Judge Rules Against Lure Nightclub

Yesterday a Judge ruled against downtown’s Lure Nightclub.

“St. Louis Circuit Judge Margaret Walsh signed an order this afternoon that revokes Lure’s liquor license effective October 17. The club has 30 days to appeal.” (KSDK)

I first blogged about Lure last Fall when I wrote about the problem of cigarette smoke choking the private resident lobby at the rear of the building

Lure was represented in court by former mayor Freeman Bosley Jr.  The owners have stated they will appeal. I personally love living downtown with restaurants and activities, quite a departure from the weekend-only no-resident club atmosphere of 12-15 years ago.

- Steve Patterson

Poll On Proposition A On Local Earnings Taxes

Missouri voters will decide in November on a proposition concerning the 1% earnings tax levied by Kansas City and St. Louis:

If passed, Proposition A would require the two cities to hold referendums on the tax every five years, with the first likely next spring. If voters elected to repeal the tax, it would be phased out over a decade. (Source)

I normally like the idea of putting such decisions at the local level but I know if Prop A passes there will be battles every five years.   If there are proposals for other ways to collect the necessary revenue to support the services provided by Kansas City & St. Louis I’d be fine with eliminating the earnings tax.

The poll is in the upper right sidebar for the next week.

- Steve Patterson

Public Hearing Today On Citation Against Lure Nightclub

Today at 10am a public hearing will be held in City Hall (Rm 208) regarding a citation from the city against the nightclub Lure, located at 1204 Washington Ave.

“In a letter to Lure dated July 28 the city accused Lure of having improper employees and blamed its patrons for three acts of violence occurring near Lure on Thursday nights or early Friday mornings dating back to last November. Those complaints include a June 11 report in which people in a nearby parking lot allegedly fired an assault rifle at police.” (RFT Blog)

I attended a meeting at Lure recently where members of the Trupiano family make their case about how they manage Lure.

I can’t make the hearing but I know I will get reports from people in attendance.  Some will say downtown residents are just being NIMBY‘s while others will say they like nightlife but say other establishments are better neighbors.

- Steve Patterson

Readers Favor Enforcing Noise Ordinances

Response to the poll last week was very low. Here is the question and final results:

Q: The City of Alton IL is issuing tickets to drivers of noisy motorcycles & cars. Thoughts?

1. Good, more jurisdictions should enforce noise ordinances 36 [58.06%]
2. The noise is annoying but these laws are not enforceable 13 [20.97%]
3. Unsure/no opinion 6 [9.68%]
4. Bad, more government meddling 4 [6.45%]
5. Other answer… 3 [4.84%]

Other answers were:

1. i am sure I don’t care.
2. I think the law will be enforced more on the appearance of the driver/rider.
3. Motorcycles are often times ubnoxiously loud. Regulate them.

Any additional thoughts you might have add them to the comments below.

- Steve Patterson

The Key To Paying The Parking Meter Is A Key

I’ve heard of a key to the city but I recently learned some cities offer keys to parking meters:

ABOVE: Parking meters in Springfield IL accept coins and a pre-loaded key

Both Springfield IL and Champaign IL offer keys to people to use to pay parking fees. From Champaign’s CaskKey website:

What is the CashKey?

The CashKey is a programmable key that provides a cashless way to pay at parking meters. The CashKey can be carried on your key chain and eliminates the need to carry coins for the meters.

CashKeys can be used at any City of Champaign, City of Urbana or University of Illinois parking meter. Each key carries three accounts (a separate one for each parking provider) and $10 to $100 of value can be purchased for use at each type of meter.

How to Use a CashKey:

The CashKey functions like an American quarter. The first time the key is inserted into a meter, the amount of value on account for that parking provider is displayed. Each subsequent time the key is inserted is like depositing a quarter into the meter providing the user with the minutes of parking in accordance with the rate posted at each meter. For example, at a $.75 per hour meter, each insertion will provide 20 minutes of time at the meter; at a $.25 per hour meter, an insertion will provide one hour worth of parking time. The CashKey will not register more than the posted time allowed for that meter, but it will continue to deduct $.25 from the account each time it’s inserted. If the key is left inserted for more than 5-seconds, the meter will flash in the out-of-order mode until the key is removed. This is to alert the user in case the CashKey is inadvertently left in the meter.

The CashKey doesn’t guarantee you a parking space. Parking meter spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The CashKey can be used in conjunction with coins.

Purchasing a CashKey and/or Time:

The initial cost of the key is $19.50 and $10 to $100 of time can be purchased for each parking provider. Keys and/or time can be purchased at the following locations:

* City of Champaign Parking Programs Office (713 Edgebrook Dr.)
* City of Champaign Finance Department (2nd floor of City Building, 102 N. Neil St.)
* City of Urbana Finance Department (400 S. Vine St, Urbana)
* University of Illinois Facilities and Services Parking Department (1110 W. Springfield Ave.)
* Purchases must be made in person at one of the above locations. There is not an online purchase or reloading option.

If you find you aren’t using time loaded for one meter provider, the value can be transferred over to a different one.

I like this idea as a way to make it easier to ensure you have the ability to pay the meter.

