Former University City council member Elsie Glickert filed a second lawsuit last week aimed at derailing the Loop Trolley project.
Glickert -- who says she has lived in University City for 88 years -- names University City mayor Shelley Welsch and the Loop Trolley Company in her suit, alleging the city changed the trolley's hours without alerting the public as required by Missouri's Sunshine Law.
City planners recommended the Loop trolley run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. on weekends. But before unanimously approving the trolley's permit at a meeting March 11, the city council changed the operational hours to 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. ever yday.
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Glickert argues that because the time change was so substantial, the city should have alerted residents before its approval. Otherwise, the permit is "void and of no effect," according to the lawsuit.
Glickert attended the March 11 meeting where the time change was discussed and approved. She spoke twice at the meeting about the trolley project, once asking the council to hold a public hearing about the permit, according to the meeting minutes.
The minutes do not show the Glickert objected to the time change when she addressed the council after the change was proposed.
Loop trolley chairman Joe Edwards told KPLR-TV (Channel 11) he doubts the lawsuits will delay the project, which is expected to start construction early next year.
"We have answered all these questions at public hearings through the years, so I am kind of surprised," Edwards tells KPLR. "I question the timing. Why not four or five years ago? Why now?"
See also: "New" Loop Trolleys Been Here the Whole Time
Glickert and three other University City residents are also seeking a permanent injunction to stop trolley construction claiming that non-resident property owners had more input into its development than residents. The plaintiffs also say the trolley exceeds its approved boundaries in University City and St. Louis.
Follow Lindsay Toler on Twitter at @StLouisLindsay. E-mail the author at [email protected].
