The St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed a bill Friday that amends the city’s zoning code to make it easier to open shelters and transitional homes.
Board members voted 9-5 for the bill, sponsored by Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier. It includes a more centralized permitting process and requires operational plans that detail the housing.
The bill would still require new shelters to go through the plat and petition process, including approval by the majority of nearby residents.
Sonnier said this streamlined process gives the city more power to address problematic shelters.
“With these facilities, it’s so many more things to consider on whether or not a facility is running in a way that best serves the vulnerable but also in a way that is compatible with the neighborhood,” Sonnier said.
Sonnier said the bill allows the facilities to go through the conditional use process, which includes a notice and a public hearing. It also limits how many facilities can be concentrated in one area.
The bill gives the city’s building division the power to send its inspectors in to ensure compliance that could result in a permit revocation process.
A spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura Jones said she will sign the bill.
With this bill approved and winter approaching, Sonnier said the city’s next focus in regard to housing will be to make sure its residents are safe in cold weather.
“We need to make sure that there is the funding out there for the emergency facilities we know that we will need so that people don't die in a cold,” Sonnier said.
