Committee backs Board Bill 42 to shrink minimum lot sizes for infill housing

The St. Louis City Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee on July 1 voted to give Board Bill 42 a due‑pass recommendation, advancing legislation that would reduce minimum lot‑size requirements for new residential construction in many city zoning districts.

The proposal would change the post‑1950 minimum lot area for single‑family units from 4,000 square feet to 2,000 square feet in A–E districts and reduce the per‑unit requirement for two‑family dwellings from 2,500 square feet to 1,250 square feet (so a two‑family could be built on a 2,500 square‑foot lot). The planning department and the mayor’s office told the committee the change is intended to bring more vacant and substandard lots back into the developable pool and to reduce the number of variance requests that slow projects and add cost.

Miriam Keller of the Planning…