- Steve Patterson

Readers Think The Tour Of Missouri Was A Good Use Of Tourism Dollars

ABOVE: Tour of Missouri in St. Louis, 2009

Last week 181 people voted in the poll:

Q: The 2010 Tour of Missouri has been canceled due to zero funding from the state, which of the following best describes your thoughts:

1. The Tour of Missouri has been a great event, bringing money into the state economy each year — a good use of tax money 97 [53.59%]
2. The Tour of Missouri has been a victim of fighting between Republicans and Democrats 36 [19.89%]
3. The Tour of Missouri has been a money pit, costing more than it made — a good decision to cancel 22 [12.15%]
4. Other answer… 14 [7.73%]
5. Unsure/no opinion 12 [6.63%]

The (14) other answers were:

1. If it’s so successful, they should plan for it’s financial viability.
2. screw the bicyclists. when do I get my own lane to drive in?
3. Killed by Nixon for a petty political vendetta. Politics at its worst.
4. Sad…
5. Even the Tour de France commentators said its a shame it got canceled
6. What a shame. Where was the money spent instead? What was the return?
7. This happened MONTHS ago. Why are you only addressing it now?
8. Jay Nixon needs to go for this! What a joke!
9. B and C
10. Not sure why this can’t be privately funded, the state gave it a good start
11. The Tour of MO should be able to fund itself by corporate donations and sponsors
12. Tourism should have cut back to $500K or so.
13. Not necessarily the best way to spend state money.
14. When the economy is bad, nonessentials get cut.

- Steve Patterson

The (former) Pedestrian Malls of Illinois

A year ago. I was starting my Capstone (thesis) for a masters in urban planning & real estate development at Saint Louis University. My focus, I decided, would be on pedestrian malls – once open streets permanently closed to vehicular traffic.

Last fall I documented roughly 160 such malls built in North America between 1959-1984. Documenting the year removed, if so, proved far more difficult than I thought. The Capstone remains unfinished.

On Friday, while driving to Chicago, I realized I should narrow my focus to the ten former pedestrian malls in the state of Illinois. A manageable number where I could collect and examine data.

ABOVE: Neil Street in Champaign IL was once a dead pedestrian mall

So far I’ve visited Chicago (State Street), Elgin, Freeport, Rockford, Danville, Champaign, and Decatur. Last night stayed in Springfield and I’m checking out their former pedestrian mall this morning. I skipped Oak Park (inner ring Chicago suburb) because I visited there l last year. That leaves only Centrallia left to visit after today.

In visiting each of these I was amazed at how different each town is today. Big & small, college & industrial, rich & poor. Besides the failed pedestrian mall experiment, each town looks to have been repeatedly raped by urban planners, civil engineers and architects.

- Steve Patterson

[Note: This post was written on my iPad with a photo from my iPhone. Not all editing features are easily available, but I hope to produce more posts this way.]

Missouri didn’t support the Tour of Missouri for 2010

The task of the Missouri Division of Tourism is to attract tourists to visit Missouri  — and leave behind some of their money in the process.

ABOVE: Pro cyclists in St. Louis for the start of Tour of Missouri 2009

ABOVE: Racing teams have lots of support staff.

Without $1 million dollars from the state, the organizers had to cancel the 2010 Tour of Missouri. The tourism budget is roughly $13 million.  The poll this week seeks your opinion on the canceling of the Tour of Missouri.  The poll is in the upper right corner.

- Steve Patterson

Four “county” offices up for election in 2010, only one challenged

A week from today is the Missouri primary.  In some races for State Rep and Congress there are more than a single candidate for each political party, but of the four “county” offices in the City of St. Louis this year only one of the four is challenged, and none will be challenged in the November general election.  The other three will skate through this primary and the November general without an opponent.

The three that will automatically have another four years in office are Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly, License Collector Michael McMillan, and Recorder of Deeds Sharon Quigley Carpenter.  Clerk of the Circuit Court Mariano V. Favazza is being challenged by attorney Jane Schweitzer.

ABOVE: marianofavazza.com is not owned by Mariano Favazza

The domain marianofavazza.com, registered via GoDaddy on 10/14/2008, links to unflattering articles about the incumbent Circuit Clerk.   I’ve not met challenger Jane Schweitzer but I suggest you read her issues page and see what you think.  I did not find a candidate website for Mariano Favazza. Please be sure to vote next week.  For voters in the City of St. Louis you can see sample ballots for each party at the St. Louis Board of Elections.

- Steve Patterson

Readers happy about new single stream recycling

The weekly poll last week was about the city’s new trash collection fee:

Q: St. Louis has just started a trash fee of $11 per month per unit. Which of the following two best describes your reaction:

1. Glad single-stream recycling was added 75 [37.69%]
2. The fee is fair for the service provided 39 [19.6%]
3. Other taxes being collected to the city should cover trash collection 20 [10.05%]
4. I don’t mind the fee as long as they continue picking up twice per week 17 [8.54%]
5. I live outside the city and pay for my trash collection. 15 [7.54%]
6. Multi-family buildings should pay a lower fee per unit than single family houses 11 [5.53%]
7. I pay for private trash collection through my condo fee (or similar) 8 [4.02%]
8. The city went to once per week collection for a bit just so $11/month for twice a week wouldn’t seem so bad. 7 [3.52%]
9. Unsure/no opinion 4 [2.01%]
10. Other answer… 3 [1.51%]

Voters were allowed to vote for two answers.  No matter their view on the fee, they liked the recycling.  Had the recycling not been added I think we would have seen a revolt.

The three other answers were:

1. I MAYBE trash 1 bag/2 weeks. Everything else is composted/recycled.
2. I think the whole thing is crap.
3. If we would work on increasing the population

Share your thoughts on the fee below.

- Steve Patterson