ST. LOUIS–Police are still looking for a suspect or suspects behind dozens of car break-ins that happened in parking lots and street parking near Busch Stadium during a May 21 home game.

Authorities say purses and wallets were taken from vehicles.

Less than three weeks later, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen reintroduced a bill that would mean new permit requirements for surface parking lots and new measures to get them renewed.

What You Need To Know

  • According to the bill, surface parking lots would need perimeter fencing of at least four feet tall “aluminum, steel or other decorative metal”, among other specifications, with an attendant on duty during hours of operation unless the lot has a secure gate.
  • Signage present would also need to list contact information for the lot’s owner or management company, along with a local contact.
  • Lots would be subject to an annual inspection and permits could be revoked based on the number of security incidents or police calls for service over a certain period of time.
  • The bill exempts lots that are free, next to a business and for the exclusive use and convenience of persons doing business” at that location.

“Right now we have a lot of surface parking lots that are not being monitored and what we've seen is crime is happening in the downtown area and by putting fences, security or potentially by somebody who's on site there 24/7 could be able to just deter some of that crime that is happening on our surface parking lots as far as cars being broken into, late at night cars jumping over the curb running over these surface parking lots they're not attended,” said the bill’s sponsor, Alderman Rasheen Aldridge. “You have a lot of surface parking lots owners that actually don't even live here so they're just making money off of the parking lot but not worrying about the lack of safety element.”

“Parking is an incredibly lucrative business across the board. We allow folks to make a lot of money on events that other folks are putting together hosting and the public safety that St. Louis provides and we need to hold these folks accountable across the board,” Alderwoman Cara Spencer said Friday. Spencer and Aldridge both represent parts of downtown. Spencer called the current condition of the lots “deplorable”.

Spencer declined specific comment on the current board bill in a brief news conference Friday, saying it needed work, but that action was ”imperative.” She could not be reached for further comment.

Board President Megan Green met with the Cardinals last Thursday, and the parking issue was a topic of conversation. Green said the team was largely in favor of the bill, with “tweaks” considering their own current level of security.

“The Cardinals would be supportive of a new parking security/regulation bill that would provide for an alternate requirement of 24/7 security monitoring, which we provide for our surface parking lot and believe is the most effective way to prevent criminal conduct,” the team said in a statement to Spectrum News. “We also believe any increased parking security requirements should be extended to apply to parking garages as well.”

The bill was reintroduced Friday and assigned to the Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee, where it does not yet have a hearing scheduled.