Webster Groves Plan Commission reviews draft comprehensive plan, schedules July vote

The Webster Groves Plan Commission heard a final, high-level presentation of the draft comprehensive plan from consultants Hannah Bader and Josh Bloom of the Lakota Group at its meeting on June 2, 2025, and set a schedule for a formal recommendation vote at the commission’s July meeting before the plan moves to city council in August.

The draft plan lays out a 10- to 20-year vision framed around seven pillars — resilient neighborhoods; economic vitality; city of the arts; quality of life; operational excellence; complete streets; and essential systems — and includes a future land-use strategy and an implementation matrix. "This is one of the most engaged communities we've worked with," Lakota consultant Hannah Bader told commissioners, citing multiple open houses and three online surveys that each garnered more than 200 responses.

Why it matters: the comprehensive plan will guide future zoning updates, redevelopment expectations, and capital project priorities in Webster Groves. Commissioners emphasized that the plan should give clearer implementation direction — including measurable density and height guidance where the commission expects to steer development — and asked staff and the consultant team to make site constraints and implementation steps explicit in the revised draft.

Key points from the presentation and discussion

- Plan content and engagement: Lakota summarized a three‑phase process beginning in May 2024 that produced a State of the City report, goals and strategies, and the implementation chapter. The presentation emphasized public involvement, Destination Ambassadors and outreach methods used to develop goals and action items.

- Future land use and zoning guidance: Lakota said the plan’s future land-use categories are intended to be character-focused and to inform a later zoning-code update. Commissioners pressed for clearer differences between the plan’s "mixed use," "mixed neighborhood," and "neighborhood commercial" categories and asked that the plan include guidance or next steps for translating those categories into ordinance language and specific density/height limits.

- Opportunity-site concerns: The consultants showcased concept graphics for two redevelopment opportunity sites (Pacific & Gore Avenue and Watson Road & Elm Avenue). Commissioner Mike raised engineering concerns about the Pacific & Gore concept, saying, "I think your drawing there is simply unbuildable," noting an existing steep slope and floodplain that would require significant earthwork or retaining walls. Commissioners asked that site constraints be called out in the plan and that the graphics be labeled clearly as conceptual.

- Funding and feasibility context: Commissioners referenced past development discussions (the Douglas Hill proposal) to underscore the difference between conceptual massing and feasible projects. A participant observed that tax-increment financing (TIF) availability had been a limiting factor for prior proposals because Missouri rules restrict TIF uses in floodplains; commissioners asked the plan narrative and implementation section to reflect those fiscal and regulatory constraints.

- Housing, preservation and density trade-offs: Commissioners debated how to balance preserving neighborhood character with the city’s stated desire to diversify housing and strengthen the tax base. Some commissioners urged directing new density toward commercial districts and existing multifamily sites; others requested that the plan not preempt a forthcoming housing study and that the plan clarify how preservation overlays and conservation tools will interact with opportunities for redevelopment.

- Implementation and next steps: Lakota highlighted an implementation matrix that assigns priorities, timelines and potential partners to actions. Staff and consultants said they will circulate a revised draft that incorporates commission comments; Lakota indicated the consultant team will present again (virtually) at the July plan-commission meeting and that city council will receive a presentation on August 19 with adoption anticipated in September. Bader noted she will be on maternity leave and that Josh Bloom will shepherd the plan through the remainder of the adoption process.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes from the May 5, 2025 meeting — motion made and seconded; the commission approved the minutes (recorded ayes during the roll call). - Motion to adjourn the regular session and move into executive session — motion made and seconded; approved. - Final motion to adjourn meeting — motion made and seconded; approved.

What commissioners directed staff to do next

- Circulate a revised draft showing how commission comments were adjudicated, with callouts or annotations identifying changes. Staff said a revised draft or PDF callouts would be distributed prior to the July meeting. - Add clearer, site‑specific implementation guidance and acknowledge known constraints (topography, floodplain, funding) in opportunity‑site narratives. - Use the implementation matrix to align plan actions with budgeting and capital‑improvement processes and to identify an oversight body or committee to track progress.

The commission’s next regular meeting is scheduled for July 7, 2025, at which commissioners expect to vote on whether to forward the draft plan to city council.