ST. CHARLES – Restrictions might be loosened on the types of businesses allowed in first-floor storefronts downtown.

The St. Charles Planning and Development Committee on Monday discussed staff’s proposal to modify the Downtown Overlay Zoning District established in 2006.

The zoning regulation limits first-floor and street-level spaces within the district – roughly Fourth Street to Third Avenue and State to Indiana – to businesses that generate pedestrian traffic, such as theaters, hotels, salons, restaurants and retailers. The intent was to preserve economic vitality and the pedestrian character of downtown’s shopping core. So far, four of eight exemption requests have been granted.