would allow.

Nobody was opposed.

The Commission approved the change unanimously.

The fourth agenda item was “PZ25-0071 Four Seasons Land.”

The property owners wanted to re-zone from P-2 to B-2 so they could add a shop and home office to the property.

Nobody was present to oppose it.

The Commission approved the re-zone unanimously.

The final agenda item was “PZ25-0074, 0076 One Source Services LLC.”

Marty Ostronic, the property owner, wanted to re-zone his property in Linn Creek from I-1 and B-2 to residential zoning in order to build four-story apartment buildings, townhouses, and single family homes. The construction would be carried out in phases.

Presiding Commissioner Skelton pointed out that there would have to be a considerable buffer zone between the residential lots and the properties that would remain zoned as Industrial. Ostronic explained that he was aware of the requirements. Ostronic also assured the Commission that Linn Creek’s current sewage capacity was more than enough to handle Phase 1 of the project.

Jeff Davis, the Mayor of Linn Creek, was present to speak in opposition to the re-zone. He said that the Board of Aldermen had voted unanimously against the project. He did not believe that the city’s current sewer plant can handle the required extra capacity. It was originally designed for 46,000 gallons per day, but it only has one of the two clarifiers online so it’s capacity is currently half of that. He also was concerned that the development might require the city to have another water tower.

Davis mentioned that the City of Linn Creek is currently involved in a lawsuit with One Source Services, Ostronic’s company. The city has issues with the damage Ostronic has done to Locust Street and the road needs to be repaired. Davis said the city could support some kind of project down there, but not this particular project.

Representatives from LOSA Soccer have spoken previously to the Commission about their issues with Ostronic’s property which is adjacent to their soccer fields. At this meeting, they advised the Commission that the destruction of Locust Street poses a major safety issue for their soccer fields. They need access to that street for emergency medical response to the soccer fields for the thousands of people who come to the fields every Saturday.

It was also alleged that Ostronic has surrounded their fields with abandoned cars and encapsulated foam. They were concerned that more demand on the existing sewer system would impact their property which borders the sewage treatment plant..

A representative from Planning and Zoning advised the Commission that the county currently has a zoning violation on file for Ostronic’s property because it has failed to comply with its requirement for a buffer zone.

Marty Ostronic spoke in rebuttal and said it was only two years ago that the city had claimed Locust Street was a city street. He referred to it as a “private dirt road.” He insisted that the city had agreed to a swap of property parcels including the original sewer treatment plant property when he purchased his land. Ostronic questioned the accuracy of the Missouri CART map that defines which county roads provide CART money to the local governments for maintenance. He ultimately denied that Locust Street is a city street.

The request for a re-zone was denied by the Commission.

And that was that.