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City Hall Administration

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1. How many dogs are allowed per household?

Two. The owner of 3 or more dogs, whether owned for pleasure or profit, breeding or exhibiting shall be deemed to be the operator of a dog kennel. Dog kennels are not a permitted use in a residential district. It is unlawful for the owner of any dog, whether properly tagged and certified by vaccination-registration or not to permit or allow such dog to run at large within the city limits.

2. Are home occupations allowed?

Home occupations shall be permitted as an accessory use to a residential use in any district subject to several requirements as outlined in the Code of Ordinances Section 5.7 A 1-7. There is a license requirement and home inspection before business can be allowed.

3. How many Aldermen are in each ward?

The city has 4 wards with 2 Aldermen in each ward. Refer to your Sunset Hills Horizon newsletter for the alderman names and phone numbers or visit the elected officials page to find out information on your aldermen.

4. How do I know which ward I am in?

You have 3 options, you can call City Hall at 314-849-3400, come in to pick up a ward map at City Hall located at 3939 South Lindbergh Boulevard, Sunset Hills, MO 63127, indicating the 4 wards, or view the ward map online.

5. Are there any kind of special permits required for vehicles?

Yes, a city sticker can be obtained from City Hall during normal business hours of 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The stickers are free.

6. Can I park a commercial vehicle on the street?

No. Section 17-317 no person shall park a commercial vehicle, except for emergency purposes: a) on any street, in any district zoned for residential use between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on any day. b) on any vacant or unimproved lot anywhere in the city and c) with a GVW or licenses weight exceeding 18,000 Lbs. In any district in the city zone for residential use between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on any day unless said vehicle is parked in a fully enclosed structure.

7. Am I obligated to use the licensed city trash hauler for my trash service?

Yes.

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Public Works

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1. What is a "right of way" and who owns it?

Rights of way are the area platted for public streets and utilities. The right of way associated with the street in front of your house is not technically owned by anyone. It is public land that is maintained by the respective jurisdiction. In the case of a city street, the City of Sunset Hills maintains this area and has jurisdiction over it that requires utilities and private entities to acquire excavation permits to maintain those services and associated improvements within those areas. Locate more detailed information by viewing the Street Division FAQ.

2. Where can I find information on junk issues for vehicle or machinery items.

Access Chapter 16, Article 2 of the City Code of Ordinances for more information.

3. What are the city's policies on animals?

Access Chapter 6 of the Sunset Hills Code of Ordinances.

4. What are the city's polices on weeds?

Access Chapter 27 of the city’s Code of Ordinances to find details on the subject of noxious weeds and more.

5. Can you address sewage issues in relation to city code?

Locate Section 23 of the Code of Ordinances to locate details on the subject of sewers and sewage disposal.

6. What are the rules in regards to junk, or general matter laying around a premises?

Reference Chapter 13 of the Sunset Hills Code of Ordinances for an in-depth look.

7. In regards to home maintenance, what are the general safety and maintenance requirements imposed by the city?

Chapter 7 of the City Code of Ordinances takes an in-depth look at buildings and building regulations.

8. What rules exist specifically regarding pools?

Article 3, Chapter 7, of the City Code details private swimming pool regulations.

9. Where can I find information on issues pertaining to trash?

Chapter 12 of the City of Sunset Hills covers this topic in detail.

10. What is the specific ordinance pertaining to dumping materials on roads.

Read through Chapter 24, Article 1, Section 4 of the city code.

11. Are there special ordinances that regulate RV and trailer-parking issues?

City Code, Chapter 26 provides details concerning RV Parking in Sunset Hills.

12. What are the city fence regulations?

City Code Appendix B Section 5.14 covers details concerning Sunset Hills requirements for fences. 

13. How many sets of plans are required for a building permit?

Six sets need to be submitted to City Hall. Five will be returned to you to take to St. Louis County along with a zoning letter. St. Louis County actually issues all permits and does all inspections.

14. What is the start time for construction, heavy equipment or blasting?

According to City Code Section 16-34, the time restrictions are:

• Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

15. How many dogs are allowed per household?

Two. The owner of 3 or more dogs, whether owned for pleasure or profit, breeding or exhibiting shall be deemed to be the operator of a dog kennel. Dog kennels are not a permitted use in a residential district. It is unlawful for the owner of any dog, whether properly tagged and certified by vaccination-registration or not, to permit or allow such dog to run at large within the city limits.

