Planning and Urban Design Agency outlines FY26 priorities; zoning code overhaul paused for tornado-era engagement

The Planning and Urban Design Agency (PDA) gave the Budget and Public Employees Committee an overview of its FY26 budget, staffing and major workstreams on May 28, telling aldermen that a comprehensive zoning-code upgrade is proceeding technically but that community engagement will be more deliberate in the wake of recent tornado damage.

Don Roe, executive director of the Planning and Urban Design Agency, introduced the presentation and said PDA remains the city’s planning office for long-range land use, neighborhood plans, preservation and GIS resources. “PDA was created in 1999 as a new freestanding, official city agency, to focus on planning for the future of the city of St. Louis,” Roe said.

Why it matters: PDA leads the zoning code rewrite that will translate the newly adopted strategic land use plan into rules affecting where and how housing and development occur. Committee members pressed staff about how recent tornado damage affects timelines and outreach.

Zoning upgrade and outreach pause: Miriam Keller, city planning executive for general planning and design, said the strategic land use plan was formally adopted by the planning commission in February and that the next major task is a comprehensive zoning-code and map update. Keller said technical work will continue and ARPA funding will be used for the rewrite, but public engagement has been paused to avoid burdening communities that suffered tornado damage and to allow more inclusive outreach: “We are advancing the technical work, and we may do some kind of stakeholder engagement, but we’re also trying to do that, as sensitively as possible,” Keller said.

HUD grant and housing tools: Keller told the committee the city was awarded a roughly $7 million competitive U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to reduce barriers to housing; PDA plans to use some of those funds to support zoning work, create preapproved housing plans to accelerate attainable housing, and to map development processes with partner agencies.

Neighborhood planning and staffing: Jonathan Roper, city planning executive for neighborhood planning, described ongoing neighborhood-area planning work funded through economic development sales tax and other sources. PDA said it budgeted roughly 520 positions for FY26 (down from a historical high of 582 earlier in the decade) and highlighted vacancies at senior levels the agency plans to fill.

Transportation and sustainability programs: Scott Ogilby, program manager for Complete Streets, said PDA expects to adopt a citywide Transportation and Mobility Plan this fall and that the plan’s safety goal tracks a 50% reduction in serious injuries and fatalities by 2050. PDA’s sustainability director is updating the city’s sustainability and greenhouse-gas inventory efforts and coordinating with departments on building-performance standards, waste management, watershed planning and climate resilience.

Tornado recovery and zoning adjustments: Committee members asked whether PDA planned quicker code changes to help homeowners rebuild. Keller said staff are investigating targeted, faster amendments (for example, easing certain nonconforming-structure rebuild rules) and will discuss options with the planning commission; she emphasized the need to avoid spurring speculative land grabs while also enabling faster, equitable rebuilds.

Ending: Committee members commended PDA’s outreach on the strategic land use plan and urged coordination on tree canopy restoration, permit processing for tornado-affected properties, and continued technical assistance to neighborhoods. PDA staff said they would make materials and maps available to aldermen and continue to coordinate with the emergency operations center on damage-assessment mapping and recovery support.