Residents press council on parking-permit process and neighborhood code enforcement

Multiple residents used the Feb. 23 comment period to press the council on neighborhood quality-of-life issues: a contested parking-permit petition, lingering zoning violations and enforcement gaps.

Adam Brock (nonresident) described concerns with a petition to add the south side of 4th Avenue (between Big Bend and Asbury) to the residential parking-permit program. Brock said the petitioner, who owns property at 7018 Forsyth, submitted a spreadsheet of e-signatures but did not obtain the 75% owner-of-record signatures required by the petition process; he said one listed signatory was a WashU student who was not the property owner. Brock also said the traffic commission acted in March 2024 to post temporary 90-day signs limiting parking to two hours, but signs posted in September 2024 showed a different restriction and remained in place across months, resulting in ticketing of students returning from winter break.

Separately, Steve Glicker criticized city zoning enforcement, saying inspectors and managers had not addressed chronic violations on Plymouth and in the northeastern part of the city and that the result was persistent blight near Habitat for Humanity homes. Glicker said he had raised the issues repeatedly and provided photographs but saw little enforcement or city follow-through.

Council did not provide an immediate, detailed staff response during the comment period; Brock said he had raised the discrepancy with the city attorney and public-works director previously and asked the council for clarity on verification of e-signatures and the appropriate signage policy.