Goddard School's Take on the Oakville Senior Complex

As Oakville residents get more answers about the senior living complex under construction on Telegraph Road, the focus seems to narrow on the center’s effects on two of the its closest neighbors: The Goddard School preschool and the Monastery of St. Clare nuns.

Cindy Pyatt, who owns the Goddard School, says the scope project is too large for her comfort, building a three-story tower over the safe haven she’s built for her students.

“The fact that (the building) is so close to our facility infrastructure and our playground and is overpowering our building is what concerns me greatly,” Pyatt said. “They have taken the smallest tract of land and maximized it out to the point where the people don’t even have any grounds. It’s just too big.”

See related story: Goddard School Dads Say Why Senior Housing Complex is a Bad Idea

What especially bothers Pyatt and the parents at the preschool is that no one knew about the construction until it was too late to offer input.

“We were never offered the opportunity to voice our concerns about what that piece of property would look like,” Pyatt says. “It’s not about who our neighbor is going to be. I have nothing but admiration for the elderly. It’s just too big — that’s it.”

Alerting Neighbors

St. Louis County government representatives say they alerted neighbors to the project through mailer postcards, a sign posted at the construction site and an announcement in a printed local publication, but Pyatt says that outreach only followed the letter—not the spirit—of the law.

“There’s no way I missed it,” Pyatt said about the postcard announcement the St. Louis Planning Commission says they emailed to her. “They sent it to a house I haven’t lived in in three years. And to my knowledge, the nuns didn’t receive it.”

See related story: List: Who Got Planning Department Postcards about the Senior Center on Telegraph?

Kelley Nelson, director at the preschool, says of the 120 parents dropping off and picking up their kids at school each day, none mentioned seeing the sign posted next door.

“There was some kind of breakdown,” Nelson said. “It happened, and now we’re faced with this three-story building that’s going to be five feet from us.”

Next Door to Nuns

After 13 years next to the Monastery of St. Clare, Nelson says Goddard teachers have developed a neighborly relationship with the cloistered nuns living behind the school, always warning them before bringing children for nature walks on the property.

“Their vow is to pray for all of the people,” Pyatt said. “They’ve protected themselves by having this land, and they are going to be infringed upon.”

Pyatt and Nelson both worry about the nuns’ privacy if the senior living complex is completed and filled with residents.

“If they walk around on the nuns’ property, that infringes on their privacy,” Nelson said. “Their order is to remain private, but they don’t want to say (seniors) can’t come on the land.”

Fighting for the School

Pyatt says she’s hired an attorney, and Goddard parents have actively joined the community-wide effort to change the senior complex’s zoning.

Last week, in an unexpected move, the St. Louis County Council voted to send the project back to the Planning and Zoning Committee, which could change the land’s zoning and stop construction on the project.

Goddard staff and parents say the building is too close to the school, elevating seniors on three floors overlooking the school and the playground.