Though not on the meeting’s agenda, the St. Louis County Council heard five public comments on June 9 opposing the expansion of Monte Nido Clementine St. Louis — an eating disorder treatment center located in Oakville on Christopher Drive.

This spark was ignited the day before, when Monte Nido came before the St. Louis County Planning Commission — an advisory body to the County Council that reviews zoning and development in unincorporated areas — during a public hearing, requesting a conditional use permit to increase the number of beds in its facility from eight to 14.

Samantha Petersen, regional director of Monte Nido, told the Planning Commission on June 8 that the center is typically at capacity and often on a waitlist.

“This is not a construction project or a footprint expansion, just the number of clients that we would be treating in our current facility,” Petersen said.

Though construction is not necessarily the bone of contention. The six-bedroom, 8,083-square-foot structure, located at 7190 Christopher Drive, sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and some community members are less than pleased with the prospect of additional traffic, among other concerns, that this expansion might bring.

“(The site) sits on a non-urban stretch of road that completely lacks sidewalks, curbing or shoulders. In fact, Christopher Drive is closed right now, just 100 feet away from their entrance, because the road has collapsed. The infrastructure cannot handle more load,” resident Robert Egan told the Planning Commission. “Forcing more traffic onto a failing narrow residential street is a severe safety hazard.”

Additional parking, as more staff will be needed to care for the increased number of patients, was also mentioned. Petersen said the site has “ample parking” on most days; the parking issue comes into play on Fridays, when patients’ families are allowed to visit. Petersen assured all in attendance that Monte Nido is working with a nearby local church for backup staff parking spaces.

The underlying conflict with the center to some Christopher Drive residents, however, is much bigger than traffic. Those speaking in opposition to the expansion expressed their frustrations with Monte Nido opening in their neighborhood in the first place, in 2022.

“They target areas in unincorporated areas without HOAs or neighborhood-governed bodies and counties that have very lax laws guarding group homes,” resident Christina Laury said.

“You have traffic, you have lights, you have noise. You’re really running kind of a pseudo hotel, urgent care, emergency room, doctor’s office. You’re accepting food deliveries, you’re accepting medical deliveries. You have teachers, you have doctors, you have dieticians, you have therapists. It’s constant noise, constant traffic,” Grant Mabie — an attorney representing certain homeowners, and one of Crestwood’s Ward 3 aldermen — said. “What they ultimately do to help the patients is noble, and no one’s arguing against that. But to shoehorn it into a residential neighborhood … is not appropriate.”

It was also mentioned by those in opposoition that the County sees little monetary return as the center pays the residential tax rate and because Monte Nido is owned by Revelstoke Capital Partners, a private equity company based in Denver.

“Profits will be going out of state, benefiting Revelstoke investors, while serious harm is being done to property values of those living nearby to this commercial facility in a residential neighborhood,” Christopher Drive resident Laurence Walker said.

“Had they located this facility, especially this proposed expanded facility, in a proper commercial district,  St. Louis County would receive the property taxes from that commercial enterprise occupying that commercial space,” Mabie added.

When it was time for the audience to give a show of hands in support or opposition of the expansion request, the Planning Commission counted three in favor and 15 opposed.

As usual, additional comments, letters and petitions submitted to the Department of Planning within two weeks — in this case, by June 22 — will be given to the planning commissioners at the next executive meeting. Once agreed upon, the commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the St. Louis County Council, which has the responsibility to make the final decision.