16. Are home occupations allowed?

Home occupations shall be permitted as an accessory use to a residential use in any district subject to several requirements as outlined in the Code of Ordinances Section 5.7 A 1-7. There is a license requirement and home inspection before business can be allowed.

17. What requires a building permit?

Anything that will alter the existing structure in any way and most accessory structures erected in your yard. Check with Public Works at 314-849-3400 for further detail.

18. Where can I address a utility or service outage issue?

The Utilities resource page of the City website will provide more information.

19. Is street parking allowed overnight in the city?

No. The City of Sunset Hills has parking restrictions on city Streets. According to Chapter 17 of the Code of Ordinances there are limitations on parking during certain hours throughout the city. Except on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, no person or persons shall stop or park a motor vehicle of any kind whatsoever on any street, roadway, drive, or highway, except in an emergency, between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., provided, however, that this parking limitation shall not apply to Monica Drive, Deane Court, Floralea Place, Rayburn Avenue, Homecrest Drive, and Windward Ridge Drive.

Also, no person shall park a commercial vehicle, except for emergency purposes, on any street in any district in the city zoned for residential use between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on any day. There are also streets within the city where parking is not allowed at any time, these locations will be posted with a no parking sign that does not include the restriction between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Any questions relating to parking on city streets can be addressed to the Public Works Department at 314-849-3400.

20. Am I obligated to use a city licensed hauler for my trash service?

Yes.

21. What are the rules on garage sales?

You must obtain a permit from City Hall; this is at no charge. You are allowed to have 2 garage sales per year. Permits are good for 1 day only. One piece of advertising is allowed on the property as well as two directional signs provided permission is obtained from the property owner where placed and signs are removed at the end of the day. No garage sale shall commence before 8 a.m.

22. Who is responsible to maintain a driveway apron? This is located within a right of way.

The homeowner. Driveway aprons are private improvements and are considered the homeowner’s attachment of their driveway to the public street network. The City does not inspect driveway apron construction or repair, but an excavation permit is required for this work. Private contractors are responsible to the homeowner for the quality of this work.

23. Who do you contact for an illicit discharge of waste?

For material dumping, this is a dynamic scenario that can best be handled by the Police Department.  For matters where a pipe is discharging putrid effluent, the Metropolitan Sewer District is  best and they have a web portal for this at: https://msdprojectclear.org/customers/problems-tips/report-issue/

24. What is Rainscaping?

This is a means of reducing site pollution effluent via things like rain gardens.  MSD has a lot of information on this topic at: https://msdprojectclear.org/what-we-do/rainscaping/

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Rights of Way and Easements

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1. What is a "right of way" and who owns it?

Rights of way are the area platted for public streets and utilities. The right of way associated with the street in front of your house is not technically owned by anyone. It is public land that is maintained by the respective jurisdiction. In the case of a city street, the City of Sunset Hills maintains this area and has jurisdiction over it that requires utilities and private entities to acquire excavation permits to maintain those services and associated improvements within those areas.

2. My neighbor is building too close to my property, what do I do?

Call the city's Public Works Department to find out if a Building Permit was secured for the project. If they have a permit from the city and a competent contractor, you can be assured that they are within their rights to build as you are observing them doing so in the field. If you still have questions with regard to where your property line is located, then it is your responsibility to defend your private property rights and the city cannot become a means to your defense other than providing the documents filed with the city for the project. You may need to hire a private surveying company to determine where your property lines are located, but again this is incumbent upon you as a private property holder to maintain and defend your interests.

3. Where is the right of way in front of my home?

The answer to this is best found from the plat you have of your property. The Public Works Department at City Hall has some of the subdivision plats in the city where this information can be found. A rough rule of thumb we use is, if you are on a concrete street that ends in a cul-de-sac, your right of way is likely 50' overall. You can typically find where your property starts by roughly measuring half the overall distance from the center-line of the street. In the case of a 50' right of way, that is 25' from the center-line. Most of our concrete streets are 26' wide. If you do the math, half of 26' is 13' and that leaves about 12' of the grass area past the curb as area of your front yard that you do not own, that is within the city's right of way. Now in the case of most asphalt streets, the right of way varies and you are best advised to find this information from a record plat of your property. We again use a rule of thumb that the right of way in these areas is 40' overall. As much of the asphalt pavement is about 24' wide, the math usually leaves us about 8' of yards to be within the right of way for these city streets.

4. Well if this right of way area is not mine, yet my yard goes to the curb, why should I cut the grass here if it is not technically my property?

