Board of Adjustment To Render Decision Regardless of New Design

On April 19, 2006 the Board of Adjustment tabled a decision on the citizen appeal of a drive-thru variance for a proposed McDonald’s on South Grand. At that hearing Ald. Jennifer Florida stated “they” would be revising the McDonald’s plan to reflect the Toronto standards that I first suggested on March 20, 2006. Funny, but it almost sounded like Florida considered herself part of the development team rather than the people’s representative. But, I digress…

A May 4, 2006 , letter from the Board of Adjustment states:

“If plans are not received within 2 weeks of the date of this letter, the Board will deliberate upon this matter with evidence already received. If revised plans are timely received, this appeal will be rescheduled for a later date.”

So is the wonder team of Pyramid, McDonald’s, Core States Engineering and spokeswoman Jennifer Florida working on a revised site plan? Probably, because it did not seem like the Board of Adjustment was impressed with the standard menu of small building, tons of parking and excessive curb cuts.

I just called the city’s zoning department to inquire if any new plans have been submitted, I am awaiting a return phone call. Meanwhile the deadline is a week from today.

I have re-read Toronto’s “Urban Design Guidelines for Site with Drive-Through Facilities” and I must say it is quite complete (4.9mb PDF file). The document covers the history of drive-thrus, problems associated with them and reasons for seeking to control where and how they are built. The document should be adopted by every other city in North America, including St. Louis.

Any facility with a drive-thru that is being touted as applying these guidelines needs to front on all public streets. So, a business such that is not on a corner should have its building up to the single street it faces. Those located on corners, however, should have their structures up to the public sidewalk on both streets. Anything less is simply lip service.

The original site plan of the proposed McDonald’s had three curb cuts, two on Grand and one on Winnebego. Way too many for a single business. Anything they submit needs to have no more than two curb cuts. Lighting should also be carefully designed to minimize glare on neighboring properties. But as I’ve said before, this really shouldn’t matter. The McDonald’s could & should just rebuild on their current site and Pyramid should build a mixed use project on the old Sears site.

– Steve

Can Mr. Smith get to Washington Anymore?

Jeff Smith is more than a candidate for the Missouri State Senate, he is also the focus of a new documentary film:

This documentary is the story of a 2004 Democratic congressional primary race for the U.S. Congress—a race to replace Congressman Dick Gephardt of St. Louis who had held the seat for 28 years. It’s told from inside the campaign of Jeff Smith, 30-year old part-time political science instructor at Washington University.

Though this was Jeff’s first bid for office, he had worked on several races including Bill Bradley’s presidential run.

A total of ten people entered the race, but his chief opponent was the man whose name is associated with the biggest dynasty in Missouri politics: Russ Carnahan. Carnahan, a Missouri state representative, is the grandson of a former U.S. Congressman. His father was a former Governor; his mother was a former U.S. Senator.

In addition to his name recognition, Carnanhan had state legislative experience, strong ties to the political establishment and an ability to raise lots of money locally and from around the country.

The odds for Jeff were overwhelming. But he had political savvy, charisma, and an ability to lead an insurgent, youth-oriented grassroots campaign of over 300 volunteers.

This is a David and Goliath story. One that shows what confronts fresh political faces with new ideas and passionate supporters when they go head-to-head against the corporate establishment, name recognition, and a population of voters that, for the most part, don’t pay attention.

The documentary has been accepted to the Silverdocs documentary film festival in Washington D.C. next month. The film makers are planning screenings at the Tivoli and will allow me to view the film before it is publicly shown.

– Steve

Sign the Recall Florida Petition at Tower Grove Park on Saturday

Volunteers will be taking signatures from folks wanting to sign the Recall Florida petition this Saturday from 9am to 11am near the new Tower Grove Farmer’s Market. Look for volunteers in Recall Florida t-shirts near the new Tower Grove Farmer’s Market opening this Saturday just West of the Pool Pavilion. This is just West of the main traffic circle, see #20 on this map.

Be sure to check out the market but it looks quite promising with some great vendors lined up. It will run every Saturday into October.

[UPDATE 5/11/06 @ 11:45am. I revised the headline to remove the Farmer’s Market reference. I also made it clear the volunteers with the petition will not be in the market but near the market. As people have commented, this market is a great thing for the city and has absolutely zero involvement with the recall effort.]

– Steve

Recall of Ald. Florida Has Begun!

Last night, following the Gravois Park Neighborhood Association Meeting, residents of the 15th ward began signing a petition to recall Ald. Jennifer Florida. Ald. Florida was not present at the meeting where residents shared their displeasure over the proposed relocation of a McDonald’s to their neighborhood.

To be successful a total of 1,409 signatures of current 15th Ward registered voters will need to be collected. This represents 20% of the registered voters in the ward as of the last Mayoral election held in April 2005. Only 615 voters cast ballots for Florida in April 2005.

I will be checking with the organizers periodically to report the when and where on how to assist with the recall effort.

– Steve

Conlon Files for Recount, Starts Legal Defense Fund

Mary Beth Conlon, the candidate for Overland Mayor that lost by a mere four votes in the April election, has filed suit in St. Louis County court to request a manual recount. Recounts are permitted under Missouri law when the difference is less than 1%, in this case it was 0.12%.

On her website, Mary Beth Conlon is asking for assistance with the fund to help offset legal costs in filing the lawsuit requesting the recount. She is asking that contributions be sent to:

Mary Beth Conlon Legal Defense Fund
8933 Argyle Avenue
Overland, MO 63114

It does not appear that either Conlon or her main opponent had a candidate committee established with the Missouri Ethics Commission. These candidates likely paid for all their campaign expenses out of pocket. Having done so, I can see not having personal funds left to challenge the final count.

I will continue to monitor this situation and will head out to Overland soon to look into the design & development of the municipality.

– Steve