KIRKWOOD, Mo. — The Kirkwood City Council on Thursday approved first reading of an ordinance to add no-parking and school-hours limited-parking zones on West Jewell Avenue and asked staff to prepare a substitute that would explicitly address standing and idling during school hours.

The vote came after more than a dozen West Jewell residents urged the council to act on chronic congestion and safety hazards caused by student parking and drop-offs near Kirkwood High School and Kaiser Elementary. Mayor Gibbons said he would also ask Chief Administrative Officer Russ Hawes to assemble a committee of residents, staff and representatives of the school district to study a separate petition about the 500 and 600 blocks before school starts.

Residents described repeated incidents in which parked cars and vehicles waiting to drop off students create blind spots and block driveways. “We have parents speeding to drop kids off on the sidewalk that cuts through to the high school,” said Sharon Johnson, a West Jewell resident. “There is a hazard as the cars are coming in and out of the street.”

Tom Johnson, another West Jewell resident, told the council his neighborhood has been asking for relief for roughly 15 years. “The only way you’re going to stop all of that volume…is to post it as no standing,” he said, echoing a staff suggestion that enforceable restrictions give police a tool to act.

The ordinance (Bill 11084) as read would amend the Kirkwood Code of Ordinances (Chapter 14, Article 8) to add no-parking zones on the north side of the 500 block and the north/west sides of the 700 block, and to add a limited-parking rule — no parking between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on any day that public schools are in session — for the south and east sides of West Jewell from 700 to 754 West Jewell Avenue. After resident testimony and council discussion, the council agreed by consensus to direct staff to draft a substitute bill clarifying whether the rule will also prohibit standing or idling during school hours.

Council members expressed appreciation for residents’ persistence. “I appreciate your perseverance and dedication to really making not only your street a better place, but it really enhances Kirkwood as a community,” said Councilmember Al (first name only in record), thanking staff members who have worked on the issue.

Residents also emphasized operational impacts such as sanitation and emergency access. “Sanitation workers can tell you stories of parents yelling at them because they’re trying to do their job and it’s blocking people trying to drop off their kids,” Sharon Johnson said. Kathy Kopp, who has lived on West Jewell for 38 years, said emergency vehicles have “impossible time getting down our street.”

Actions taken: the council passed first reading on Bill 11084 (roll call: Mayor Gibbons, Jack Sedick, Lizzo, McLean, Reinecker, Schaeffer and Zimmer voted yes). Council gave staff a consensus direction to prepare a substitute ordinance for second reading clarifying standing/idling language and Mayor Gibbons directed CAO Russ Hawes to form a citizen–staff–school-district committee to study the petition affecting the 500–600 blocks.

The ordinance will return for a second reading; staff will present a substitute version that the council said will specifically list the standing and idling prohibitions the council wants enforced.

Residents asked that committee membership include neighborhood volunteers; several speakers asked to be considered for the group. The council did not adopt any emergency measures at the meeting; the committee work and the substitute ordinance will determine final implementation timelines.