The Street Department will eventually come out to cut this area, but we make it out about once every 6 weeks with a flail mower that doesn't cut very nicely. If you have a nice yard, your expectations are likely higher for the proper maintenance of this area versus what the city's are for cutting the right of way area in front of your home. Most residents obviously choose to maintain this area by mowing it themselves.

5. What is the difference between a right of way and an easement?

In the case of an easement, one property owner allows another entity (jurisdiction, utility, municipality or individual) the right to access their private property with an improvement such as a road or a sewer line. In this case, the private property owner retains ownership of the affected ground. The easement is recorded at St. Louis County so it is there for posterity. The easement holder will have the permanent right to access that property to maintain or use their improvement (the sewer or road) for as long as the easement exists.

6. Can easements ever go away?

Sure, and in some cases of road construction, temporary road easements are granted by private property owners so that the street can be properly improved. As long as there is not a permanent structure (like a sewer) that is placed in the temporary easement, the area can be used for temporary access by the contractor, but is typically restored without improvement to the landowner's satisfaction at the end of the project. Also if you have an existing utility easement on your property and want to remove easement rights you should do the following. Contact a real-estate attorney. Have the attorney petition the utilities that occupy the easement to abandon the easement. The utilities will work up the costs that you will have to pay to reroute and/or remove their facilities from the easement. This could run from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. After moving their facilities the utilities will release their claim on the easement and the removal of the easement will be recorded at the county courthouse.

7. Why would I ever want to grant an easement to someone to place something through or along my property?

This is a point of negotiation between the landowner and the entity or individual who would like to place the improvement on a privately owned piece of property. An assessment of the value of that property would need to be agreed among both parties before an easement can be recorded. Obviously, an easement becomes an area of that private property that the owner will not be able to substantially improve at a future date. You would not want to place an out building, addition or a deck in an area that is platted with an easement. If one day, the easement holder needs to come in and maintain their improvement (i.e. - road or sewer) then they might need to remove any improvements placed in that easement accordingly. It is not prudent practice to place improvements over an easement granted for another entity's use.

8. I need to know where my property ends and the right of way starts. Who can do this?

Any registered land surveyor with the State of Missouri can find OIP's (Old Iron Pipes) or other markers that map out your property corners. They will likely take this information to St. Louis County and research any record plats and other documents to determine what easements and other encroachments exist on the property. This is not a service that the City of Sunset Hills supplies.

9. What would a land survey cost me?

Prices can range from a couple of hundred dollars, to many thousands of dollars depending on the complexity of the layout of your land. This is a matter that you would need to negotiate between yourself and the engineering company whom you would hire to perform the survey.

10. Where can I get names of surveying companies?

Look in the Yellow Pages under Surveyors-Land.

11. Who is responsible to maintain a driveway apron? This is located within a right of way.

The homeowner.  Driveway aprons are private improvements and are considered the homeowner’s attachment of their driveway to the public street network.  The City does not inspect driveway apron construction or repair, but an excavation permit is required for this work.  Private contractors are responsible to the homeowner for the quality of this work.  

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Street Division

Show All Answers

1. What is a "right of way" and who owns it?

Rights of way are the area platted for public streets and utilities. The right of way associated with the street in front of your house is not technically owned by anyone. It is public land that is maintained by the respective jurisdiction. In the case of a city street, the City of Sunset Hills maintains this area and has jurisdiction over it that requires utilities and private entities to acquire excavation permits to maintain those services and associated improvements within those areas. We have a host of detailed Q&A on this subject.

2. What is the policy in regards to dumping materials on roads?

Sec. 24-4. Dumping materials upon public places. No person shall dump, discharge, cast out or place any trash, rubbish, waste, garbage, refuse, dirt, rocks, wood or any other foreign matter, substance or material upon any street, sidewalk, shoulder of a road or other public place within the city. (Ordinance No. 258, § 31, 11-5-1963)

3. What is the start time for construction, heavy equipment or blasting?

According to Section 16-34 there are time restrictions on these issues, they are:

• Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

4. Where can I address a utility or service outage issue?

Access information for utilities servicing Sunset Hills.

5. My neighbor is building too close to my property, what do I do?

Call the City's Public Works Department to find out if a Building Permit was secured for the project. If they have a permit from the city and a competent contractor, you can be assured that they are within their rights to build as you are observing them doing so in the field. If you still have questions with regard to where your property line is located, then it is your responsibility to defend your private property rights and the city cannot become a means to your defense other than providing the documents filed with the city for the project. You may need to hire a private surveying company to determine where your property lines are located, but again this is incumbent upon you as a private property holder to maintain and defend your interests.

