ST. LOUIS • The Board of Aldermen banned on Friday special-interest lobbyists from the aldermanic floor but dropped a plan that would have required members of the public to get a pass before they could sit in the gallery overlooking the chamber.

The board voted 22-2 for the compromise after approving on a voice vote an amendment scrapping the proposed pass system.

“We wanted to make it very clear that these meetings are open to the public, and we don’t want anyone not showing up because they might not have access,” the amendment’s sponsor, Alderman Heather Navarro of the 28th Ward, said after the vote.

Alderman Jack Coatar of the 7th Ward, who had proposed the overall rules change, said it was designed to “bring some order and decorum to this chamber” and based on U.S. House practices.

But he said in debate that his key goal was limiting floor access and that he wouldn’t object to deleting the gallery pass requirement.

Among those concerned that the pass system might limit access of average citizens was Alderman Shane Cohn, 25th Ward.