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Committee considers bill to codify interior housing standards and loosen some occupancy rules for larger families
Summary
A St. Louis aldermanic committee reviewed Board Bill 18, which would place interior inspection standards into the city code and revise occupancy rules — notably removing a two-person limit for main bedrooms and excluding children under 6 from occupancy counts — while raising enforcement and staffing concerns.
A St. Louis Board of Aldermen committee on housing reviewed Board Bill 18, a proposal to codify interior housing inspection standards and to change occupancy rules to better accommodate larger and multigenerational families.
The measure would move interior safety requirements that had been placed in Exhibit A of an earlier rental-registry ordinance into the text of the city's housing conservation code and would alter occupancy definitions: bedrooms would still have a 70-square-foot minimum, the first occupant would retain a 150-square-foot standard, the requirement that a main (master) bedroom be the largest room would be removed, the two-person limit for a main bedroom would be eliminated, and children under age 6 would not count toward occupancy totals.
Sponsor Alderman Velasquez said the bill “codifies those” interior requirements so inspectors and the public would not have to refer repeatedly to an exhibit. Casey Milberg of the mayor’s office told the committee the measure “corrects that and does place those within the code,” and said the change is intended to make it easier for larger families — including immigrant and multigenerational households — to find housing in the city without changing the square-footage minimums. Gilberto Pinella, director of the Office of New Americans, said the mayor’s office supports the bill and called it a way for immigrant families to “have the opportunity to establish themselves and begin a life here in Saint Louis.”
Commissioner Ware of the Building Division told the committee the division “doesn't see any huge issues with amending Exhibit A in the existing housing conservation code” and that the safety provisions for smoke detectors, egress and structural/mechanical systems remain unchanged. Ware said inspectors and code enforcement will continue to apply judgment in overcrowding assessments and that the change reducing the age threshold for exempted children from “under 30” (a previous internal practice) to under 6 is a “tweaking of sorts.”
Several committee members pressed the administration on enforcement capacity. Alderman Cohn said he was “a little flabbergasted” to hear the Building Division was not doing proactive, citywide inspections and that the department inspects properties only when a permit is pulled or a complaint is filed. Commissioner Ware confirmed that proactive block‑to‑block surveys are on hold until the division is fully staffed and that inspectors generally respond to complaints, permits or agency referrals. Ware supplied recent enforcement data showing about 19 addresses with notices of violations for overcrowding in 2024; he said roughly 25% of those received notices or fines while other cases were repeats, had no evidence on site, or could not be inspected because entry was barred.
Alderman Cohn and other members said the limited number of overcrowding enforcement actions raised concerns that a loosening of occupancy rules could be exploited by bad actors — landlords who might overcrowd properties for profit — and could create health, safety and nuisance concerns for neighbors. Committee members and witnesses also discussed the limits of visual verification of child age during inspections and the existence of an appeals process in which unit owners can submit supporting documentation if a notice of violation is issued.
No changes to short-term rental occupancy rules or to the square-footage standards for additional occupants were proposed. The sponsor said the bill is intended to modernize the code for diverse family structures without altering the city’s life-safety standards.
At the committee's close, a member moved that Board Bill 18 receive a “do pass” recommendation and a roll call was taken. The transcript records the motion and the roll call but does not include an audible final announcement of the committee’s disposition in the provided record.
Why it matters: The measure directly affects how inspectors interpret occupancy and interior-housing standards, and it could change where and how larger families — including newly arrived immigrant households and multigenerational households — can live in the city. Committee members emphasized that implementation will depend on code‑enforcement practices and staffing.
