Procedure ll Additional Information ll Public Works Home

The Planning and Zoning Commission establishes the comprehensive plan for land use in the City. It also reviews land use petitions such as zoning changes and special uses and makes recommendations on them to the City Council. The Commission consists of a group of nine citizens appointed by the City Council to serve for a term of three years. The Planning and Zoning Commission meetings are usually conducted the first and third Wednesday of each month (except during the summer months), in City Council chambers, City Hall, 139 S. Kirkwood Rd., at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are open to the public. 

The Commission’s main function is to establish a comprehensive plan for the land use within the City. This plan, which is amended from time to time, contains policy statements and a series of reports, plans, maps, and programs. Comprehensive planning is needed because the community continues to grow and evolve throughout time. It must reflect community goals and changing economic and social conditions. The plan requires periodic re-evaluation in light of current and future needs.

In Kirkwood, planning is a joint effort of the citizens, City Council, Planning & Zoning Commission, and planning staff. It consists of identifying the physical, social and economic factors that affect and are part of the community; defining the community’s goals and objectives; and after careful evaluation of the information and possible alternatives for the future, selecting a course of action most likely to bring the community closer to its goals.

Procedure

The Commission also makes recommendation to the City Council regarding special use permits, business or planned commercial developments (known as B-4 and B-5), community unit plans, subdivisions, and revisions to Zoning Codes.

The full Planning and Zoning Commission hears a petitioner’s proposal. It then appoints a subcommittee of two members for each proposal brought before them. The subcommittee meets with the applicant and with involved residents in order to consider the proposal in more detail and receive citizen input.

The subcommittee issues its findings in a report which is presented to the entire Planning and Zoning Commission. By vote of the entire Commission, the subcommittee’s report is modified, accepted, or rejected. An approved report becomes the Planning and Zoning Commission’s approval of a site plan or their recommendation to the City Council on other matters.

At this point, the City Council holds a public hearing on proposals regarding rezonings, special use permits, and revisions to the Zoning Code. The Planning and Zoning Commission conducts public hearings for community unit plans and business and planned commercial development plans. A notice of the time and place of the hearing must be published in a generally circulated newspaper (The St. Louis Countian) in Kirkwood. The meeting notice must be published at least 15 days prior to the hearing. As a service to citizens, the City also publishes meeting notices in The Webster-Kirkwood Times. In addition, the City must give notice to all owners of property located within 300 feet of the proposed change.

Individuals who wish to comment may do so at the Planning and Zoning Commission’s or City Council’s public hearing on the proposal. It is important to note that many proposals can take months to receive approval.

Additional Information

Contact the Public Works Office at 822-5822 Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for information on:

• Special use permits
• business or planned commercial developments
• Community unit plans
• Subdivisions
• Revisions to the Zoning Code
• Site plan review approval
• Preliminary subdivision plan approval
• Rezonings

For more information on zoning issues:

Call Kirkwood Zoning Matters at 984-5959 for recorded information on current zoning issues taking place in Kirkwood.