Ad hoc group narrows Pertner Park master plan: new entrance, limited parking, trails and outreach next

Chair Rambo and members of the Pertner Park ad hoc group reviewed an updated base map and technical analyses on Feb. 4, 2025, and directed staff and consultant Ken Keitel to revise the draft master plan before public outreach to Ward 6 residents.

The Department of Planning and Parks staff member Joe Vineach said the packet sent before the meeting included a site-distance analysis, a base map derived from earlier meeting drawings, and structural photographs of an existing bank barn. Vineach said the structural engineer’s assessment showed the bank barn “is a little too far gone” to reuse as-is and that the site around it could serve as the location for a larger, new shelter.

Why this matters: the group is preparing a draft master plan that staff intends to present to Ward 6 residents and use for grant or capital planning. Members emphasized safety at the street access, minimizing paved area, ADA access where feasible, and keeping the project within a likely budget envelope.

Site access and parking

Keitel described a semicircular or semicircular-style drive with two points of ingress and egress on Hankin Road. The new exit was sited to meet sight-distance requirements so vehicles can leave the site safely; Keitel told the committee the sight-distance profiles “are based on Saint Louis County's criteria.” Committee members agreed the existing access is adequate for entering but not for exiting and that a second, east/south exit is needed for safety.

The plan shows a limited number of parking spaces intended to avoid "over-parking." Keitel said the layout as shown uses parallel parking on both sides of the drive to reduce pavement area; he estimated the plan would…