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ST. LOUIS — Aldermen on Friday approved plans to repeal the city’s abortion laws, charge a new fee on short-term rentals, update street planning policies, and rewrite jail access rules.

The flurry of votes marked a furious end to the first part of the Board of Aldermen’s annual session. Friday’s meeting was the last one before aldermen could embark on their annual summer break.

The first bill, from Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, of Tower Grove East, is aimed at ensuring lawyers have ready access to their clients at the city’s downtown City Justice Center.

Defense attorneys, including the city’s top public defender, have complained that jail officials make them wait hours to meet with clients. They say jail officials won’t let them pass paper evidence and forms to clients during meetings, despite a judge’s order to the contrary. And attorneys say that’s making it harder for them to give clients the best possible defense.

Sonnier’s bill would require the jail to allow attorneys to meet with clients between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. without advance notice. It would also mandate that attorneys be allowed to meet with clients outside normal hours or without a physical barrier provided that they give one hour’s advance notice.

And Sonnier said the bill has teeth: Attorneys who think they’re still getting the runaround can sue the jail commissioner and city sheriff, have the officials fined between $100-$500, and win restitution payments.

Another bill, from Rasheen Aldridge, of Downtown, allows aldermen, jail oversight board members and their staff to make unannounced visits to the jail with no restrictions between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

That bill is aimed at making it easier for aldermen and city investigators to look into problems in a jail that has been under fire in the last year for a string of inmate deaths, slow medical responses and understaffing.

Both bills passed without dissent.

Abortion repeal

Next, aldermen passed a bill repealing city ordinances regulating abortion.

The rules, written roughly 50 years ago, put boundaries on the expansion of abortion rights unleashed by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to the procedure.

Aldermen at the time required abortion clinics to obtain permits and submit to inspections. They also barred providers from prescribing abortion pills, which accounted for , and from performing abortions on a woman younger than 21 without written consent from her husband or a parent.

The regulations have been mostly ignored in recent years as City Hall has grown more liberal and conservative state lawmakers have ramped up their own restrictions, including a statewide ban on nearly all abortions that took effect in 2023.

But Alderwoman Cara Spencer, of Marine Villa, said Friday that the old city rules need to come off the books completely. Abortion rights advocates are hoping voters will approve a proposed ballot measure in November overturning the state ban. And Spencer said that if that happens, she doesn’t want abortion opponents trying to use the city rules to go after patients instead.

“They’re old, they’re archaic ... they gotta go,� she said.

New fee for short-term rentals

Aldermen also approved a plan to levy a new fee on short-term rentals to help pay for affordable housing in the city.

The proposal, which needs voter approval, would charge operators of Airbnbs, VRBOs, and similar rentals 3% of their nightly room rates. Operators are expected to pay the fee in addition to existing hotel taxes.

Alderman Bret Narayan, the bill sponsor, said the extra charge reflects concerns that the proliferation of short-term rentals in city neighborhoods has made it harder for residents to find homes to live in themselves.

The bill calls for at least half of the proceeds to go to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which awards grants to firms to build and repair homes for low and middle-income residents.

The rest of the money could be spent on other programs with similar aims, like a special fund the board recently established to help people forced to leave unsafe apartments or a cash-strapped program that’s supposed to pay private lawyers to represent people facing eviction.

Complete Streets

Aldermen then approved a rewrite of the city’s Complete Streets policy, which aims to improve street access for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The city adopted its current policy in 2014. It called for a slew of city department heads to form a committee, meet quarterly, develop plans to make city streets safer and more friendly to bikes and pedestrians, and produce annual progress reports.

But Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer, of Boulevard Heights, said Friday that the policy needs to go further.

Her bill would make the committee of city officials hold their quarterly meetings in public, add a seat for a member of the general public, and take public comment from residents.

It would also require the committee to develop ways to measure how well the city is doing in building streets that are safe and accessible for all users — and post results on the city’s website.

The committee would then have to rate any road project in the city costing more than $500,000 on how well it aligns with Complete Streets principles.

The changes mark the latest effort to make city streets safer after crash fatalities soared during the pandemic years, and a string of pedestrian and cyclist deaths prompted cries for help. Officials have also ramped up ticketing and allocated tens of millions of dollars to redesign and repave major streets.

Schweitzer, who rode her bike to City Hall on Friday along with several other advocates, said she hopes her policy will push the city to include cyclists and pedestrians in its plans.

“I think this is the kind of city people want to live in, where you can walk and bike as an option,� she said, “where you don’t fear for your life when you’re crossing the streets.�

All of the bills now go to Mayor Tishaura O. Jones for further consideration.