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Alderman advances bill to create public nuisance board allowing community petitions
Summary
The Public Safety Committee advanced Board Bill 151, which would create a seven-member administrative nuisance board appointed by the mayor and approved by the Board of Aldermen, allow community petitions to trigger hearings and require recorded, sworn testimony and written findings.
The St. Louis Board of Aldermen's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday advanced Board Bill 151, a measure to establish a seven-member administrative nuisance board that would hear allegations of public nuisance and, in some cases, require property abatement.
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, who carried the bill, told the committee the measure is designed to bring ‘‘more transparency’’ to the city’s nuisance process by creating a public, recorded forum where residents and petitioners can present evidence and the board can issue written findings and orders. The board would be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen and would include four community members, a building-division representative, a health- or public-safety expert and an administrative-law practitioner.
The legislation sets a community-petition pathway: a petition must be signed by a majority (51%) of registered voters within a defined radius and submitted by an owner or occupant of a property within that radius, triggering a verification process by the Department of Public Safety or its designee. Aldridge corrected an earlier figure in committee discussion, saying the radius is 350 feet, not 150 feet. Verified petitions would not themselves declare a nuisance; they would prompt an administrative hearing where sworn testimony and evidence would be considered.
If the board finds a property to be a public nuisance under the ordinance, it may issue orders requiring abatement measures such as improved on-site security, removal of trash or abandoned vehicles, time-limited closures, or other corrective actions. The bill requires the board to issue written findings of fact and preserves judicial review; it also retains existing penalty language for noncompliance (fines in the range cited on the record of $100 to $500, subject to court review).
Aldridge and several committee members emphasized the bill’s aim to give neighborhood associations and residents a clearer, recorded process for raising concerns and for the city to verify petition signatures. Alderman Oldenburg, Alderwoman Clark Hubbard and others added cosponsorships during the meeting.
The committee voted to advance the measure en banc with a due-pass recommendation by roll call, recorded as seven aye votes.
The bill now moves to the full Board of Aldermen for further consideration and any final votes.
