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St. Louis County planning director outlines countywide '2050' comprehensive plan to University City council
Summary
Jacob Trimble, St. Louis County director of planning and a University City resident, briefed the council on the county's first comprehensive plan in more than 40 years and alerted the city to a March ballot question, Proposition B, that would change county charter removal powers.
Jacob Trimble, director of planning for St. Louis County and a University City resident, told the University City City Council on March 10 that St. Louis County is preparing “St. Louis County 2050, an equitable and sustainable comprehensive plan,” the county’s first comprehensive plan in more than 40 years.
Trimble said the county is addressing challenges that cross municipal boundaries, including long-term population stagnation, an infrastructure cost burden from an oversized system, a job-skills mismatch, limited housing diversity and affordability, and growing environmental and social resilience needs. “St. Louis County's population has been the same since 1970,” he said, and added that the county’s total population is about 1,000,000 and about 315,000 residents live in unincorporated St. Louis County.
The presentation stressed two geographic scales: planning for unincorporated areas (roughly 523 square miles of land area) and setting a vision that applies across all 87 municipalities in the county. Trimble noted University City's similar population trajectory: its population peaked around 50,000 in 1960 and was about 35,000 in 2020.
Trimble said the county seeks closer partnerships with municipalities over the next 25 years to pursue shared goals and to address housing, jobs and infrastructure challenges. He also directed the council’s attention to a county ballot measure: Proposition B on the April 8 ballot, which would amend the county charter to allow the county council to remove department heads. He advised anyone with questions to consult the county website for materials explaining the proposed charter change.
Trimble concluded by saying county staff will continue outreach to municipal governments and invited council members to follow up with county staff if they have questions or wish to coordinate on planning work.
The presentation was delivered during the citizen participation portion of the meeting and was not followed by formal council action.
