Bill to Blight Jefferson from Gravois to Potomac – UPDATED

Ald. Ortmann introduced Board Bill #153 which will blight a large area of South Jefferson from Gravois to Potomac (see map) putting the area at risk for large scale redevelopment. Ortmann will be holding a public meeting on the issue this Thursday (10/5/2006) at the Five Star Senior Center located at 2832 Arsenal, St. Louis Mo. 63118 form 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

From the ordinance detail (9 pages) we know this much:

An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for the S. Jefferson/Gravois/Potomac Area (“Area”) after finding that the Area is blighted as defined in Section 99.320 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, 2000, as amended, (the “Statute” being Sections 99.300 to 99.715 inclusive), containing a description of the boundaries of said Area in the City of St. Louis (“City”), attached hereto and incorporated herein as Exhibit “A”, finding that redevelopment and rehabilitation of the Area is in the interest of the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of the people of the City; approving the Plan dated April 4, 2006 for the Area (“Plan”), incorporated herein by attached Exhibit “B”, pursuant to Section 99.430; finding that there is a feasible financial plan for the development of the Area which affords maximum opportunity for development of the Area by
private enterprise

The problem is Exhibit A (area) and Exhibit B (plan) are not found as part of the documentation with the bill on the Board of Aldermen website nor in the City Journal when the bill was introduced. The public, including a resident (block captain) living in the area, are left wondering the full details of the plan. The bill itself is largely boiler plate language so it is these attachments that contain the details. However, at this point the public is not privy to this information. I have left a voice mail with Ald. Ortmann’s secretary requesting said documents.

UPDATE 10/3/06 2:15pm

I received the missing information from Matt Murphy in Jim Shrewsbury’s office (I called him as well). Both exhibits came as one Word document which I have converted to PDF (Note: the weird formatting of some pages appeared in Word when I opened the file). Click here to view the 16-page document which I am hosting on this site since it was not made available through the city’s own website. From the beginning of the plan:

“The S. Jefferson/Gravois/Potomac Redevelopment Area (“Area”) consists of 145 parcels of commercial, residential, split-use and institutional uses as well as vacant lots totaling approximately 18 acres in the Benton Park, Benton Park West and Gravois Park Neighborhoods of the City of St. Louis (“City”). The Area consists of both sides of S. Jefferson Avenue bounded by Gravois Avenue on the north and Potomac Street on the south.”

This document refers to additional items — a land use map and an “acquisition map” which I have requested as well. In my quick review of the plan so far it too looks boiler plate — not much different than the one used on South Grand including prohibiting the use of drive-thru facilities. The plan talks about parking and the screening required but has no real meaningful urban requirements. The plan refers to the existing zoning to rule which, as we know, permits drive-thru facilities. This is an example of where a zoning overlay is needed to improve upon the zoning in the area.