ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is considering a measure that would increase safety requirements for owners of parking lots that serve downtown St. Louis.
It comes after a rough night of car break-ins outside a St. Louis Blues game a couple of weeks ago.
Alderman Jack Coatar is sponsoring the measure, which was heard before a public safety committee on Tuesday. It would establish new requirements for surface parking lots, including but not limited to, fencing, gates, lighting and additional security.
Some of the parking lots used by hockey fans were the ones targeted for car break-ins around Enterprise Center during a Blues game, Nov. 16. Tell-tale broken glass and debris were left behind from the break-ins.
Coatar and a few others testified on the matter at Tuesday’s public safety committee hearing, including a police major, a representative of Greater St. Louis, Inc., and the building commissioner. They all agree the area is not going to thrive without safety and security downtown.
Committee chair Joe Vaccaro did object to how many police resources are going towards downtown recently. There was no vote on the measure today.
There was some encouraging news a couple of days ago for victims of recent car thefts. Police think they've solved some of the cases and have recovered some of the stolen property.