Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 89.020 (2026)

Powers of municipal legislative body

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MO-REVrevisor.mo.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

89.020. Powers of municipal legislative body — group homes, classification, standards, restrictions — enforcement of zoning beyond lake shorelines, when, how — foster homes, classifications of — certain municipalities may adopt county zoning regulations — sawmills and planing mills, classification. — 1. For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare of the community, the legislative body of all cities, towns, and villages is hereby empowered to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population, the preservation of features of historical significance, and the location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes.

2. For the purpose of any zoning law, ordinance or code, the classification single-family dwelling or single-family residence shall include any home in which eight or fewer unrelated mentally or physically handicapped persons reside, and may include two additional persons acting as houseparents or guardians who need not be related to each other or to any of the mentally or physically handicapped persons residing in the home. In the case of any such residential home for mentally or physically handicapped persons, the local zoning authority may require that the exterior appearance of the home and property be in reasonable conformance with the general neighborhood standards. Further, the local zoning authority may establish reasonable standards regarding the density of such individual homes in any specific single-family dwelling neighborhood.

3. No person or entity shall contract or enter into a contract which would restrict group homes or their location as described in this section from and after September 28, 1985.

4. Any county, city, town or village which has a population of at least five hundred and whose boundaries are partially contiguous with a portion of a lake with a shoreline of at least one hundred fifty miles shall have the authority to enforce its zoning laws, ordinances or codes for one hundred yards beyond the shoreline which is adjacent to its boundaries. In the event that a lake is not large enough to allow any county, city, town or village to enforce its zoning laws, ordinances or codes for one hundred yards beyond the shoreline without encroaching on the enforcement powers granted another county, city, town or village under this subsection, the counties, cities, towns and villages whose boundaries are partially contiguous to such lake shall enforce their zoning laws, ordinances or orders under this subsection pursuant to an agreement entered into by such counties, cities, towns, or villages.

5. Should a single-family dwelling or single-family residence as described in subsection 2 of this section cease to operate for the purpose as set forth in subsection 2 of this section, any other use of such home, other than allowed by local zoning restrictions, must be approved by the local zoning authority.

6. For purposes of any zoning law, ordinance or code the classification of single-family dwelling or single-family residence shall include any private residence licensed by the children's division or department of mental health to provide foster care to one or more but less than seven children who are unrelated to either foster parent by blood, marriage or adoption. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to relieve the children's division, the department of mental health or any other person, firm or corporation occupying or utilizing any single-family dwelling or single-family residence for the purposes specified in this subsection from compliance with any ordinance or regulation relating to occupancy permits except as to number and relationship of occupants or from compliance with any building or safety code applicable to actual use of such single-family dwelling or single-family residence.

7. Any city, town, or village that is granted zoning powers under this section and is located within a county that has adopted zoning regulations under chapter 64 may enact an ordinance to adopt by reference the zoning regulations of such county in lieu of adopting its own zoning regulations.

8. For purposes of any zoning law, ordinance, or code authorized and enacted under this section, a zoning or property classification of agricultural or horticultural shall include any sawmill or planing mill as defined in the U.S. Department of Labor's Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual under Industry Group 242 with the SIC number 2421.

--------

(RSMo 1939 § 7412, A.L. 1957 p. 274, A.L. 1959 H.B. 493, A.L. 1985 H.B. 552, A.L. 1989 S.B. 11, A.L. 2006 S.B. 809, A.L. 2014 H.B. 1299 Revision, A.L. 2019 S.B. 133)

(1957) City ordinance delegating to city council the discretionary power to enforce zoning regulations held valid. State ex rel. Ludlow v. Guffey (Mo.) 306 S.W.2d 552.

(1957) Power of eminent domain vested in school districts for the selection of sites and location of schools, cannot be controlled by city zoning ordinance. State ex rel. St. Louis Union Trust Co. v. Ferris (Mo.), 304 S.W.2d 896.

(1962) Where individual operated a junkyard within an area subsequently zoned as two-family residential, he could not be deprived of his right to operate the junkyard unless he had abandoned the junkyard business. State ex rel. Capps v. Bruns (A.), 353 S.W.2d 829.

(1967) The exercise of the zoning powers delegated to cities including the enactment of ordinances amending the comprehensive plan is a legislative function and, as a general rule, courts will not inquire into the interests or motives of the members of a municipal legislative function. Strandburg v. Kansas City (Mo.), 415 S.W.2d 737.

(1993) Section is plain and unambiguous and provision of statute that addresses homes where unrelated physically or mentally handicapped persons reside does not require city to allow up to eight nonrelated individuals recovering from alcohol or drug abuse to live in single residence in single-family residential district. City of St. Joseph v. Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc., 859 S.W.2d 723 (Mo. App. W.D.).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 47 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1956–2022 · leading case: Congregation Temple Israel v. City of Creve Coeur, 320 S.W.2d 451 (Mo. 1959).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Congregation Temple Israel v. City of Creve Coeur, 320 S.W.2d 451 (Mo. 1959). · cites it 16× “Section 89.020 provides: "For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals, or the general welfare of the community, the legislative body of all incorporated cities, towns and villages is hereby empowered to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of…”

Carl & Janice Duffner v. City of St. Peters, 482 S.W.3d 811 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 4× “Finally, Count IV is a claim that the City exceeded its statutory 'zoning power when it enacted the turf‘grass requirement as part of the Ordinance! Specifically, Appellants allege the City’s actions exceeded the grant of power contained in Sections 89.020 and 89.040. 8 We find…”

Strandberg v. Kansas City, 415 S.W.2d 737 (Mo. 1967). · cites it 8× “Section 89.020 authorizes “the legislative body of all incorporated cities” to exercise zoning powers.”

Vill. Lutheran Church v. City of Ladue, 935 S.W.2d 720 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 9× “1 RSMo 1994 states: For the purposes of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare of the community, the legislative body of all cities, towns, and villages is hereby empowered to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of braidings and other…”

City of St. Joseph v. Preferred Fam. Healthcare, Inc., 859 S.W.2d 723 (Mo. Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 12× “1992, 3 or applied section 89.020 in a manner that violates the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.”

Normandy Sch. Dist. v. City of Pasadena Hills, 70 S.W.3d 488 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 4× “Section 89.020 provides that the legislative body of the city has power to regulate and restrict the location and use of building, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes.”

Engelage v. City of Warrenton, 378 S.W.3d 410 (Mo. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 4× “” Section 89.020. 12 In accordance with a long line of decisions, we held that this limited delegation of power did not empower the city to restrict or limit the use of public property for public purposes.”

Tealin Co. v. City of Ladue, 541 S.W.2d 544 (Mo. 1976). · cites it 3× “This court finds the nature of the tract of land lying in Ladue abutting on Lindbergh, including Tealin’s lot, is basically residential and the refusal on the part of Ladue to rezone Tealin’s singular lot to commercial was not arbitrary; that the residential zoning…”

Vill. Lutheran Church v. City of Ladue, 997 S.W.2d 506 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 7× “The trial court deferred the last two counts and considered the first two.”

City of Kirkwood v. City of Sunset Hills, 589 S.W.2d 31 (Mo. Ct. App. 1979). · cites it 2× “The court then turned to a consideration of the impact of Chapter 89, Section 89.020 on the right of the school district to locate the school facilities in an area from which it was barred by the zoning laws of the municipality.”

City of Green Ridge v. Kreisel, 25 S.W.3d 559 (Mo. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 4× “While Missouri has not adopted a specific definition for the term “zoning ordinance,” Section 89.020 describes the zoning power given to Missouri municipalities as follows: For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare of the community, the…”

State Ex Rel. St. Louis Union Trust Co. v. Ferriss, 304 S.W.2d 896 (Mo. 1957). · cites it 3× “Chapter 89, § 89.020, provides that, for the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare of the community, the legislative body of the city is empowered, among other things, to “regulate and restrict * * * the location and use of buildings, structures and…”

Show all 47 citing cases →

— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 89.020(a) — 1 case

Wintercreek Apts. v. City of St. Peters, 682 F. Supp. 989 (E.D. Mo. 1988).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.