Hindu Temple and Neighbors Finally Reach Agreement

Residents of a 30-year-old neighborhood on Weidman Road are dealing with the growing pains of a newer neighbor.

The circle of houses on Parkview Valley Estates were built 30 years ago, and the lot to the north of the subdivision was woods. Now the trees are gone, and the , north of the empty lot, owns the land, and wants to build–within a stone’s throw of the Parkview Valley backyards.

Developer Taylor-Morley-Simon cleared the lot to build houses in 2006-07, but that fell through when real estate went flat. The temple bought the land in 2008 for $1.2 million with plans for a community center and more parking.

“The temple was having parking problems,” Vijaya Kumar Buddhiraju, chair of the board of trustees of The Hindu Temple of St. Louis, said. Members park at a church lot south on Weidman Road and in Queeny Park for overflow at times.

To prepare the site for houses, Taylor-Morley-Simon brought in fill dirt and built a road down the middle. More fill is needed for the temple’s expansion plans. The temple wanted to use as much of the lot as possible, which meant more fill dirt and a retaining wall for the parking lot.

“The neighbors expressed their genuine concerns of cars with lights falling right into their homes,” Buddhiraju said. “So the temple suggested to build a wall and put some reasonable landscaping behind the wall.”

Subdivision resident Rick Dutton said the proposed wall was too high.

“They came up with a proposal to create an 18-foot wall behind parts of the neighbors in that area, 15 feet from their house,” Dutton said.

“So then they came up with a proposal to tier it, but it was going to be 10 feet away from our house,” he said. “That wasn’t very nice, and they said they couldn’t do anything about it.”

Coleen Wasinger, District 3 St. Louis County Council member got involved as a mediator.

“There’s different opinions on the issue,” she said. “Some of the residents are vehemently opposed (to the development), some don’t care, and some of them wanted a compromise.”

Warren Huff, a registered architect who lives in the subdivision, came up with a compromise. It’s an 8-foot wall with a 6-foot wooden fence on top to block headlights, and a 15-foot setback.

The temple still wanted a 10-foot setback. In a Jan. 3 Public Improvement Committee meeting in the St. Louis County Government Center, the two sides agreed on a 15-foot setback. Wasinger said that’s what the county council will vote on in a future meeting.

Both sides now say they are glad to be moving forward.

“Although it is a strain on the temple, the temple essentially gave up this land as good-will gesture,” Buddhiraju said. He said the county only requires 10 feet.

“I think (Wasinger) has done a pretty good job,” Dutton said. “We’ve got something I think works for both sides. They’ve always been good neighbors.”

“The temple will be happy to put these issues to rest and move ahead,” Buddhiraju said. “Hopefully the public hearing has made the neighbors happy.”