15thWardSTL.org

Today was the conditional use hearing for 3737 S. Grand.

As I said before, I was unable to make it, but doubtless, some you you did.

Reports? Discussion?

This Thursday, at 8:30 am, in room 208 of city hall, a Conditional Use Hearing will convene to begin making the decision on a Rent-A-Center going in at 3737 S. Grand.

This is an important opportunity for anyone who feels trepidation about businesses like Rent A Center (or anyone who for some reason supports them) gaining a greater foothold in our community. There will be an opportunity to speak if you are so interested. If this is your neighborhood, you are a relevant stakeholder and your opinion matters.

Businesses like Rent a Center do little to support healthy communities, IMHO. They prey on the poor and others with few options, offer a marginal product, and get people caught up in payment schemes in which they eventually pay far more for the merchandise than its actual market value.

Meet Mike Glodeck, one of the upcoming contributing editors on 15thWardSTL. Mike has been a resident of Tower Grove South with his son and wife for several years.

Mike is not new to blogging - he's been running his personal blog for a while now at http://glodeck.blogspot.com/ called "Making of a Parent". I look forward to reading his take in particular on development, family life, arts, and culture in the 15th Ward.

Not only is his writing insightful and informed, but he also lives his life in the trenches making St. Louis a better place to live. He is in the process of opening a new venue called Foam - a combination coffee house, microbrewery, and performance/community space on Jefferson at Cherokee (yes, it's outside the 15th Ward, but any decent redevelopment plan for the area will include some thinking about how to tie Jefferson to Grand along Cherokee street!).

Maurice commented:

Steve, you raise some very valid points but one of the most important things that needs to be addressed, in my opinion and if it even can be, is the competition that comes from the neighboring towns for the development dollars.

...Why would a company spend thousands of extra dollars if our neighbors to the west are going to give them thousands in incentives and such.....it is a quandry of which I don't think there will ever be a true, best answer.

The "intercity competition" argument is exactly why St. Louis negative self image is such a problem! This belief underpins the Board of Aldermen's resistance to change.

Here's the kicker. Visionaries are already rejecting this argument and making massive investments in City development based on the principles of dense, walkable, mixed-use districts: the Loop, Central West End, Commerce condos, Automobile Row (Locust), Downtown lofts, Lafayette Square, South Side Tower, the list goes on and on.

For those of you interested in the 2002 South Grand Parking Study results, the full text can be found at

http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/planning/southgrand/

The following clause in the Transitional School Board statute came up on in a discussion on an e-mail group I belong to. It looks to me like this statute forbids creation of any new TIF or tax abatement on any tax levied by the transitional school district while the Transitional Board is in power. Is there a lawyer out there who can interpret this for me?

If it's true, What a blow to the City! Not only will families with children find other locations to live, but physical development could grind to a halt as well. There are a lot of projects out there certainly worthy of TIF and/or tax abatement that will disintegrate quickly if this law is followed. I wonder if the City has its legal office working on a loophole. I wonder if the City just plans on ignoring this law....

(2) Any other statute to the contrary notwithstanding, no tax authorized pursuant to this subsection shall:

(a) Be subject to any certificate of tax abatement issued after August 28, 1998, pursuant to sections 99.700 to 99.715, RSMo; and

(b) Effective January 1, 2002, be subject to any new or existing tax increment financing adopted by a city not within a county pursuant to sections 99.800 to 99.865, RSMo, except that any redevelopment plan and redevelopment project concerning a convention headquarters hotel adopted by ordinance by a city not within a county prior to August 28, 2003, shall be subject to such tax increment financing.

A reader commented:

The question in my mind is how can we convince the developer to build this parking garage with first floor retail if it says it cannot afford to, without jeopardizing the entire project.

Technically, the parking structure in the 2002 Long Range Parking Plan is proposed for the current parking lot north of Jay International.

Note that I am not advocating for a parking garage on the Commerce Bank lot. I am proposing that the parking implications were not adequately considered in public before significant zoning concessions were granted to the developer.

The TIF enabling legislation for the Commerce lot condo project contains the following clause:

...by gaining site control either by purchase or lease of an existing structure and demolishing same and creating a parking lot with utilities, lighting and landscaping; both as set forth in the Redevelopment Plan...

Since the redevelopment plan does not happen to be included in the online version of the TIF, it is impossible to say for sure, but I would guess that the "building" they intend to demolish is the former Commerce bank branch at the corner of Juniata and South Grand.

A 2002 parking study [PDF] determined in general that there is a "parking problem" on South Grand - in general all of the long term solutions included retaining around 150 parking spaces on the Commerce Bank site. The proposed development would take up the land covering about 120 of those spaces. A surface parking lot on the site of the existing temporary former Commerce Bank building would accommodate about 25 cars. Ultimately, there is significant net loss of potential parking area under this proposed redevelopment plan. In addition, there is a net gain of users.

The developer is required by the zoning ordinance to provide parking at the 1 space per unit ratio. It is likely that most of the residents will have a car, and some will have two, so there will probably be some street parking taken up by residents of the new condos.

Dense residential development such as this is a great use of the site and a great source of future customers for the South Grand business district. Viewed from within the context of the 2002 parking study, it seems that a surface parking lot is not the best use of the corner site - not only does it take a potential retail location out of play, but in the face of a net loss of parking it also fails to align with the South Grand Parking Study.

In the "Short Term" strategies, there was a clear preference to maximize surface parking:

The Steering Committee made a strong recommendation for the final Parking Study to “utilize as much as possible of the existing Commerce Site for enhanced parking.

In the long term, there was a preference for developing that corner with retail and parking structure. The development of 50 condo units significantly changes the parking mechanics in that area and should have been vetted in public to a much greater degree.

Alderman Conway has introduced Tax Increment Financing (TIF) legislation for redevelopment of the Commerce Bank site on South Grand. Previous legislation has included a rezoning and vacation of the alley.

The TIF legislation says there will be approximately 50 units in five three-story buildings, so each building will have approximately 10 units (or three per floor with one extra). I'm curious to see the designs.

The zoning ordinance defines "story" as:

That part of a structure contained between the level of one finished floor, or, if the top story, that part of a structure contained between the level of the highest finished floor and the ceiling above it.

A couple new Tower Grove South residents are going green and blogging about it. Welcome to the neighborhood.

LiveGreenStLouis gives a shout-out to 15thWardSTL and asks a couple questions:

Can’t tell if this blogger (Steve is his name) has a political bias or agenda, but sure we’ll discover his MO after reading more posts. The basics: he’s an architect/designer living only a few blocks away and seems very enthusiastic about the community. (Wonder if he knows my architect? Do architects hang out and know eachother?) He’s married, has 2.5 kids and has lived in the hood since 2003 (decent street cred).

Here are the answers: