Pitman Place Heads Back to P&Z

• Last week's Webster-Kirkwood Times had some really nice updates...
  • Pg. 1 has the most exciting news of the week, as a third daily Amtrak route (bringing us to six total departures, three in each direction) is coming to Kirkwood next Summer to help ferry people to and from KC for the World Cup. This is a huge opportunity for Kirkwood, especially because this expansion in service should coincide perfectly with the completion of the Kirkwood Station renovations, but we should take steps to ensure we take maximum advantage
  • Pg. 4-A featured a nice article on the city's Stormwater Plan public hearing and the outpouring of citizens voicing concerns re: unintended consequences and inflated costs for Kirkwood residents
  • Pg. 14-A had a nice profile on the guy Kirkwood PD hauled in a couple of weeks ago on charges of assaulting multiple cyclists. This is why we need automatic enforcement!
• There's not much of importance on tonight's City Council meeting agenda, but the agenda for the work session that direct proceeds it sure is jam packed:
  • The meeting's materials include drafts of the Safer Routes to Schools and Southeast Kirkwood (Meacham Park) Connectivity studies. This is the first time these have been made available to the public so I need more time to review, but overall I think they come to the correct conclusions. That's the easy part though; it's the political will to execute their recommendations and the question of where you get the money that's going to determine whether they have any sort of impact.
  • Speaking of failing to implement the recommendations of city-funded studies, the work session agenda also includes really bad news for affordability and property rights in Kirkwood. That's because the minutes included from the Council's previous Oct. 9th work session include a very cursed section called "ADU Discussion". In brief, CM Schaefer told his colleagues he supports Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in theory but also that he thinks we should make them harder to build by letting neighbors veto their construction. That's not only directly counter to the recommendations of the Attainable Housing Study and the city's EnVision 2035 comprehensive plan, it also doesn't really make sense as a priority. The Kirkwood City Council legalized ADUs five years ago and so far just three have been built. Does that sound like a program that's out of control and desperately needs more red tape? All in the name of... reducing options for young adult children and senior citizens looking to remain in the community?