6. Where is the right of way in front of my home?

The answer to this is best found from the plat you have of your property. The Public Works Department at City Hall has some of the subdivision plats in the city where this information can be found. A rough rule of thumb we use is, if you are on a concrete street that ends in a cul-de-sac, your right of way is likely 50' overall. You can typically find where your property starts by roughly measuring half the overall distance from the centerline of the street. In the case of a 50' right of way, that is 25' from the centerline. Most of our concrete streets are 26' wide. If you do the math, half of 26' is 13' and that leaves about 12' of the grass area past the curb as area of your front yard that you do not own, that is within the city's right of way. Now in the case of most asphalt streets, the right of way varies and you are best advised to find this information from a record plat of your property. We again use a rule of thumb that the right of way in these areas is 40' overall. As much of the asphalt pavement is about 24' wide, the math usually leaves us about 8' of yards to be within the right of way for these city streets.

7. Well if this right of way area is not mine, yet my yard goes to the curb, why should I cut the grass here if it is not technically my property?

The Street Department will eventually come out to cut this area, but we make it out about once every 6 weeks with a flail mower that doesn't cut very nicely. If you have a nice yard, your expectations are likely higher for the proper maintenance of this area versus what the city's are for cutting the right of way area in front of your home. Most residents obviously choose to maintain this area by mowing it themselves.

8. What is the difference between a right of way and an easement?

In the case of an easement, one property owner allows another entity (jurisdiction, utility, municipality or individual) the right to access their private property with an improvement such as a road or a sewer line. In this case, the private property owner retains ownership of the affected ground. The easement is recorded at St. Louis County so it is there for posterity. The easement holder will have the permanent right to access that property to maintain or use their improvement (the sewer or road) for as long as the easement exists.

9. Can easements ever go away?

Sure, and in some cases of road construction, temporary road easements are granted by private property owners so that the street can be properly improved. As long as there is not a permanent structure (like a sewer) that is placed in the temporary easement, the area can be used for temporary access by the contractor, but is typically restored without improvement to the landowner's satisfaction at the end of the project. Also if you have an existing utility easement on your property and want to remove easement rights you should do the following. Contact a real-estate attorney. Have the attorney petition the utilities that occupy the easement to abandon the easement. The utilities will work up the costs that you will have to pay to reroute and/or remove their facilities from the easement. This could run from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. After moving their facilities the utilities will release their claim on the easement and the removal of the easement will be recorded at the county courthouse.

10. Why would I ever want to grant an easement to someone to place something through or along my property?

This is a point of negotiation between the landowner and the entity or individual who would like to place the improvement on a privately owned piece of property. An assessment of the value of that property would need to be agreed among both parties before an easement can be recorded. Obviously, an easement becomes an area of that private property that the owner will not be able to substantially improve at a future date. You would not want to place an out building, addition or a deck in an area that is platted with an easement. If one day, the easement holder needs to come in and maintain their improvement (i.e. - road or sewer) then they might need to remove any improvements placed in that easement accordingly. It is not prudent practice to place improvements over an easement granted for another entity's use.

11. I need to know where my property ends and the right of way starts. Who can do this?

This is not a service that the City of Sunset Hills supplies. Any registered land surveyor with the State of Missouri can find OIP's (Old Iron Pipes) or other markers that map out your property corners. They will likely take this information to St. Louis County and research any record plats and other documents to determine what easements and other encroachments exist on the property.

12. What would such a survey cost me?

Prices can range from a couple of hundred dollars, to many thousands of dollars depending on the complexity of the layout of your land. This is a matter that you would need to negotiate between yourself and the engineering company whom you would hire to perform the survey.

13. Where can I get names of surveying companies?

Look in the Yellow Pages under "Surveyors-Land".

14. Who is responsible to maintain a driveway apron? This is located within a right of way.

The homeowner. Driveway aprons are private improvements and are considered the homeowner’s attachment of their driveway to the public street network. The City does not inspect driveway apron construction or repair, but an excavation permit is required for this work. Private contractors are responsible to the homeowner for the quality of this work.

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Triathlon

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1. How will my start time be determined?

Start times will be determined by the swim time that is submitted during the registration process; therefore, it is important that an accurate swim time is turned in at registration.

2. How does my team member know when to start their leg of the race?

Team members will have to pass the timing chip (ankle bracelet) in the transition area. Once the next member of the team has securely fashioned the timing chip they may start their leg of the race.