Public Hearings Dictate Large Part of Council Meeting

Florissant City Council faced a lengthy agenda Monday night, including one of two public hearings that continued the debate of the . 

At the Feb. 28 meeting, the council began discussing the definition of family to make the building and zoning codes consistent, which currently, it is not. The council voted to postpone the hearing, however, as Building Commissioner Philip Lum was not present.

Lum faced the council and its barrage of questions during Monday night’s meeting, however. 

Ward 8 City Councilman Mark Schmidt kicked off the questioning by asking Lum, what a foreign-exchange student would be considered in a family. A foreign-exchange student, as well as situations with a nanny or caretaker would be considered a temporary resident, not a full-term resident, Lum said. 

Schmidt, who sat on the council years ago when the council had amended and previously discussed the definition of family, further pressed Lum on the complexity a new definition would form, especially regarding what would be considered temporary. 

“I think you made it more confusing that it was before,” Schmidt said. “I think it still needs some discussion.” 

City Attorney said he believes he could defend the proposed ordinance in a court of law. He acknowledged though that there were several avenues the council could take in amending the ordinance, including:

• Mirror the current Black Jack ordinance regarding the definition of family, which was amended in 2008.
• Use the Fair Housing recommended definition that was sent to Hessel.
• The council could amend the ordinance, so that the building and zoning codes were consistent with one another.

Lum continued to assert that, more often than not, situations involving nannies, caretakers and foreign-exchange students would be temporary. The public works department and he were more concerned regarding situations where people aren’t following the rules at all, such as adding two unrelated persons so that children can attend a certain school district.

“The more open the definition, the more subject publics works is to people who don’t want to follow the rules,” he said. “It becomes a rather large problem for public works.” 

Schmidt felt that the definition would create more loopholes than it would resolve them.

Mayor Robert Lowery intervened in the discussion to ask Hessel pointedly what the resolution would be. 

Hessel said that it would be a policy decision that the council would have to decide.

The council closed the public hearing and did a first reading of the proposed bill.

Caring for Day cares

The Council also held a public hearing for , which was requesting a special use permit for a day care facility at 1735 S. New Florissant Rd.

Previously, the daycare facility didn’t pass muster with the Planning and Zoning commission and failed to receive a recommendation to the council.

The council shared similar concerns as the commission, however, in dealing with the traffic flow as well as safety for the business. 

Ward 7 City Councilwoman Karen McKay suggested a traffic study to petitioner Alice Ratnaswamy for the business as well as area to better understand the egress and ingress of the business. Previously, Ratnaswamy had declined to do a traffic study.

Councilman Schmidt and Ward 3 City Councilman Tom Schneider each felt that the study would be a waste of time and money for the petitioner, though. 

Several councilors agreed and expressed concerns regarding the safety of dropping off children as well as the egress and ingress of the facility.

Councilwoman McKay expressed that she hopes Ratnaswamy and her architect, Duane Thompson, could work with the Public Works Department to make the business work. 

The council closed the public hearing, and no further vote was taken on the permit request.

Other Highlights 

The City Council passed an ordinance that would allow $5,000 to fund the installation of an emergency telephone along the trail of Sunset Park. The funds’ appropriation comes from the forfeiture account, not the general revenue fund, Mayor Lowery said.

The council unanimously approved the measure.