Murphy Company seeks special-use permit, new lot and fenced outdoor storage at 444 E. Elliott Ave.; council schedules first reading

The Kirkwood City Council recessed into a public hearing on Oct. 16 for a request from Murphy Company to approve a major site plan and a special-use permit to legalize outdoor storage and add a new parking lot at 444 East Elliott Ave. City Planner Amy Lowry said the roughly 4-acre site contains a ~32,000-square-foot light-manufacturing building and is zoned I-1 (light industrial); the company purchased the property in 2022 and continues similar fabrication operations on-site.

Lowry said the proposal would convert the parking area south of the building into an enclosed outdoor storage compound for dumpsters, supplies, equipment and vehicles (screened by an 8-foot chain-link fence with vinyl slats) and add a new parking lot to the west of the building. The applicant proposes 44 parking spaces (including two accessible stalls) and seeks a waiver…