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Pretty light news week this week, but the beginning of next week has two very important events"
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- First, Kirkwood for Everyone's Accessory Dwelling Unit info session is THIS Monday, August 25th! Find out if your home is eligible for an ADU, listen to Kirkwood architect-developer Steven Hoard present on his work constructing ADUs, and more at the Kirkwood Public Library at 7pm! I'm so excited for this. The idea is that by spreading knowledge about ADUs, we get applications for more of them. Then, when applications pick up, hopefully the city will be inclined to streamline the process and we can enter into a sort of virtuous cycle
- Then, on Tuesday (Aug 26th) from 4-7pm, the city will be hosting an Open House at KPAC on Phase I of the Grant's Trail Extension project. Come check out maps and renderings, and offer feedback of your own (especially if that feedback is that the city should allow homes and restaurants to be built along the trail instead of just industrial uses).
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- The main event tonight is not the regular City Council meeting at 7pm, but rather the work session that precedes it at 5:30. Tonight's work session is focused on the results of the city's recently completed stormwater runoff master plan and the various rule changes that were recommended therein. Work sessions are open to the public, so if the stormwater issue is something you're passionate about, I recommend you attend (although you will not be permitted to offer a comment). That being said, a few initial thoughts:
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The recommended changes would lower the trigger for runoff rules to 500 square feet, set a 55% lot coverage cap, tighten grading standards so side yards can’t flood neighbors, and ban basements deeper than the ones we already have. These all seem to be positive changes that may defang one of the biggest sources of criticism of new developments in Kirkwood
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My one critique fee-in-lieu option for small or tricky sites. That way homeowners who can’t fit a rain garden or drywell on their lot can still chip in to help fund bigger neighborhood fixes, rather than being boxed out of projects altogether.
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- The only real item of interest on tonight's City Council meeting agenda is the notice that the public hearing for the mixed-use redevelopment on the former Commerce Bank site at 300 N. Kirkwood Road will take place on September 4th.
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That's it for this week! The Making Music Concert Series returns this Saturday from 7:30-9:30 pm at the Lions Amphitheater in Kirkwood Park with "Ticket to the Beatles". Then, on Tuesday (after you stop by the Grant's Trail Open House), come back to the Lions Amphitheater for a little Shakespeare in the Park with A Midsummer Night’s Dream beginning at 6:30. Enjoy and have a great weekend, everyone!
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