Work begins on Comprehensive Plan Planning benchmarks

The Planning Commission heard 40 petitions requesting a change in zoning, Planned District, or Special Procedure. The Board of Zoning Adjustment heard 102 appeals to the strict application of Zoning Ordinance regulations. The Department of Planning received 54 Site Development Plan (SDP) submittals for review for compliance with Zoning Ordinance requirements.

In total, the Department and Commission reviewed and approved 80 Site Development Plans.

The Department of Planning received 74 submissions of Subdivision Plats for review, including 20 Boundary Adjustment Plats, one planning mapping tools to facilitate development decisions that further long-range goals. Community visioning and recommendations deriving from the Comprehensive Plan will provide a foundation for all other community strategic planning.

Condominium Plat, and 15 Preliminary Plats. The Department facilitated the execution of escrow agreements for 37 Major Land Disturbance Permits, securing $847,230.20 in funds to guarantee stormwater and pollution prevention improvements. Additionally, the Department secured $492,067.76 in funds to guarantee landscape improvements in developments governed by Planned Districts or Special Procedures. The Department and Planning Commission approved plans to facilitate the development of 50 new multiple-family units and 306 single-family residences and escrowed $64,677.71 to guarantee subdivision improvements.

In 2022, the Department of Planning hired three new planners, all recent graduates, filling needs left in the wake of the retirement last year of three long-time staff members who took more than 100 years of combined experience with them when they left. This has allowed the department to expand their work, including preparation for St. Louis County 2050: An Equitable and Sustainable Comprehensive Plan.